Geofencing no longer working for Friends / Family

[Molch]

Hello everyone, my geofencing doesn't seem to be working anymore. I've already tried everything (rebooting the base station, camera, and smartphone) - no success.

Does anyone know who can help with this, or if there's a solution for it?

[BrookeN]

I have reached out to the development team with the information you provided. Can I get the app version you all are using as well please. Thank you and I will update as soon as possible. 

[BrookeN]

Yes, that is currently being investigated by the development team. I will update the community as soon as possible.

[Marktol]

Hi all,

got an issue where the Geofencing has stopped working on my Arlo Smart Home. I’d say it’s been broken over a month now. Deleted the app, reinstalled, done all the updates to my iPhone and it still doesn’t update the mode when I by input of my home zone.

this was a problem a year or 2 ago but has been very stable for a long time but has stopped again now.

anyone else got this? Trying to log a ticket with Arlo but they have a useless system where you go around in circles and can’t actually log a ticket.

cheers

[BrookeN]

For users using UX4 can you please verify that  your device is participating in the Arrive/Leave automation rule. 

Also can we double check that the Geofencing is enabled. https://kb.arlo.com/000062262/How-do-I-clear-a-Geofencing-is-enabled-notification-on-my-Android-devi... (For Android Users)

[alex_loo]

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@BrookeN wrote:

For users using UX4 can you please verify that  your device is participating in the Arrive/Leave automation rule. 

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Android on 5.0.1_28734 here.  Below is my screen shot.  The iPhone is my wife's device, logging in using my same account.

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@BrookeN wrote:

Also can we double check that the Geofencing is enabled. https://kb.arlo.com/000062262/How-do-I-clear-a-Geofencing-is-enabled-notification-on-my-Android-devi... (For Android Users)

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I have been seeing "Geofencing is enabled" notification.  As opposed to what's described in the link, I have been able to clear the notification by swiping it away.

Anyway, whichever way, I have been able to clear the notification,

... but that does NOT change the fact that geofencing itself is NOT working.

Alex

[jbhorton]

I posted earlier with the same problem.  I have an iPhone and geofencing worked for years until I got the new version of the App (with "Feeds").  As I noted above, I did everything (deleting, installing, checked all settings, etc.) and the cameras are on 24/7 even when I'm home.  This was a night-and-day change the moment I upgraded the App. 

[jbhorton]

Forgot to make clear that my app shows "Arm Away" is "active" and the "Privacy" page shows "Your Arlo account is using these devices for Geofence" and it shows only my iPhone. 

[jcrain]

A even better strategy would be to build an app that doesn’t kick people out after 2 weeks. It’s a security product, and Arlo has inexplicably placed more weighting on the risk of account violation on the phone versus the risk of geofencing failing and therefore not recording a security breach. Talk about putting the cart before the horse!

[alex_loo]

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@jcrain wrote:

A even better strategy would be to build an app that doesn’t kick people out after 2 weeks. It’s a security product, and Arlo has inexplicably placed more weighting on the risk of account violation on the phone versus the risk of geofencing failing and therefore not recording a security breach. Talk about putting the cart before the horse!

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what is this story about "the risk of account violation on the phone" about?  is this something to do with mess with the app?

Alex

[AnthonyN]

Hi BrookeN,

I am having the same problem as everyone else and have been ever since Arlo rolled out an app that is not for for purpose. 

Earlier this year when I reached out on the forum, you reset something on my account at your end and my geo-fencing started to work again until Arlo broke it again last month. 

what was it that you did and can you do it again? Failing that, could you tell us how long it will take your development team to fix what they broke, again?

Many Thanks. 

[StephenB]

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@alex_loo wrote:

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@jcrain wrote:

A even better strategy would be to build an app that doesn’t kick people out after 2 weeks. It’s a security product, and Arlo has inexplicably placed more weighting on the risk of account violation on the phone versus the risk of geofencing failing and therefore not recording a security breach. Talk about putting the cart before the horse!

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what is this story about "the risk of account violation on the phone" about?  is this something to do with mess with the app?

Alex

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I don't know why @jcrain is using the phrase "account violation.  But I think  this is complaining about the phone app logging you out when you haven't used it for a couple of weeks.  @jcrain - if you mean something else, please do clarify.

FWIW, I agree that the app shouldn't do that.  It would be ok for the app to require you to re-enter your credentials after a long period of disuse before seeing the screens (though I use face id myself).  But it should stay logged in, so geofencing and notifications continue to work.

[alaniz4]

Same here since the last update. Please get this resolved Arlo. Recording and Geofencing doesn't work. 

[davepgh]

After iOS 18 geofencing is broken.  Not recognizing any devices.  Please fix asap. 

[benmettler]

Myself and my wife are set up this exact same way and are having the exact same issue. Her phone never updates the home/away geofence.

[jcrain]

The app logs you out after a period of inactivity (NOT always 2 weeks, varies significantly) to prevent account violation. i.e. someone accessing your account without authority on your phone. It shouldn't do this, because a) it doesn't tell you you've been logged out, and b) once logged out, your geofencing does not work, leaving your property exposed. This is a significant design flaw, and shows that Arlo has placed a greater weight on the risk of account violation via the phone, than the very thing the system is designed to do: secure your property via cameras. 

Arlo clearly doesn't understand this logic flaw.

[alex_loo]

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@StephenB wrote:

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@alex_loo wrote:

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@jcrain wrote:

A even better strategy would be to build an app that doesn’t kick people out after 2 weeks. It’s a security product, and Arlo has inexplicably placed more weighting on the risk of account violation on the phone versus the risk of geofencing failing and therefore not recording a security breach. Talk about putting the cart before the horse!

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what is this story about "the risk of account violation on the phone" about?  is this something to do with mess with the app?

Alex

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I don't know why @jcrain is using the phrase "account violation.  But I think  this is complaining about the phone app logging you out when you haven't used it for a couple of weeks.  @jcrain - if you mean something else, please do clarify.

FWIW, I agree that the app shouldn't do that.  It would be ok for the app to require you to re-enter your credentials after a long period of disuse before seeing the screens (though I use face id myself).  But it should stay logged in, so geofencing and notifications continue to work.

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ah I see -- thanks @StephenB .  To kick or not to kick, that may  be a good security/design question.  I am NOT interested in discussing/debating this, though 😉

Simply because even the basic geofencing is NOT working now, and I desparately need that back!

Alex

ps: I am hearing many of us are having "not working" experience that are a little bit different from each other.  Any chance we can consolidate these issues, for troubleshooting the root problem? @BrookeN ?

Say some are complaining time-based scheduling not working, but my 7:30am and 11:30pm schedules here have been perfectly on time always.  I am only suffering from messy geofencing, for my android + iPhone landscape.

[alex_loo]

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@jcrain wrote:

The app logs you out after a period of inactivity (NOT always 2 weeks, varies significantly) to prevent account violation. i.e. someone accessing your account without authority on your phone. It shouldn't do this, because a) it doesn't tell you you've been logged out, and b) once logged out, your geofencing does not work, leaving your property exposed. This is a significant design flaw, and shows that Arlo has placed a greater weight on the risk of account violation via the phone, than the very thing the system is designed to do: secure your property via cameras. 

Arlo clearly doesn't understand this logic flaw.

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hehe, as said in my other reply ....

... To kick or not to kick, that may  be a good security/design question.  I am NOT interested in discussing/debating this, at this stage 😉

Simply because even the basic geofencing is NOT working now, and I desparately need that back first! 😠

Alex

[jcrain]

Geofencing is not working for me either.

With the old app, it used to work *most* of the time. But the logging out issue caused reliability issues.

With the new app, the design of the automations and schedules means it cannot work 100% of the time. You can have schedules OR geofencing, but they do not play well together. The logging out issues remain.

Since the latest app update, geofencing does not work at all, except when the main account arrives home. Which is useless.

[davepgh]

Note:  a password change got mine working!   

[jcrain]

Thanks for the tip.

Tried it but sadly hasn't fixed the issue for me.

[souricier]

 Hello, 

for some weeks (unsure if this is due to app update or iOS update) my geofencing does not work. When activating geofencing, even if I’m out of the area, the app considers me home. 

I had a beginning of understanding when uninstalling the app. When reinstalling, the app proposes to geolocalize my device, then warns that it has automatically taken into account /updated all my devices ( I was unaware any other device than my iPhone was geolocalized)  and that all devices need to be out of the zone for the geofencing to work. 

obviously I cannot find in parameters the list of devices that are taken into account by Arlo to remove the faulty device. 

FAQ do not answer the issue, chat bot redirect to FAQ, no phone available in the contact us link, and I did not find answer in the forum

can anybody help?

[AnthonyN]

So I got my geofencing working again today and I think I see what the problem is. 

Every now and then, my devices available for GF list randomly repopulates with multiple ghost devices. Several duplicates called “iPhone”, and one or more duplicates of my actual phone called “Anthony’s iPhone 13”. 

Frustratingly, my GF automation then deselects my actual device and selects one of the ghost devices as the subject of my GF rule. Hence GF stops working. 

When I go to delete the ghost devices, sometimes it deletes them, and sometimes they will not delete. 

Today, it let me delete the ghost device that had taken over as the GF device and I reselected my actual device. GF then started working again. 

It seems that these ghost devices appear when Arlo pushes an update. It makes me think that the ghost devices are repopulating due to a cache issue on the server side. 

Basically, this is a huge bug that Arlo should fix as it’s been embedded in their app ever since the “new look” app rolled out.  

@BrookeN 

[davepgh]

Sorry false report. My Arlo reverted to the geofencing not working on my phone. 

[jcrain]

"When I go to delete the ghost devices, sometimes it deletes them, and sometimes they will not delete. "

I see them on my app too. How did you delete them?

[AnthonyN]

It is a bug. It will either delete them or it won’t. It’s random and not something you can do anything about. Arlo has to fix their app. Simple as that. 

[Marclee78]

Mine has been working great for a long time but since iOS 18 my wife’s iPhone doesn’t change location. Both phones bang up to date