Changed phone - Worst software user experience

[WAJ_oz]

We recently changed our phones, as you do regularly, and the Arlo app will not recognise the new devices, or allow you to register the new phone. My wife is an invited friend on the account. All old devices are listed, with no ability to register a new device. So we delete the app and all data, and resend the invite (which tries to verify via the old device), but as the invite is linked to the email address, it says request is already accepted (and wont allow update). So try a different email address. On accepting the request it wants to create a new account, and add a new subscription. But the existing account (to which this should just be a friend request) already has a subscription, so not going to add a new subscription. Won't allow progression without adding a new subscription.

You should be able to update the registered devices, to allow you continued access to the existing account. It appears that the data or security model links an email to a friend request and once accepted, can never change, even iof you get a new one and want access via a new device. Horrendous!!!!

[StephenB]

In general, the friend invite workflow seems to work much better on a PC than it does on a phone or tablet.

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@WAJ_oz wrote:

 On accepting the request it wants to create a new account

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While the invite link says "Create Account", you can also just log into an existing account.

This is confusing, and it would be ideal if the invite email text was changed (and the link changed to "accept invitation).

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@WAJ_oz wrote:

and add a new subscription.

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FWIW, you shouldn't get a subscription for the friend account (unless the friend needs one for their own cameras. 

This is also confusing, and I think Arlo should clean it up.  The Arlo back end knows that you are accepting a friend invite (there is a token embedded in the invite link), so IMO it should supress the usual subscription offer.

More broadly, if an account has no cameras, then the subscription offer should also be supressed.  Some new customers do end up purchasing a subscription when they first install the camera, which just wastes some money during the trial period.