Local and Remote Access to Local Storage for Arlo Ultra via Arlo App Expected in Second Half of 2019

[Prat32]

What happen to this release I’m waiting for this it’s been second half of 2019 any news please let us know thanks

[LandJS]

ArloAlex, Yes I closed and reopened the app and then closed again and restarted my phone and also rebooted the hub, the link never even highlights, the green highlight stays on cloud no matter how long I wait or how many times I click it.

[LandJS]

ArloAlex, yes I have closed and reopened and then closed and rebooted my phone.  I have also rebooted the hub but the link at the bottom will not even highlight no matter how long I wait or the number of times I click on the link.  The cloud link remains the highlighted link.

[ArloAlex]

Thanks, @LandJS . Can you please also advise whether you have a VMB5000 (comes with Arlo Ultra) or a VMB4540 (comes with Arlo Pro 3)?

[LandJS]

Never mind ArloAlex it matters not.  Once I saw that activating SD access stops recording to the cloud it defeats my whole purpose in choosing Arlo.  That makes it no different than a DVR or NVR where the thief could just steal the evidence.   I'm just going to swap Arlo for a NVR with cloud backup, better cams without connection issues and all the other headaches the Ultra has been.  Thank you for your time.

[ArloAlex]

Actually - if you have Arlo Smart, you should be able to record to both the cloud and the SD card simultaneously on the VMB5000. 

I’ll DM you to gather a bit more info - thanks for raising this!

[LandJS]

ArloAlex, that is how I thought it would be, perhaps I am misunderstanding this line " When you choose to store videos locally, your content remains totally yours and local to your network at all times.  However, this means that Arlo can't process thumbnails at this time because that is normally accomplished via the cloud assets that will no longer be receiving the clips. "

As to your last question I have the VBM5000

[LandJS]

ArloAlex, got your PM and sent the file.  If possible could you also look at the short clips that have been recording with missing sections, where a camera triggers, takes a snapshot and then the video is missing for the next 20 sec. and the event is over with.  All my cams are set for 35 to 45 sec record time and never had this issue until the last hub and cam update.  Thank You

[pjama]

Woohoo, it's finally arrived. I've tried it out for all of 5 minutes and have the following observations and suggestions:

My list of available vids only goes back 20 days. Is this an imposed limitation or have I missed something? My cloud goes back further and the SDcard is 256Gb that's been in there a lot longerthan 20 days.

It's only available on the primary/control account. It should also be available to shared users. Ie: I have two arlo systems, viewable from an account that's shared to from each arlo contol account but I can't see local vids from this shared account.

I didn't actually do the port forward thing on the router but unless that access is encrypted and secured with credentials, it's a sitting duck for port scans and exploitation.

Having read the dovo, I'd add:

The doco and community post says you "can directly view videos through the app" which is a bit misleading IMHO. You can only download the video (based on date/time, no thumbnail), then open it and play it in a separate app. That is significantly different.

Looking forward to when thumbnails of the vids are included.

Is there plans to include this in my.arlo.com? I hope so...

All in all it was a good effort although I was expecting something similar to the cloud access (which I realise would be very difficult).

I was a little surprised at the design such that recordings "never touching the cloud" over a more usable UX design like the current cloud access was used particularly since a duplicate is saved in the cloud anyway (if you have a current subscroption).

My slightly more than 2c worth 🙂

[_willow_]

Yes, I have the same question.

If you record locally, does this stop it going to the cloud?

I want the online data processing, but the ability to access the 4k recordings without having to pull the SD card out.

Cheers

[ArloAlex]

Hi @_willow_ - if you have Arlo Smart (or a camera with 7 day free cloud), then your clips continue to be recorded to the cloud (including thumbnails, Arlo Smart object detection, etc). When you activate Direct Storage Access, the only thing that changes is that you have access to the storage device connected to the SmartHub via the app. 

@LandJS Thanks for sending your logs over! I’ve sent the file to our developers. Re: video clips - if these are stored in the cloud, please click on the menu in the clip player > “Share” > send me that URL via DM. 

[_willow_]

Thanks for the fast reply @ArloAlex 

I too was confused by the wording:

 " When you choose to store videos locally, your content remains totally yours and local to your network at all times.  However, this means that Arlo can't process thumbnails at this time because that is normally accomplished via the cloud assets that will no longer be receiving the clips. "

Glad to hear that it works with the both solution!

I have also just read the post by @pjama  and agree with all points raised.

Cheers

[ArloAlex]

Hi @pjama - I really appreciate the time you took here - thank you!  My thoughts on a few of the items you noted:

For the length of the library history - you will see access to the 30 most recent days of recordings in in the SmartHub library. If you are only seeing 20 days - you may need to click the “<“ on the far left of the date scrubber to go back to November, at which point you should see recordings going to Nov 23 or 24.

Re: Shared users - yes, as you noticed, only the account owner can use Direct Storage Access. Would it be possible for you to have both of your Arlo systems on the same owner account?

Recordings shown in the SmartHub library open right within the Arlo app after being tapped on, just like cloud clips...no third party app needed. If you are seeing that a third party app/player is needed to view your clips after you download them, then I’ll need a bit more information to help here.

And, thanks for your interest in having Direct Storage Access for my.arlo.com as well. A high percentage of our users are on Android and iOS, so we prioritized compatibility for those platforms at launch. 

[Kammfam]

Is this seriously ONLY available for app users? I use my app when I'm out, but when I'm at home, I use my computer. So there are 2 issues with this- when I'm out on my app, I can't use the direct access anyway, because it requires you to be connected to the same network as the base station. And when I'm at home, I want to view the 4k videos on my computer so that I don't have to view little tiny videos on a cell phone screen. (really, what's the point of 4k with a video that small??) When will I be able to access these from my computer directly??

[LandJS]

ArloAlex, I sent you three clips from three different cameras all set to 35 or more sec. recording time.  Thank You

[ArloAlex]

Hey @Kammfam - For using Direct Storage Access outside the home, there are two options : VPN and Port Forwarding. Both require some configuration on your home router, but will ultimately give you that same experience when outside the home network.

And yes, at launch, Direct Storage Access is just for Android and iOS (with the feature being available on iOS after the holidays). And while I agree that 4K is great on a big screen, pinch-to-zoom works great in our app, so you can still get a closer look at the natively captured pixels on smaller screens.

[ArloAlex]

Thanks @LandJS , I'm forwarding these now to our team to take a look at!

[Kammfam]

When can we expect to have direct access from the web portal? That caveat wasn't mentioned with the promise of direct access. A lot of people bought these systems thinking that they would have these capabilities that were promised.

My other issue with this new feature is that it's only allowed for main account holders to use. I created a 2nd account that I use with my app because otherwise, my app logs me out every time I check my cameras at home, which is a major pita.

[LandJS]

For those following, ArloAlex  got my problem taken care of right of way it seems if you are using more than one router your hub and phone must both be using the same router just the same network isn't enough.  Now just need to figure out how to delete SD files from the app and see if my provider allows VPN, not trusting port to port. 

[ArloAlex]

Good question on deleting SD files from the app, @LandJS !

We made a design decision to not allow the deletion of individual recordings stored on the SD card (or USB drive, for Pro 3 SmartHub users) from the Arlo app. 

A lot of users have been using the local storage in the SmartHub as an archive/backup; so, if there is an issue with accessing the cloud, or if my account gets compromised, I rest assured knowing that there is a pretty good chance that there is a local copy of all my recordings on the microSD card/USB drive. Particularly in the case of the latter, we did not want to add an obvious way for an attacker to quickly delete recordings if they get access to your library. 

To free up space on the local storage from the app, the same two options remain as always : enable "Overwrite Automatically" so that the oldest recordings disappear as you fill up the locally attached storage, or "Format" (which wipes out everything). To erase individual files, the storage must be physically removed and the deletion must occur via a file browser (like Explorer or Finder).

[Redpower187]

I'm guessing I was correct by assuming the last possible day of the year.

Probably not till mid January for IOS????

[JamesC]

Direct Storage Access is now available for iOS on the 2.12.1 version of the Arlo Mobile App. Please make sure you have the latest version of the Arlo Mobile app from the app store and take a look here for more information:  Arlo iOS App - 2.12.1 - 30th December 2019 Arlo iOS App - 2.12.1 - 30th December 2019

JamesC

[Redpower187]

It is working just in time.

Few issues I have with it though,

1) Having no thumbnails is extremely difficult to sift through hundreds of videos to find what you're looking for.

2) Will not work on a shared account, even though they have been granted administrator privileges.

3) Keeps defaulting back to cloud storage, should have the option to set as either "Cloud" or "Hub" and the setting stays that way permanently unless changed by user.

4) When switching to fullscreen landscape view, there is a grey bar down the bottom. This should be removed.

5) Not being able to delete videos on the app is ridiculous, I get the decision was made based on security but couldn't you add a pin code request to confirm deletion?

[JJAdV]

mmm not a very elegant solution. No thumbnails, and you have to download the file before it plays it.. really.. 

So over a slower external VPN connection it is basically that slow its unusable, Why no use what you have that allows remote streaming access to the cameras?? or did that guy leave and not tell anyone how he did it?

And the Arlo smart popup wont go away. Just go away.

Cant swipe through the clips, like the cloud..

[JJAdV]

Also just noticed, since this "update" very little to no recordings get saved to the cloud.. FFS, when will this train wreck stop..

[punchbuggy]

I have to agree that not having thumbnails until you access the locally stored video is frustrating. There may well be a technical reason for that, but it doesn't make a quick scan through numerous captures possible.

Also, as already pointed out, not all videos are going to the cloud. For example, yesterday I had 14 videos stored locally, but only 11 were stored to the cloud.

Oh well, it's a good start and Arlo came good with their promise which I'm grateful for, but a little more work is required to really polish this feature.