Push-notification when not

[jlbrown0816]

I have four cameras. Two are set to send push notifications, while two are not. Up until this week (approximately), all had worked well. Now, I get notifications from the two cameras I have it turned off for. I have verified that notifications are unchecked for these two cameras. I even created a new mode (other than armed) to see if that fixed the issue (it did not). 

Sometimes, (without my intervention) the settings work properly and it does not send notifications. Other times it does not. This leads me to believe it is an issue with the software. I notice that it "breaks" typically after I "snooze" the notifications for a period of time. Once the muted notification period is over, its almost as if it reverts back to sending notifications for everything without allowing me to fix it. Please fix this or offer a solution soon. These cameras I do not wish to receive notifications for are very high traffic areas. I am to the point of wanting to get rid of them due to the constant annoyance. 

[jguerdat]

I'd start by rebooting the hub. 

[Chrisk2]

I am having the same problem.  1 camera is sending notifications.  None of a the 4 cameras have any push notifications.

This is not a new thread it happens a couple times a month then stops and starts.

Rooting the base station does not fix it.  Rebooting you base station every 2 days means the cameras will actually send.  And yes all 4 cameras are within 25 feet of the base.

this is most likely a devOps deployment issue.

[LandJS]

until today I wasn't getting all notifications for motion on the 2 set for it.  Today I get notifications for those that aren't toggled on.  Wonder if they did a update that trying to fix one broke another

[HowCome]

Same here. ARLO - please fix! This has been happening for at least 2 months.

[jlbrown0816]

Rebooting does not fix it. As others have pointed out, they are having the same issues. 

[HowCome]

I am again getting push notifications from cameras that have push notifications set to OFF. This has been happening for the past 2 months and has not been addressed. I opened at least two tickets with Support and nothing.

If any Arlo engineers are reading this board, PLEASE fix this!

Galaxy S9+, Android 10, latest version of the app - push notifications set to ON for one camera out of 4 in Armed Mode. Getting push notifications for all 4 cameras, for ALL kinds of motions regardless of the type of motion set in smart notifications per camera.

Rebooting the hub does not help.

[jlbrown0816]

I feel like this issue is not being addressed. I am at the point of getting rid of the cameras over this. It is extremely annoying receiving hundreds of notifications per day when I have them turned off. 

[sroschke]

I have exactly the same issue. It is super annoying, and renders my Arlo system almost completely useless. I use it to record outside movement only, but without push notifications (for inside cameras, I want and use notifications, e.g., when I am on holiday). The problem is I can not turn off notifications for the outside cameras anymore, even though I tried a bunch of things.

I contacted Arlo support today, and there were 2 suggestions:

1) Disable notifications in the Arlo app altogether using the Android notification settings - this is completely besides the point; I dont even know how to respond to this suggestion

2) Modify the rules to enable push notifications, save and wait a minute or so, followed by modifying the same rule to disable the setting. This seems to have fixed one of my cameras (for now), but the others still have problems. This workaround seems to flaky at best.

Given this seems to be a problem for lots of customers, for a long time, I am surprised Arlo is not updating its community on the progress of this. It is a super annoying type of problem, as it disrupts you a lot of times during the day, and the only way to fix it seems to be to disable these notifications / rules altogether. This however, makes the Arlo system as a whole kind of useless. 

ARLO, please fix!

[Chrisk2]

This just started happening again.  I went to each camera and no push notifications are turned on.  I have not changed that configuration in 6 months.  During work today my phone and iPad are now notifying for recording at all cameras.

[Chrisk2]

The suggestion of rebooting the hub does not solve the problem - well it stopped the notifications for 3 minutes during the reboot but only during the reboot! 

[jlbrown0816]

I hope this post gets enough attention and they fix it. 

[HowCome]

@jlbrown0816 - I am not going to hold my breath.

[sroschke]

My latest engagement with the support on this one:

* Please remove all base stations and cameras and re-add everything on your app

* Also, send screenshots of your app with the settings for each camera open (the support case update form only lets you add one at a time...)

While I get why this could help, this seems like a lot of effort pushed to the user to debug something that Arlo should investigate and fix on their end. Also, what guarantees that this wont come back again, as this broke without any prior indication or even action on the user's side.

If I have to run around the house with a ladder and touch every camera and base station again, I am tempted to pulling this all out and go with an entirely different system. The whole Arlo experience with this problem has been really bad (canned responses, support portal not usable - no case history, onus seems on the user to provide huge amounts of detailed data on setup - something Arlo can easily look up). Not a fan. Not sure Nest or Ring are any better, but I'll do a bit of research.

[HowCome]

Since this issue comes and goes on its own in my experience, it is logical to conclude this is a cloud-side issue and no removing/resetting/re-adding on the user end will ever solve this permanently. It is very disrespectful on Arlo's part to keep bugging users for logs and info when they know well enough the issue is on their end. The fact customer service keeps going through the same script with every customer reaching out with this issue, compound by the complete silence by the engineers and other people in the know is borderline cover-up. Arlo, it's time to fix the issue and your reputation.

[jlbrown0816]

I couldn't have said it better. Blaming the customer makes me want to switch to any of the many other brands.

[StephenB]

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@jlbrown0816 wrote:
 Blaming the customer makes me want to switch to any of the many other brands.

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Asking for Info and logs can be annoying, but it isn't "blaming the customer".

[LandJS]

It may not be blaming the customer but it is putting the burden on the customer and not the company.  All tech has update issues to a degree but usually minor and seek input from the customers.  When it reaches the level Arlo has and the constant issue that Arlo has it is incompetence in their people.  You say you've been in tech for many years, then you should know this is not acceptable from any reputable company.  

[StephenB]

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@LandJS wrote:

You say you've been in tech for many years, then you should know this is not acceptable from any reputable company.  

I  haven't needed to contact them, so my knowledge here is second-hand. Still, it is pretty clear to anyone here that there are issues with tech support.  People say they are hard to reach, and that they don't always follow up when they said they would. In many cases people report they are asked the same questions and are given the same steps over and over.  Worse, in some cases the answers people report here are clearly incorrect.  

But some others have reported very good experiences with support here - and I suspect lots of folks who do have good experiences don't see any need to post here.  So good experiences are certainly under-counted.

My impression from posts in this forum is that support likely is understaffed, and that some support folks could use more product training. I agree that being asked questions over and over is an issue - I don't know if that is about scripts, or if the problem is the case management software isn't providing the needed context.

I also think development should do more to eliminate the pain of some of the work-arounds.

Is there room for improvement?  Certainly.

That said, I've also learned here (and other forums where I help folks) that it's often hard to get the details you need in order to help them troubleshoot.  Sometimes people just want to skip over questions they don't think are relevant.  Sometimes their answers are open to interpretation or don't quite answer the question you asked. Either way, people often do resent attempts to get that information.  

Many similar problems can have more than one cause.  And if some of those causes are potentially unknown, then getting logs and other info is needed either to reproduce the problem and/or isolate what triggered it.  It's annoying and sometimes a burden - but it's also necessary.