Wish it was more customizable

[Renea]

I recently decided to buy a video doorbell for my home. I already own to Arlo Ultra cameras so I decided to just get one of their doorbells to ad to my current system. The Arlo Essential Wireless Video Doorbell is great though I do wish that the website went into more detail on the specific features and customization options. Installing it was relatively easy and I was happy that it did not require an additional power kit to hardwire (the wired doorbell requires this). Setting it up and syncing it to my current Arlo account was easy.

The video feed, motion detection, and audio are all great. However, one thing that I find annoying is its "Leave your message" and "Silent Mode" features. In particular I wish that they were more customizable. First, the "Leave your message" turns on after just 20 seconds. I wish they had an option to change that to after a minute or so.

The "Silent Mode" has turns off the door chime and calls. It has an option to turn on the "Traditional Chime" or "Incoming call". If you leave the "incoming call" off and turn off the "traditional chime" it rings your doorbell but your phone does not ring. This is good, however, it automatically triggers the "Leave your message" feature without any wait time. Even if the "Leave your message" feature is turned off in my doorbell call settings it still goes into affect right away if in silent mode.

I believe that these features should be more customizable. What I would like is to be able to select only my "traditional chime" without phone calls and to be able to disable the "leave your message" which cannot be done.

I know that there are some other video doorbells out there such as ring, nest, eufy, etc. Some of these may have better options and more customization. I recommend that everyone see the features and options in detail before picking especially if they don't already have one company's security products in place. Also, Arlo should consider adding more customization options to stay competitive and meet customer needs.

[ShayneS]

HI @Renea

Regarding this:

 "it automatically triggers the "Leave your message" feature without any wait time. Even if the "Leave your message" feature is turned off in my doorbell call settings it still goes into affect right away if in silent mode."

Have you double checked that the leave your message is still toggled off before testing this? Sometimes the settings can revert if swiping and exiting the screen too fast before the system can save the settings. 

[Renea]

Yes, I have checked this and other settings several times before going online to troubleshoot. I thought I might be missing something or that maybe it was a glitch. Then found out that it is an automatic feature that Arlo has. So if "Silent Mode" is on or even partially on the then the "Leave your message" is automatically triggered even if toggled off in "Call Settings". This has been stated by Arlo on a previous site, that I cannot find at the moment, and many others have complained about it on other discussions.

[ShayneS]

Let me look in to this for you and I will get back to you as soon as possible. 

[Flips256]

And.... Are you still checking in to this as I have the same issue and it's been 3 months since this questions been addressed here. Actually, in looking at the forums this has been an issue since at least 2021...

[ShayneS]

@Flips256 

Can you provide more detail regarding the issue you are experiencing? Do you  have the "leave a message" toggled off and the doorbell is still announcing to leave a message? 

Which version of the Arlo app are you using?

Are you on Android or iOS? 

[Flips256]

The issue is my doorbell keeps telling people to leave a message - I don't want that function.
I have silent mode clicked on and traditional come clicked on. Incoming call is off.

IOS

I am using the latest update Arlo app but I have no clue what version because I can not find that info within the app.

[StephenB]

---

@Flips256 wrote:

I am using the latest update Arlo app but I have no clue what version because I can not find that info within the app.

---

Do you see "Feed" on the main screen, or do you see "Library"?  It'd be helpful if you post which of these you see.

With "Feed"

• tap the profile icon in the upper left, and then tap "About".

With "Library"

• tap Settings at the bottom right, and then tap "About"

[Flips256]

I see Library...

Version 4.2 (5730)  released Mar 1, 2023