App update does not work correctly

[wss84]

DO NOT UPDATE YOUR APP..............  IT DOES NOT WORK RIGHT.

AFTER ALMOST 3 HOURS WITH ai AND A HUMAN IT STILL DOES NOT WORK. 

DIRECTIONS THAT THEY GIVE YOU DO NOT FOLLOW THE APP.

[BrookeN]

Is there anything I can help you with regarding the new app? 

[Rskanth]

This should be the disclaimer. This Piece of **bleep** software is terrible

[wss84]

I don't know what you could do! I spent over 3 hours trying to follow arlo's direction and working with the AI and someone on chat which did not help either. 

FIND A OFFICE PERSON IN YOUR COMPANY AND HAVE THEM FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS AND SEE IF THEY CAN DO IT. ONCE AGAIN THE DIRECTIONS DO NOT FOLLOW THE PHONE APP OR THE WEB SITE.

[BrookeN]

@wss84 can you let me know what is not working for you, so I have a better idea on how I can help?

[s57259]

Everything...the app updates are a joke and so is the arlo system

[BrookeN]

@s57259 I can not help if you do not give specifics on what you are needing help with. 

[s57259]

The specifics are this...with this supposedly new arlo app we can not turn off or on camera's - enable or disable, cannot set activity zones, deleting unwanted video captures, etc etc.  The app is an absolute disaster for our system and there is no fix.  Why can't you folks just leave a good thing alone when it works.  Thousands of dollars spent on an arlo system and this is what we get ?????????

[BrookeN]

To delete the videos you can click on the circle with the three dots on the upper right under feed. You can then click the calendar for a certain date or click select events and then delete the videos you are not wanting from there. 

This link will provide more information on how to set up and use activity zones. There are certain cameras that you can use activity zones with a subscription. If you do not have a subscription there are specific cameras you can use, however they would need ac power. 

https://kb.arlo.com/1001908/What-are-Arlo-Activity-Zones-and-how-do-I-create-them

Can you describe more what you are seeing with not being able to turn the cameras on and off? If you have screenshots of what you are seeing that would be helpful as well.

[s57259]

     First 3 screen shots are from  West Windows   #1 - Activity Zones are currently disabled ??? Never had this show up before & could always set zones.  And AC power has been disconnected from this device...never have had this camera connected to AC...wireless????  #2 - Pic says the camera has to be connected to AC for activity zones...why the hell have wireless if you have to be connected to AC ???  #3 - Yet it shows I could set an activity zone...whether or not it really is doing this who knows.  It appears after the new app was down loaded the activity zone was the size of a pin head in comparison to the past.   Last 2 pics show Lake Side 2 camera - says it is disabled and to enable, turn on from device settings.  There is no said option in device settings.  Below that message block it shows Lake Side @ is off.  So you turn on the camera there and it shows it is on - last pic.  But when you go to device settings and go back to that screen it shows the exact same things as previous pic and camera is off.  We have spent over 8 hours in the last 2 days to try and get this system to operate as it did previous to this new app.  We have had enough...this is ridicules...changes are made by arlo and they have no idea what this new app is doing to customer's systems.  Enough now...

                  

 

[BrookeN]

The Pro 2 that say disabled are you still seeing the feed?

[s57259]

No feed with the camera that shows disabled...but you can't able or disable any camera unless you go to the lap-top and do it there.  You absolutely can not turn on or off a camera from the app on the phone...lap-top only and am sure that option will be taken away in the near future.

[BrookeN]

Can you please remove just one of the Pro 2 from the account and add it back to the account?

[StephenB]

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@s57259 wrote:

 Last 2 pics show Lake Side 2 camera - says it is disabled and to enable, turn on from device settings.  There is no said option in device settings.  

Note the reason is changing.  After you turn on the camera (toggling the switch next to the camera name) it is telling you that you only have one camera in a subscription plan (and that you need a subscription to activate another camera).

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@s57259 wrote:

And AC power has been disconnected from this device...never have had this camera connected to AC...wireless???? 

When the cameras are powered, the cameras figure out if the motion is in-zone or not.  When they are on battery, that processing shifts to the Arlo Cloud in order to save camera battery life.  Since it costs Arlo to do that processing in the cloud, activity zones on battery power has been a subscription feature for a long time.

Can you provide more info on what camera models you have, and which ones are in a paid or trial plan?

[s57259]

I can do that...but since the problems with the new app we have done a total system reset removing all camera's and the base also.  Then added all back on to the account with no difference...but can do it again if you think it will tell you something.

[s57259]

First...we have no issue with one camera being on subscription & the remaining 4 on battery for this system set-up.  The issue is you can't turn off & on the camera's like you could with previous apps.  Even the app just previous to this current app.  Why the change ???  Obviously $$$ for arlo.

Secondly, in regards to the zones, changes, and battery life...up until just recently the camera's, AC connected or battery powered, detected motion within reasonable views/areas of the camera's view.  Now if the motion isn't dead center on the camera view they don't pick up the motion.  Given your comment about arlo's cost in processing in the cloud, they are skewing the zone area down to a pin size point in the camera view.  And that is recent, not when the system was purchased years ago and all the way up to recently.  

The battery life is our issue.  We can keep the batteries charged and operating even during the sub-zero winter months.   

All in all if arlo thinks we are going to pay a subscription on all the camera's to get things back the way they should be, they are sorry mistaken. Given the cost of the system, even way back when, was way more expensive then other choices.  Yet many of us, it appears, were fools in purchasing given the way things have gone. 

And the camera's...all arlo pro 2's 

[StephenB]

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@s57259 wrote:

First...we have no issue with one camera being on subscription & the remaining 4 on battery for this system set-up.  The issue is you can't turn off & on the camera's like you could with previous apps.  Even the app just previous to this current app. 

If the subscription problem is now resolved (thx to the reset), then you should be able to turn the cameras on and off using the toggle on the camera device settings.  Have you tried doing that again after the reset?

Another way to disarm all cameras is to go to the dashboard page and put the system in Standby.  Note my own Pro 2 camera is armed in Standby - I modified the Standby mode since that particular camera is always armed.  But the default behavior is to disarm the camera.

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@s57259 wrote:

 Given your comment about arlo's cost in processing in the cloud, they are skewing the zone area down to a pin size point in the camera view.

No, that wouldn't save them much (if anything).  They still need to decode the entire video, and do pixel analysis.

Nothing really has changed about the zones when on battery power. So the puzzle here is why you were able to use zones before the migration.  Here is an archived KB article from June 2022 (before "Feed" was introduced) that says you need a subscription for the Pro 2 when on battery power for that feature.

• https://web.archive.org/web/20221116161722/https://kb.arlo.com/1001908/What-are-Arlo-Activity-Zones-...

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@s57259 wrote:

Now if the motion isn't dead center on the camera view they don't pick up the motion.  

Note this is done using a PIR sensor in the camera - so not in the cloud.  Since the Pro 2 camera firmware hasn't been updated in some years, it was not changed by the migration.  So that should work as it did before (assuming the same motion threshold).

Remove the zones (if you haven't already), and then check the camera sensitivies in the default mode settings (in each camera's device settings).  The default used to be 80%, but some have found that the migration changed that setting to 50%.

Use the motion detection test to confirm the camera's motion detection.  This option is also in the "default mode settings" section. 

[s57259]

Reply is appreciated...here is current status.   The toggle on the camera device settings still does not work for any of the camera's including the one that is connected to AC and on a plan.  You toggle it off and it shows the toggle has moved to off but it will go right back to "on" once you leave device settings.  And when you toggle it off, it does not show that it is disabled.  The "on / off" is critical keeping in mind that when yard work is being done, each camera is taking 40 to 50+ hits i.e. mowing the lawn.  Don't see how that is an advantage for anyone including arlo. 

Second issue...this morning off and on many times, when you try to get a live feed the camera will return a message "device not reachable".  Nothing is done different/changed on our end, it just does it and then it doesn't, then does it and then doesn't.  Never ever have had that issue or that message appear before.

We could live with the previous app, but the one we were forced to download this last time is a mess/garbage.

The better-half has told me to just trash the system and go with a new non-arlo system to save my sanity. I think I'll take her advice.

[StephenB]

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@s57259 wrote:

Reply is appreciated...here is current status.   The toggle on the camera device settings still does not work for any of the camera's including the one that is connected to AC and on a plan.  You toggle it off and it shows the toggle has moved to off but it will go right back to "on" once you leave device settings.  And when you toggle it off, it does not show that it is disabled. 

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What happens when you change the mode to "Standby" on the dashboard?