Email notification format changes - removal of preview image.

[TheMegaMan]

So has the format of the motion notification emails changed to remove the preview image, intentionally?

If so, it's a really bad move. I get a lot of false notifications, and the preview image was an excellent way to help identify if I needed to look in more detail.

Without it, I've got to open and download each video clip in turn, taking a long time and increasing the load on your servers.

Can I suggest this change is reversed or maybe a user option?

Regards,
Adam

[Craig2020]

Having the same issue.  Suddenly no preview image being generated from ANY camera on EITHER base station.  This is very annoying as it now takes so long to check an alerts.  Netgear, you have made a change that you need to very quickly revert or fix.

[katcleon]

SAME, I literally just bought a new camera to add because I was happy with the cameras but this is a deal breaker.  I have called twice and been online chat twice (4 hours I won't get back).  They say they are aware but ARE they fixing this?  If not, the system is pretty worthless.  

[rye_whiskey]

One thing to note (small item) is that Netgear isn't involved anymore.   Arlo was spun off as a separate company back in late 2018.

[nizmoz44]

I’ve gotten zero response from Arlo support since I submitted the ticket Monday. Not impressed. May have to find a new brand to switch too now. Anker has a pretty nice one.

[grcArlo]

As many people have noticed, the preview picture has recently been removed from the Arlo e-mail notifications.  There are numerous posts here in the community complaining about the removal of this extremely useful feature.  As with many of us, being able to see the preview picture allows us to easily scan our inboxes and see the notifications.  Most of the notifications are expected, so no further action is needed after seeing the preview picture.  If more details are needed, then we can either go to the Arlo website to view or use the phone app.  However, with the new approach, we would have to use the Arlo website or the phone app to check each notification.  This would be extremely cumbersome and is leading me to move away from Arlo completely unless they can restore this functionality.  Below are a few other related posts with users complaining about the same.  Hopefully Arlo can listen and put this feature back.

https://community.arlo.com/t5/Arlo-Pro-3/Email-Picture-Preview/m-p/1783367?_ga=2.244858501.187434396...

https://community.arlo.com/t5/Arlo/Email-notification-format-changes-removal-of-preview-image/td-p/1...

https://community.arlo.com/t5/Arlo/Email-notification-format-changes-removal-of-preview-image/m-p/17...

I have reached out to Arlo support and have received the following reply:

"As I have checked my resources, the system is already updated so preview will no longer available."

[rye_whiskey]

Just looked up the Eufy (Anker).  Holy cow what a blatant rip off!  Maybe not surprising for a Shenzhen based company.   And they're not cheap either.

[nizmoz44]

I really hope that is not the case with them saying this was done on purpose to remove it.  They will lose a ton of customers.

https://www.reddit.com/r/arlo/comments/hrsgb8/arlo_email_notifications_no_longer_show_previews/

A post I did on Reddit as well.

[SpamFritter]

We seem to be receiving different replies to the same issue - my support returned by asking three unusual questions:

1 - the average upload speed
2 - how many cameras affected
3 - how many electronic devices are connected to the same network

[rye_whiskey]

I'm starting to think it was.   I just read that they went through a restructuring in late 2019 to reduce cost.  I actually HAD been thinking about finally signing up for the service.   Coincidentally on the paid plan your mobile notification is a rich notification and you can preview the motion right there.  This could be a move to score more subscribers.  I had been thinking of signing up for the zoning ability but not sure I want to give them anymore money now.

[johnhuanvu]

@grcArlo , when you wrote:

I have reached out to Arlo support and have received the following reply:

"As I have checked my resources, the system is already updated so preview will no longer available."

Does that mean we're basically screwed over?

[grcArlo]

@johnhuanvu   That's what it sounds like, but I requested them to raise this with the development team to try and put this feature back.  Let's all continue to raise tickets with the Support team and hopefully they listen.  Otherwise, they will lose many customers over this.

[johnhuanvu]

I got this response from them:

Thank you for patiently waiting, I have reviewed the cases and with your current problem. We recently received an update from the appropriate team about this and removing the preview image on the email notification is part of the update that was done. That being said, kindly know that Technical support does not have an option to change this update. I would like to extend my sincere apology for the inconvenience this has caused.

---

[meizydavid]

Unreal they removed the preview from email notifications

go to settings then subscriptions and cancel your subscription

I have 2 systems Arlo Pro 2 with 20 cameras on each....

this is stupid and we should retaliate !!!

[Stevek14]

I am having the same issue and it wouldn't surprise me if it just an attempt to force users into a subscription (greed).  I have a combination of ArloPro and ArloPro 2's and am currently paying no monthly fee.  Have they stopped sending the email previews to everyone or just those of us who pay no fees.  Would be hard to believe they would screw over people who are already paying a subscription and risk losing the income, but am just trying to confirm.  System is basically useless without the preview.

[JessicaP]

At Arlo, we strive to provide peace of mind and a consistent, seamless experience when using your security system. In an effort to maximize privacy and security, shared links and snapshots to your library content automatically expire after 24 hours. This also applies to snapshots within email alerts. We found that this caused confusion and frustration with many Arlo users, resulting in unnecessary troubleshooting in an attempt to restore expired email snapshots. To alleviate this frustration and maintain our existing privacy and security standards, we have removed snapshots from the email alerts feature.

- Arlo Team

[rye_whiskey]

So instead of adding large text in the email that explains the expiration you remove one of the more important features of the system?  You guys are going to lost business over this one.   I'm undecided yet but there are plenty here that are.

[Stevek14]

Talk about throwing the baby out with the bath water!  Without the previews, the emails are essentially useless.  Hard to believe this would be the solution to a fairly simple problem of notifying customers that their preview will expire in 24 hours.  Most people who actually appreciate that feature are much more likely to check the preview right away and delve more deeply if necessary.

Really bad strategic move.  Would never recommend the arlo products again.

[TheMegaMan]

I'm furious! This is *NOT* an acceptable solution.

This is like people running out of gas in their car all the time, so instead if telling them they need to put gas into it, you just remove the gas tank, instead.

Just add a note to the email saying that if the image isn't visible, then inform them that they expire after 24 hours and that they need to log in to the app/website to view older images and video. Just removing it from the email to avoid the fact that the image otherwise expires, is proving you don't understand your users.

Can I ask how many users were asked about this change before it was applied, and how many said they were actually happy with this. You did ask your users, didn't you...?

[OhNoArlo]

Congratulations. This is the stupidest, most tone-deaf response you could have offered to this situation. What is the point of having our emails spammed with notifications if we can't even sort out what's worth looking at and what is not. 

Do you even speak to customers? Have you ever heard of user experience testing?

[Mallez]

Arlo staff,

I disagree with the rationale you're using, and the removing of an important feature.  I pay for 30 days storage (as I'm a smart notification yearly subscriber), and the email picture can be considered part of my "storage".  I don't see any privacy issue with my email receiving a snapshop that I've already agreed (by nature of my subscription) to keep longer than 24 hours.   

As a paying subscriber, I should have the choice to leave that feature enabled, or not.  I can see how you might justify limiting that experience for the free service.

My home was broken into a year ago with my wife home when I was away (one of the main reasons I bought Arlos, was the smart email notifications with immediate ability to triage notifications).  This tool is critical at night when I am traveling to triage notifications quickly, especially when there are a few as I have 10 cameras around my house now.  I need to know quickly if it's the neighbor in the side of my house, or someone I don't recognize.

This will actually cause you more money, as I will pull up and look at EVERY notification as my overall security monitoring for my home is dependent on making a triage of the issues.  You'll spend more delivering the downloaded streams.

I don't always have access to my phone, but I do for regular email (based on a secure phone I must use, cannot load the arlo app on that device, but can receive email notifications).

I think you'll find a lot of people that will look for alternatives with one of the other companies that offer the equivalent of the "smart" service with email pictures included if you don't reconsider this feature.  It's a very important feature to many of us.

Thank you.

[katcleon]

This is accurate regarding how I feel as well. What a waste of time. I just added a subscription and a camera but I will be canceling as well. This system is useless without previews.  We all recognize with multiple cameras we are getting notifications frequently. NO ONE has time to continue to log on. This was a feature that brought me to Arlo but I will be selling my cameras and moving on to another system.  Not worth the time. 

[stumantexas]

Just want to join in and say that my arlo camera's are now more pain than pleasure.  Getting an alert and having to spend time searching for what camera alerted is horrible.  This change is gonna make me go look for other alternatives.

At a minimum the name of the camera reporting the alert has to be returned.  The image that triggered is a very close second to this minimum. 

[nizmoz44]

Then you can tell whoever you need too that they can cancel my account.  I am no longer going to support Arlo/Netgear from this point forward.  I do not have the time to click on each email to see what the alert was for.  This was a stupid decision on their part and they will lose customers and money because of it.  I'm one of your first people who got Arlo Pro, and now, I can't wait to jump ship.

[TheMegaMan]

My mouse is hovering over the 'Cancel now' link on the Arlo subscription setting. I'll give them a week to back this change out, or I'm actually going to cancel. I'm not going to carry on paying for this crap.

> Just looked up the Eufy (Anker).  Holy cow what a blatant rip off!  Maybe not surprising for a Shenzhen

>based company.   And they're not cheap either.

I actually quite like Anker products. Not the cheapest, but their other products to perform pretty well. I think they pay a lot of attention to customer satisfaction - something Arlo are proving they don't understand or respect.

A rip-off of Arlo is exactly what I want. Arlo hardware is acceptable., It's not brilliant - the IR filter on a couple of the cameras are sticky, so I get pink images a lot. Occasionally, I lose a camera link and need to reboot to fix it. But notification emails with no image preview is just crazy, particularly given how slow the servers are to open up the video from the link in the email.

So if Anker/Eufy have got this right, then I'm ready to switch. Has anyone got any experience or heard word of mouth how well they work?

Or any other alternatives?

[nizmoz44]

Lots of youtube videos about the Anker ones.  I am trying to decide between Ring Flood Light Camera for 4 parts of our house.  I know Ring can do 24x7 recording like Nest does with their yearly plan, I don't think Anker Eufy one does yet....but they may in the future.  

Trying to decide which way to go is tuff for sure, but anything is better than what we have now.