Geofencing ARLO wiFi 2 camera system

[lewcal13]

Have been using the geofencing for a few days and it appears that it does not work in the background. If i have been out all day and come home the geofence does not pick up i am home until i open the arlo app. Same goes.foe leaving in the mornings

[bubba_c]

I have my android and my wife has an iPhone and both are enabled devices for Geofencing.  However, if I log in from one phone, it forceably logs out the other phone saying only one login is allowed at a time.  So as a result, geofencing is not working correctly all of the time when one of us leaves the home and the other stays.

I'm guessing, that somehow we need separate login's to prevent this from happening, but how can you have 2 separate logins controlling the same Arlo system?  Is this the problem, and the approach I should be looking for?

Thanks for any help.

[jguerdat]

Only one device at a time using the main account can be connected.  However, you can add guest access using Settings, Grant Access to add anyone else and that won't affect the main account's login at all.

[andsj]

I'm seeing exactly the same problem as some other people in this thread, ie geofencing does not pick up that I'm home or away until I manually open the Arlo app.

I also checked with a task manager app on my phone and the Arlo app is not running in the background for more than a couple of minutes until it disappears from the list of running apps.

I know geofencing is still beta, but geofencing is quite useless as long as we have this issue. When will Netgear have a fix for this? Have you been able to reproduce it?

I'm using Sony Xperia Z3 compact with Android 6.0.1 and v2.1.2_13737 of the Arlo app for Android

[lewcal13]

Im now using a combination of life 360 and ifttt to create my geofence for arlo. Works without fault everytime. Far more reliable than the geofencing in the arlo app.

[bubba_c]

I eventually got the geofencing working between me and my wife.  Unfortunately, I had to ultimately create 3 accounts:  one for web access, and one for each of our mobile phones.  Each mobile phone was granted access to the device.  The reason for 3 accounts:  If I ever logged into the web app, if that login was shared with one of the phones, it would force the phone to log-out, forcing geo-location to stop, and all of a sudden it would assume I'm not home and arm the system.  Same general idea between me and my wife's phones.  If we shared the login for those, and one of us logged in, the other would auto log out and same problem occurs.

Root problem:  Arlo should allow the same login to be shared by all participating devices and the web app and not force a max limit of 1 login.  Forcing me to create 3 accounts creates a lot of overhead for me, and I assume for the arlo system as well, and makes operation and configuration 10x more complex.  "KISS"l

I'm sure the system is stupid and ties the login to an active participating device 1:1, when it should have been designed to separate the login from the device and simply use the login for authentication only.   Oh well, at least I got it figured out.

[TerryMW]

Hi Andsj -

I think you've summed up the Geofencing situation at the moment very well - I do appreciate that it is a Beta feature but obviously still needs work.

I too cannot keep the app running for more a few minutes no matter what I do.The Android system bumps it out of memory when you run virtually any other new application......

The app needs the addition of specific coding to make it stay running resident in memory, like many other Android apps are capable of.

If I have to run up the App again to trigger geofencing on/off, I might as well just arm/disarm the system and be done with it. 

It's is a pity because geo-fencing is such a good idea, but at the moment that's all it is, an idea and not reality - alas.

[andsj]

Any new comments from Netgear on geofencing problems and why Arlo app won't stay running in the background on Android?
When can we expect a new beta release? ...or even better a working commercial release?

[MGoode]

Thanks for the note and explanation.  

I find the the geofencing notification works fine for going and coming without using wifi turned on. But when I added a second phone I found a problem with my Arlo-Q geo-fencing. It arms the Arlo-Q when I leave, even if my wife's phone is still recognized as being in zone. The base station and wireless cameras don't have this issue, just the Arlo-Q. 

Anyone else have the same issue? Or Arlo, any thoughts?

thanks

[JamesC]

MGoode,

Consider refreshing your enabled devices within Geofencing settings. Disable all listed devices, save and then enable the devices again.

When you experience this, is the app running and location enabled on your wife's phone? If the app is logged off/not running Geofencing will not work.

Geofencing is still a Beta feature at this time and the engineering team is working hard to improve it. We appreciate any and all feedback related to this feature.

JamesC

[andsj]

Hi MGoode!

I have a system similar to yours, ie both Arlo-Q and base station cameras and two phones.

I use the Android client and my wife uses the Iphone version. I recognize the similar issues as you with system being armed when my wife leaves but I am still at home. I also see the issue of system not being armed if I leave first an my wife leaves later. And a whole bunch of other combinations....which make the geofencing feature rather useless right now. 

I have tried the tricks suggested here at the forum (refresh my enabled devices, clear the app cache etc..)  but no success. I also got some suggestions to try Life 360 in combination with IFFT to arm/disarm, this I haven't tried yet. But event though the feature is in beta state, I would expect better functionality.

To Netgear: When will you release an official working release with reliable geofencing? Do you verify all combinations of Arlo-Q/Basestation cameras with Android/Iphone clients and single/multiuser, wifi enabled/disabled etc...etc..?

[Steve07805]

Any news on when the geofencing will come out of beta and the issue of having to keep the app open will be fixed? It makes geofencing useless at the moment