Arlo is discontinuing software support for its older offerings
Arlo makes some of the best home security cameras out there and many of its recent products have proven to be way better than the competition in many key areas. However, it now looks like Arlo’s approach toward its legacy security cameras may not go down well with some longtime users. The company has intimated to its customers that two of its security cameras will hit the end of their service lives within a couple of months — and these cameras aren’t even that old.
Customers including Android Police founder Artem Russakovskii received an email from Arlo informing them that the company has decided to cast off two of its popular security cameras: the Arlo Gen 3 (VMC3030) and the first-gen Arlo Pro (VMC4030). Starting this April 1, these two cameras will stop receiving any kind of support from the company. Arlo is basically giving you just 3 months to find a worthwhile replacement if you’ve still been rocking one of these models.
If you own either or both of these cameras, what this means is that you will lose access to 7-day cloud storage and email notifications. Arlo will also completely stop product and software support for the Arlo Pro and Arlo Gen 3. If you already subscribe to Arlo Secure, these retiring cameras will be able to store the videos online, though newer cloud features won’t be accessible going forward. The cameras can still be used to live-stream video and motion alerts will still work. Local storage through the base station is also available as an option.
Home security systems are typically designed for long-term use and these two Arlo cameras are nowhere close to their end-of-life in that sense: the Arlo Gen 3 and the Arlo Pro are just 8 and 6 years old, respectively. The company is basically pushing customers to switch to its newer models even when their existing cameras are going strong.
And if that’s not bad enough, even more products are set to be deprecated under the company’s End of Life policy (PDF) with the Arlo Baby, Pro 2, Q, Q+, Lights, and Audio Doorbell all due to fall out of support come January 1, 2024.
Many disgruntled users are looking to switch away from the Arlo ecosystem. If you’re in the same boat, there are plenty of indoor and outdoor security cameras that you can go for as an Arlo replacement.
