Arlo Pro gets HomeKit Support
by Volker Weber
Arlo Pro and Pro 2 have received software updates for the cameras and the basestation, and now a new version of the app. This update brings HomeKit support to the VMB4000 and VMB 4500 Base station and the Arlo Pro and Pro 2 cameras.
If you have previously used Arlo with HomeBridge, you have to remove that first, unless you want the setup to fail. I removed the Arlo plugin as well as all corresponding data and modules from HomeBridge, restarted HomeBridge and then shut it down. Removed the Arlo app and reloaded it. It offered to add my cameras to HomeKit and wanted access to homekit data. Then it added the base station and my Arlo Pro as both camera and motion sensor. You cannot add Arlo from HomeKit itself, because it does not display a setup code.
Do not under any circumstances press the button "Reset Homekit" within the Arlo app. It will delete your HomeKit configuration. All of it. Remember you gave it access to HomeKit data!
Comments
Nice!
Dies this mean it will get also the iCloud support which was announced at WWDC this year?
(That was a reason to hold off my upgrade to pro cams from Arlo. Using the most simple ones right now)
This update is good anyway. Next “black Friday” discount I will decide this.
I do not know. Currently Arlo provides cloud storage for your videos. They might be happy to offload that to storage that you pay for at Apple. But nothing has been announced. And generally speaking, Arlo has not been quick to deliver on their promises.
Do you still prefer Arlo Pro 2 over the Ultra’s due to their service plans? I am close to buying but wasn’t sure which ones to go for. Thanks
I find the free cloud storage to be an essential part of the package. That is why I would not want the Ultra. YMMV.
Ran into some issues with my updates. HomeBridge also had the Arlo plugin installed, after removing it including the config, restarting Homebridge, the Arlo security device kept coming back since it was still in the HomeBridge cache. The only way to get rid of it was to shut down HomeBridge and then start it with the -R option, which rebuilds the cache.
To make sure I don't forget this any more, I added the "-R" option to the HOMEBRIDGE_OPTS parameters in the "homebridge" file.
Sadly the HomeKit integration doesn't include support for the security system feature. To make this work without getting every camera added twice, I added an option the homebridge-arlo plugin to disable including the cameras and provided a pull request for the original plugin: https://github.com/devbobo/homebridge-arlo/pull/33
If anyone wants to use this right away, simply copy the content of the index.js file over the content of the already installed plugin and add the parameter "include_cameras" and set its value to "false". Hope this helps someone :)
I ran into the same problem as Andreas: there seems to be no way of arming and disarming the cameras in HomeKit. Back to HomeBridge and keep waiting for Apple to provide this essential feature or for Arlo to deliver that tiny remote they introduced at CES 2019.
Andreas just explained how you can have both the HomeBridge Plugin and the native Arlo support.
