Arlo Reverses Course, Will Continue to Offer Free Cloud Storage for Old Cameras

pcmag.com:

Following an understandable backlash from customers, Arlo has decided not to kill free cloud storage for its old security cameras.

Matthew McRae, CEO of Arlo, announced the policy rethink on Friday in a Twitter thread(Opens in a new window) (via The Verge(Opens in a new window)). He confirmed that seven-day cloud storage is no longer being end-of-lifed after he "asked the team in early January to investigate ways to support this service through planned platform changes."

To be clear for existing owners, McRae followed up stating:

"Users who currently have 7-day storage service will continue to receive that service uninterrupted. Any future migrations will be handled in a seamless manner. I know this was the source of nearly all concern & we are happy to announce that users will not be impacted."

The updated End of Life policy revealed in early January covered a range of changes including old cameras losing firmware updates, security updates, bug fixes, and email notifications on April 1, 2023. That end date has now been tweaked, with McRae using the Pro 2 class of products as an example and stating the new end-of-life (EOL) date is 2025. After EOL, security updates will be provided for a further year. Don't expect parts, repairs, and refurbishments to be readily available or possible, though.

For now, customers only have this Twitter thread as confirmation the EOL policy is changing. McRae promises a new policy will be posted and emails sent out, but for now there's no reference to it on the Arlo website. Unfortunately, the reverse course may have come too late to regain the trust of some Arlo customers who are now looking for alternatives.

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