Hi Ring,
The question in the title is the motivation of this post.
I was wondering if there had been some issue impacting Ring Mode Settingsj on/around March 5-March 7, 2023, that affected either the app front-ends (for me, ChromeOS and Android), the back-end account services, or perhaps both?
Timing as I experienced it:
Morning of 3/6
The Ring Mode Settings bar in both Firefox on Chrome, and in Android App, disappeared in the header bar for the app/web page. Upon drilling down into individual camera settings (both hard-wired floodlight and front door wireless models for me), clicking the Mode Settings button did nothing; nod Mode Settings config menu was displayed.
Afternoon/Evening of 3/6
At some point, not sure when, the Ring Mode Settings button/menus returned in both the browser and Android app. Upon turning in for the night, put the cameras into “away” mode (full motion detection and live view).
Morning of 3/7
Whilst leaving for work in the morning, put the cameras into “home” mode (I have each camera set in “home” to disable motion detection but retain live view), as my family would be waking up after and start moving around the house/yard (no need for motion detection at this time).
Day of 3/7
I received quite a large number of motion alerts both from our family entering/exiting the house and weather. I knew I had put the camera in “home” mode (my customized setting is to disable motion detection), and double checking the Mode settings were indeed set to “home”, but my custom disablement of camera motion detection, had been reset.
Morning of 3/8
Had more time this AM to poke around, and sure enough, my custom Mode settings for my 2 cameras had been completely reset. I spent a few minutes re-configuring my custom “disarm”, “home” and “away” settings, but now everything seems to be working again.
I have three questions about this incident.
#1, are user Mode settings not backed up into some non-volatile storage medium (i.e. a database) such that some type of system issue would not necessitate re-configuring my devices.
#2 given answer of 1, assuming that the Mode settings are backed up in a DB, was the scope of this issue actually beyond just front-end glitch where Mode settings ghosted in the app? I would say that seems to be accurate, given what I experienced on 3/7 and beyond.
#3 most importantly, what are your platforms expectations/requirements for notifying customers when/if such a service outage occurs?
Should we not expect some mass-mailing or communication when a UI control feature disappears off apps for even a short time?
If there is an internal problem involving data corruption/loss, should we not still receive a notification and explanation, even if the impact may or may not impact some/all of the customers?
I am generally a satisfied customer, but this issue with Mode settings disappearing is I think the second time I’ve seen this happen, this time being much longer duration and having my Mode settings wiped was a significant hassle for me.
Please consider any improvements you can make to your system reliability/maintenance, and customer support and care processes, that fall out of questions 1,2 and 3 above.
Thanks,