Firmware M Series Firmware 4.63.005 - Hik-Connect Alarm Enable/Disable Bug (not fixed)

[JB1970]

Hik-Connect Alarm Enable Disable Issues
In 4.63.000 (with Hik-Connect 5.1.x) there was an issue with the event notification enable/disable function (the bell icon in the app). The button appeared to work displaying a message that notifications were enabled/disabled but it had no effect and notifications were always enabled.

In 4.63.000 (with Hik-Connect 5.2.x) it improved a bit. The new areas setup gives 3 options Arm, Arm Silently, Disarm:
- Arm - Enable events and push notifications and audible alarm/strobe light
- Arm Silently - Enable events but no push notifications and audible alarm/strobe light disabled
- Disarm - No events or push notifications and audible alarm/strobe light disabled

For each area Arm, Armed Silently, Disarmed were correctly labelled on each camera. Arm and Disarm worked correctly, however Arm Silently did not work with push notifications still received regardless.

In yesterdays release 4.63.005. The problem is not resolved:
For each area Arm, Armed Silently were correctly labelled on each camera ('Armed', 'Silenced). Disarmed is incorrectly labelled 'Silenced'. Arm and Disarm worked correctly, however Arm Silently did not work with push notifications still received regardless.

So nothing has changed with regard to the incorrect operation except that a Disarmed area is now incorrectly labeled Silenced - it's actually worse

 

[Kyle]

Thanks @JB1970 - that's disappointing
I'll update our Hikvision support contacts in our ongoing thread and explain that things are worse if anything.
(I'll also double-check we're seeing the same thing when I have a moment to test)

 

[Kyle]

I think this is fixed now - the three options are working properly for me now on V4.63.006 build230526 anyway.

What I'm seeing with a DS-2CD2387G2-LSU/SL(C) on a DS-7608NI-M2/8P is:

Arm - push notifications and event clips are sent to Hik-Connect, audio and strobe alarms are triggered.
Arm Silently - push notifications and event clips are sent to Hik-Connect, audio and strobe alarms are disabled.
Disarm - No push notifications or event clips, audio and strobe alarms are disabled.

This page seems to confirm that this is how these should work:

Updates in V5.2

New features in Hik-Connect V5.2 updates are about NVRs, access control devices, routers, and security panels.

pinfo.hikvision.com

Are you seeing an improvement at your end too @JB1970?

 

[JB1970]

I think this is fixed now - the three options are working properly for me now on V4.63.006 build230526 anyway.

What I'm seeing with a DS-2CD2387G2-LSU/SL(C) on a DS-7608NI-M2/8P is:

Arm - push notifications and event clips are sent to Hik-Connect, audio and strobe alarms are triggered.
Arm Silently - push notifications and event clips are sent to Hik-Connect, audio and strobe alarms are disabled.
Disarm - No push notifications or event clips, audio and strobe alarms are disabled.

This page seems to confirm that this is how these should work:

Updates in V5.2

New features in Hik-Connect V5.2 updates are about NVRs, access control devices, routers, and security panels.

pinfo.hikvision.com

Are you seeing an improvement at your end too @JB1970?

Hi Kyle - I've been checking daily for updates as it's not been working correctly on the .005 release. When I checked the UK site this morning it was still showing .005 but has now updated to .006. I'll run the update and see if it's all working for me (a smaller bug that was once you 'Disarm' the area it showed 'Silenced' on the camera thumbnail rather than 'Disarmed)

I had a look at that page you linked. I think the confusion is arising between 'Arm' and 'Arm Silently', the descriptions are very ambiguous depending on where you look:

• In the linked page 'Arm Silently' says push notifications and event clips are sent to Hik-Connect, audio and strobe alarms are disabled. In that regard there's no difference between 'Arm' and 'Arm Silently' unless you're using the strobe and audio alarms.
• In the Hik-Connect app Settings > Notification (second option) "Receive events but NOT push notifications, and NOT allow Audio and Strobe Light alarms". That is what I (incorrectly) assumed 'Arm Silently' would do - disable the audio and strobe alerts, disable the audible push notification and message to the phones lock screen/home screen, while importantly still delivering the event and its associated video clip to the app. For example I don't want to hear the phone ping or see a message on the phone screen but when I open the app I want the clip to be there for later viewing.

It appears that you can no longer silence the push notifications but get the events in the app when you open it. If you don't want an audible alert on your phone you'd need to 'Disarm' and doing that also stops the event being delivered to the app.

 

[JB1970]

@Kyle I've updated my NVR. I've not had chance to test the operation of the areas yet but I can confirm that they have not resolved the incorrect display of the area status. If you 'Arm Silently' an area; the camera thumbnail(s) for that area show 'Silenced'. However if you 'Disarm' an area the camera thumbnail(s) for that area also show 'Silenced' instead of 'Disarmed'. So from the app Home Screen it's impossible to know whether an area is "Armed Silently' or 'Disarmed' as regardless they show 'Silenced' and don't match the status shown in the page that appears when you click the arming icon:

The area 'Garden' has 2 cameras in it '06-Patio' being one of them. You can see below that the area is 'Disarmed':

However on the app Home Screen, the camera thumbnails display 'Silenced':

I did report this to support back on May 19th

 

[Kyle]

Thanks @JB1970, I'll feed these things back - "arm silently" and "disarm" are both just labelled as "silenced" on the home screen for me too - apologies, I was looking mainly at the page you're taken to when you touch the arming icon.

You're right, there should be a way to silence push notifications for an area but still have the clips sent to the event history page in the app.

 

[JB1970]

You're right, there should be a way to silence push notifications for an area but still have the clips sent to the event history page in the app.

Yeah I'm sure that's how it used to work. When we just had the single bell icon in the app for enable/disable, that icon was just a shortcut to switch between "Receive events and push notifications....." and "Receive events but NOT push notifications...." Those options are still there so I'm not sure how they will interact or conflict with the new areas setup. I noticed that with this .006 update the bell notification icon in the top right corner of the local monitor changes to show the status with a line through it if disarmed (though it seems to be inaccurate depending on the status of multiple areas)

 

[Kyle]

So, after annoying everyone in the office with the camera's speaker, I've worked out what each combination does and have covered them in the table below...

It's all a bit messy, but I'm finding that you can disable push notifications and keep event clips if you set the notifications setting to "disable", and toggle between "arm" and "arm silently".

Contrary to what "disable" states here:

NOT allow audio and strobe light alarms

"Arm" effectively overrides this, and will still trigger the light and speaker.

	Arm	Arm Silently	Disarm
Enable (Receive events and push notifications, and allow audio and strobe light alarms on the device)	Push notification sent, event clip sent, audio/light activated	Push notification sent, event clip sent, audio/light silenced	No push notification, no event clip, audio/light silenced
Disable (Receive events but NOT push notifications, and NOT allow audio and strobe light alarms on the device)	No push notification, event clip sent, audio/light activated	No push notification, event clip sent, audio/light silenced	No push notification, no event clip, audio/light silenced

 

[JB1970]

So, after annoying everyone in the office with the camera's speaker, I've worked out what each combination does and have covered them in the table below...

It's all a bit messy, but I'm finding that you can disable push notifications and keep event clips if you set the notifications setting to "disable", and toggle between "arm" and "arm silently".

Contrary to what "disable" states here:

"Arm" effectively overrides this, and will still trigger the light and speaker.

	Arm	Arm Silently	Disarm
Enable (Receive events and push notifications, and allow audio and strobe light alarms on the device)	Push notification sent, event clip sent, audio/light activated	Push notification sent, event clip sent, audio/light silenced	No push notification, no event clip, audio/light silenced
Disable (Receive events but NOT push notifications, and NOT allow audio and strobe light alarms on the device)	No push notification, event clip sent, audio/light activated	No push notification, event clip sent, audio/light silenced	No push notification, no event clip, audio/light silenced

Comprehensively tested there Kyle!

So effectively if you're not using Audio/Light or don't have those cameras there's no difference between Arm and Arm Silently, as the push notification is reliant on the Enable or Disable option in the settings. Previously we could easily toggle that using the Bell icon but now thats been removed we have to...3 dot menu > Settings > Notification > switch the option to suit.

I think that the areas option is great but what you can't do is receive event clips from all areas while only receiving push notifications from some. I suppose everyones use case is different but really we need the bell icon back to avoid going into that menu to enable/disable the audible push notification. I might be able to get around that by creating a specific Focus Mode on the iPhone that allows everything except Hik-Connect notifications (however that is an app wide option so would probably prevent intercom calls being received)

Edit: Using a Focus Mode as a shortcut to block the push notifications in iPhone works

People - Silence Notifications from None
Apps - Silence Notifications from Hik-Connect

That saves going into the site settings. Event clips are still received in the app.

 

[Kyle]

Good thinking with the Focus Mode
Looks like the same should work on Android:

How to Use Focus Mode on Android

“Digital wellbeing” tools are a big part of modern smartphones. These utilities aim to create healthier usage habits. Focus Mode is one of these tools, and it’s available on all Android devices. Here’s how it works.

www.howtogeek.com

I'll still pass on our findings to Hikvision to make toggling push notifications and event clips on/off simpler - the areas option is nice, just needs some refining!

 

[JB1970]

@Kyle. Something else I've noticed this morning. NVR alarm inputs do not work correctly with the new feature.

If an NVR alarm input is configured to trigger a camera channel in an area that is armed, it works as expected. When the input is triggered a Hik-Connect event and push notification is received in the app with the source listed as the linked camera channel and the snapshot image and video clip are available. However if you disarm the area:

• The audible push notification for the IO alarm is still received on the phone.
• The snapshot image and video clip are absent, there's just text

No doubt Hikvision will say that the 'source' for the alarm input is the NVR, not the linked camera and so it will not be associated and armed/disarmed as part of an area. As its stands though, if the image and clip are being removed when the area that the linked camera is in is disarmed, they [Hikvision] should disable that push notification and event also.

 

[Kyle]

Thanks @JB1970 - all makes sense and I'll pass this on too, and agreed, there should be no notification at all if there is no attached picture and clip!

 

[Kyle]

I've heard back from Hikvision HQ on these issues and to summarise, they're going to work on a fix and remove the bell icon completely.
I think when they mention the bell icon and "one key DND" below being removed, they're also referring to the "enable/disable" toggle for notifications within each device's Hik-Connect settings:

	Arm	Arm Silently	Disarm
Enable (Receive events and push notifications, and allow audio and strobe light alarms on the device)	Push notification sent, event clip sent, audio/light activated	Push notification sent, event clip sent, audio/light silenced	No push notification, no event clip, audio/light silenced
Disable (Receive events but NOT push notifications, and NOT allow audio and strobe light alarms on the device)	No push notification, event clip sent, audio/light activated	No push notification, event clip sent, audio/light silenced	No push notification, no event clip, audio/light silenced

Here's their reply to me, I'll clarify that push notifications cannot be received at all when "disable" is set:

The bell icon = One Key Do Not Disturb is functional coupled with the Group Arming/Disarming which is newly added to HC in V4.63 and might cause issues when applying the Group Arming/Disarming function. To make sure the Group Arming/Disarming is working properly, the Do Not Disturb mode must be set to enable.

For the future plan, the One Key Do Not Disturb will be deleted, we are focusing on Group Arming/Disarming which can be set up on the device's home page.

In terms of the alarm in, it is a great idea, appreciate your suggestion. We will test it and report it to the PM.

 

[Ianc]

For the future plan, the One Key Do Not Disturb will be deleted, we are focusing on Group Arming/Disarming which can be set up on the device's home page.

I really like the arm/disarm feature and pleased that improving it is their focus.
As it stands, it works well for me as I don't use the 'Arm Silently' function, but I would agree that if a function is there, it should work

With firmware v4.63.010 and Hik-Connect v5.2.4 arm silently still doesn't function as intended.

 

[JB1970]

Thanks @Kyle. The positive from that response is that they [Hikvision] can see that there's room for improvement and are developing the function further. It's nearly there just not quite, but I'm confident now that the enhanced functionality will improve.