Lorex notifications not working? Fix them step by step

First: which Lorex app do you use?

Lorex has several apps, and the one you use depends on your system: for example the Lorex app (previously Lorex Home), Lorex Cloud and Lorex Connect. The box or the quick start guide says which. The screens differ, but the checks below are the same in all of them.

Your alert travels from the camera to the recorder (the DVR or NVR box that stores the footage), then through Lorex’s servers to Apple or Google, and finally to your phone. If any step is off, nothing arrives.

Step 1: check detection on the camera

1. Make sure motion detection is on for the camera. In the Lorex app, turning motion detection off also turns off person, vehicle, animal and package detection, and then no motion notifications come at all.
2. Enable the detection types you want alerts for, such as motion, person or package. The options depend on the camera model.
3. Repeat for each camera. Every camera has its own settings.

Step 2: check the app’s notification settings

1. Make sure the system is online in the app. An offline recorder can’t send alerts.
2. Check that alerts or push notifications are switched on, both for the system and for each camera.
3. Look at the push notification schedule. A schedule can mute alerts at certain hours without you noticing.
4. Check that snooze isn’t on. While snoozed, the cameras keep recording but push notifications are paused.
5. Update the app. If alerts stopped after an update, switch push notifications off and on again.

Step 3: check the phone

• Allow notifications for the Lorex app in the phone’s settings.
• On iPhone, check that a Focus mode isn’t silencing it.
• On Android, turn battery optimization off for the app, and check Do Not Disturb.
• Try a second phone signed in to the same account. If it gets alerts, the problem is on your phone.

Lorex notifications not working for some events, or late

• The Lorex app limits duplicate notifications by default. Continuous motion gives you fewer alerts than there are events, and only events that created a notification appear on the Events page.
• If alerts arrive late, try turning off notification thumbnails (the small picture in the alert).
• Lorex posts service alerts on its help site when push notifications are delayed for everyone. Check there before changing your settings.
• Keep the recorder’s firmware up to date, and its date and time correct.

When the alerts work but don’t help

Person and vehicle detection cut many false alarms. But a person alert still fires for every customer, every delivery and every passer-by. What an owner wants to know is narrower: the till open with nobody there, the back door at 2am, the shutter still down at opening time.