Arduino Gets Loud About Unexpected Downtime with New Arduino Cloud Device Status Notifications

Arduino has announced a new feature for its Arduino Cloud platform, and it's something that could save users a lot of hand-wringing and troubleshooting: Device Status Notifications.

"You’re managing a network of IoT sensors that monitor air quality across multiple locations. Suddenly, one of the sensors goes offline, but you don’t notice until hours later. The result? A gap in your data and a missed opportunity to take corrective action," the Arduino team explains of the root of the problem. "This is a common challenge when working with IoT devices: staying informed about the real-time status of each device is crucial to ensure smooth operation and timely troubleshooting."

That, Arduino hopes, is where Device Status Notifications can make a difference. Now available on the Arduino Cloud platform, Device Status Notifications allow users to receive push notifications whenever a device loses — or gains — connectivity to the platform. It's based on the existing trigger and notification system built into Arduino Cloud, but tailored specifically for connectivity alerts — delivering, Arduino claims, "instant" notifications of connectivity issues or their resolution.

Alerts can be customized to specific devices or rolled out across all devices connected to an Arduino Cloud account, and can either send the instant a connection change is spotted or after a configurable delay — to prevent excessive notifications for devices, which may have intermittent connectivity by design. Alerts are sent via email and through push notifications to the Arduino IoT Remote smartphone app.

The Device Status Notifications feature is live on Arduino Cloud now, with full instructions available on the Arduino blog; those looking to use it will need to be signed up to a paid "Maker" or higher plan, with no support on the service's "Free" or "Entry" membership tiers.