Currently a map can only be used online or offline. While the option to download either one or several offline areas should be maintained, an additional online map should be made available. Thus, you would not need to delete the offline areas when you want to go online which is not user-friendly (the synchronization takes a long time in each case and the storage space on the devices is limiting). The simultaneous use of offline areas and an online map is needed by field staff for overview and work coordination. Please provide for the same map following options (see attached picture):
Hello @swiss_parks_network_nbernhard
Thank you so much for the suggestion! We consider and evaluate our customer’s feedback for future updates in Field Maps.
Regards,
Alix
I agree that this would be really nice - if I remember correctly, this was possible in Collector Classic.
Definitely agree with this idea. Have wondered why it wasn't sm iron from the get go. Our field staff ate frequently in offline areas, but also online, particularly when using for quick updates in the office. Being able to open an online map for a quick check of something outside of regular offline areas would be very handy!
Adding my support for this idea. This would be particularly helpful for our users that work in areas without service for which we do not have a custom TPK basemap. Currently they are required to download massive areas of basemaps, which is a major issue in terms of time and device storage capacity.
Definitely agree with this idea. Hope to change its status to In Product Plan asap.
Would add my support for this feature. It would be great if a map that has offline areas created can also be used in online mode. I would estimate that 95% of the time our field crews have a data signal so can work online and get the benefits of immediate update of data and access to data for the full extent of our region. The offline areas are really only there for those exceptional times when no service is available.
The way I would get around this for now is to have two copies of the same map - one for offline use and another for online use - but then obviously any config changes need to be carried out in both copies.
Dearly hope this gets implemented. I remember raising this issue during Collector Aurora beta testing, but it never got considered then. I believe its not as simple as it sounds to achieve, but as you say, it worked fine in classic!
At least its now easy enough to duplicate and set one to disable offline mode.
I too would like to see this added. If you are in an area that fluctuates between online and offline frequently, the current iteration is not very practicable.
This would be super useful to our field staff! Right now we are creating online and offline map copies, which is a redundancy. Would be much more efficient if this idea were to come to fruition.
Just checking in on the status of this idea - like the above commenters, we too need the field maps app to be able to use both offline and online maps at the same time.
Just to add to this, I asked a developer on a recent ESRI conference in Switzerland about this feature and whether they had any plans on developing this. The answer was "No".
This would be really helpful. Our current workflow means we can't just have a separate "online" version of the map. It would be a much better user experience for staff to just be able to switch between an offline and an online version if they need to.
Completely endorse this idea! I've just created my first ever Field Maps web app for a group of field staff to trial as a proof of concept.
The top item on their 'snag list' was the ability to freely move between online and offline mode, as opposed to restricted to offline mode the moment a single offline area is defined.
Sometimes the staff know they need to work in an area with poor signal, however prior to this they will be working in an area with OK signal so prefer to work online there, and immediately move to the offline area that they will have defined whilst in the office on the Wi-Fi, before beginning their tour.
I'm honestly surprised this was wasn't included initially. Its such a hassle having an "Offline" and "Online" map to allow for users to have an online and offline options. Come on dev team, make it happen.
With a mixture of online and offline use, across our organisation, we would find this very useful.
I Kudo that, but meanwhile we do not have this new feature, I propose something much easier, the possibility to change in AGOL from offline to online. Once you set a map as offline it is not possible to undo it. I mean, it is possible, but it is not reflected in Fieldmaps interface.
@AngelRomoSandoval I can't speak to AGOL but with Portal 10.9.1 this isn't an issue. I can have a map with Enable offline mode on and I do not see your issue. I don't have any offline areas either in Portal or Fieldmaps so that may be what the issue is. In field maps if you have an offline area built its offline until you remove it. I'm hoping ESRI works on this, having an online option seems to be such a simple fix.
Absolute no-brainer. I specifically do not create any offline areas for this very reason. Such an unnecessary limitation of the ESRI Field apps suite.
Yes please! This would be incredibly useful!
Do we have a timeline for the implementation?
It becomes annoying more and more.
Thanks.
@AlixPower @DougMorgenthaler there were an additional 12 'votes' for this on the Early Adopters site forum requesting this functionality Online/offline map use - ArcGIS Field Maps (esri.com) . Would be good to know what Esri's thinking is on this idea and a rough timeframe.
This would be a great addition. In my scenario, we have a public hunting map on field maps. Currently, we only provide a few predetermined offline areas with the map as some of the state has poor cell phone coverage. However, giving the public the option to access the live and full map would be very helpful. Providing two maps of the same thing, one offline and one live, is not ideal.
Agreed, this problem is the main reason we have not switched to use Field Maps yet.
Here is our use case for this. Some of our field crew has good cell service and some don’t so offline areas are not always needed even for the same map. If I pre-create an offline area for a map then all users are forced to use it and do not have the choice to use an online map. When users use the offline map they loose the basemap options of the online map (satellite or topo layers) and are stuck with the basemap set for the map. So if I force an offline area, no one can use imagery. If users create their own offline maps they encounter the same problem if they want to use a basemap. There is no way to switch to an online mode to enable basemaps without completely deleting their offline map and having to recreate and download it before they go offline again.
If there was a way to have offline maps on device but be able to toggle them off and use the online map instead that would be idea. Another way around is if they have an offline map but have service then online basemaps should still work.
The reason we haven’t started using two maps, one online and one offline, is because it doubles the maps we have to manage. If I need to make a change I then would have to make it twice. Also, this requires more user training on switching between them, and more maps cluttering the list of maps users can see.
For offline basemaps and sideloading, our areas of operation cover hundreds to thousands of square miles each and in some areas we have multiple imagery sources depending on what the user needs or quality they are looking for. So sideloading imagery would be several to hundreds of GB’s in size, which is not remotely feasible for phones or tablets, and again it would require more training and user device set up instead of just sending a text or email with a Field Map link to the map/app. With hundreds of users across the continent that would be a massive undertaking. We do have a general topo basemap that is offline capable and is packaged with their offline areas download when they make their own area or download a premade one.
This was added in the November 2022 release of Field Maps.
You can access the online version of the map by tapping the map card in the Online map section of the map areas list. You no longer need to provide online and offline versions of your map.
Yes! Absolutely agree this would be very useful!
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