Feature Request: Track location live on a mobile browser

Question

We have created a walking tour of our town in StoryMaps. I have noticed that although you can get your location in the browser as the blue dot by clicking the location tool, it does not update or follow you.

As this is given as a link to tourists we want to keep it light and not have them need to download an app.

Is it possible to get the location to change dynamically?

AbbyE_Esri · Answer

Hi @Cary_Chadwick , for a campus walking tour, I'd actually recommend taking a look at this collection of other campus walking tours that have been created for inspiration: https://storymaps.arcgis.com/collections/c66f04f1b1584a04b1650e4076232ff6

Some of these choose to give images and lots of description to each point on the walking tour, so the reader doesn't need to be looking at their moving dot as their main indicator of where they should be.

You could also leave a note before the map tour to remind walkers to click the location icon to update their location as they walk if they ever get lost.

Another option outside of the ArcGIS StoryMaps realm would be to use another Esri app, Field Maps. You could create a map in ArcGIS Online with the points of your walking tour, and add the map to a field maps application. This could also be embedded within a story if you want to stick with ArcGIS StoryMaps and need the reader's live dot to be constantly updating.

Hope this helps!

--Abby

Cary_Chadwick · Answer

Hi Abby,

We are trying to do something very similar - a simple walking tour for visitors to the University of Connecticut campus. Do you have a work-around, best practice, or preferred storymap format for something like these two examples that would work well to guide someone along a path in a StoryMap? Any existing StoryMaps in the gallery that do this well? Was bummed to hear the blue dot doesn't remain active unless tracking is refreshed.

Thanks in advance!

Cary

AbbyE_Esri · Answer

@Simrishamnskommun ,

Thanks for your question! At the minute, the only way to get the current location to update is to click the Current location icon on the map to refresh the tracking. If you'd like the team to consider adding an ability to enable a live tracker on the reader's current location, consider posting this idea to the ArcGIS StoryMaps Ideas page to request the enhancement.

--Abby