Simplest maps crash iPhone when viewing StoryMaps

Question

The simplest of StoryMaps keep crashing on iPhone, even with just 4 layers in the webmaps iPhones cant handle the stories.  Everything awesome is turned off like drop shadows, there are no masks or filters, the layer with the most detail only has 44 tiny line features in there - its really very frustrating! Any other optimisation suggestions?  I see even the ESRI teams have the issue themselves as not even their latest Tapestry StoryMap gets past the first section.  Any help would be appreciated.

[iPhone 13 with plenty of free storage space]

KateBray · Answer

Hi Owen,

Thank you.  Yes sure here is the link, iPhones struggle just after the UNDERSTAND section, as soon as any of the side cars with maps load. https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/eb1b66cce8894955bc2a6028b1d73fae.

I attach screenshots of each of the transect and eDNA maps causing the current issues below that section

there really is hardly any data in there, and very simple symbology.

I have just gone through and replaced some of the maps with stand-alone graphics in the side cars to circumnavigate some of the issues (which isnt ideal, but helps).  I did also discover that the line layer that was published from Pro, performs better with new symbology native to webmaps (not the double line symbol that came from Pro) and I'm busy trying to replace all symbology from Pro with native webmap ones (including lables).

oevans_storymaps · Answer

@KateBray -- Thanks for providing your feedback about your experience. Can you please share a link to the map you were having trouble with so we can take a look to try to help determine what's going on in your situation?

Please note that even layers that are "off" consume memory/resources and should be removed from a map if they are not used in a story. Information on best practices related to the number of layers and web maps currently recommended for use in StoryMaps is available here: Frequently asked questions—ArcGIS StoryMaps | Documentation.

The tapestry story you referenced has one map with almost 30 layers, which consumes an enormous amount of memory and is not a best practice for stories that will be viewed on a wide variety of mobile devices. I contacted the authors and they are aware of this. This story was primarily designed to be shown at a conference on a laptop at a display kiosk, so they were not concerned with designing for phone viewing. However, they plan to do some work to optimize the story for mobile devices after the conference.

KateBray · Answer

Thanks Cody, yes I pretty much came to the same conclusion. I had hoped it was only brought on by high consumption maps, however my maps are so simple and dumbed down, they can’t be simplified any further unfortunately.  Removing drop shadows definitely solved some of the problems on other maps, and removing hash symbology… but alas still searching for the issue with the rest, they really shouldn’t be consuming resources. Appreciate the time you spent, thanks for testing it out!