Has anyone found a workaround to allow using side loaded basemaps in the new collector?

Question

Our organization used to use an empty side loaded basemap that would allow us to take our entire area offline for use in the field.  The area our field workers cover is vast, and we need all the detail options available to our workers.  I love some of the improvements in collector, but for me this is a severe loss of function.  Has anyone found a way around the limitations for data taken offline?

MarkBockenhauer · Answer

Jessica,

Apologies... took a closer work and I have a better understanding now.

You will need an "Offline Area" to work offline...

Using the web-browser you can create a fairly large offline area.

For your webmap click Settings

In the offline section Enable offline mode, click Manage Areas

You can create a large area at world detail.

Once you have this offline area, it will need to be downloaded to device.

The pictured extent results in a 108 mb offline area.

When downloaded to device, your users will be able to switch to the side loaded base map and work offline.

Mark

JessicaKozuki · Answer

Hi Mark,

No, I don't think that will solve my issue.  I am using iOS, yes, and I am able to sideload our basemap.  What is missing is the fact that I used to be able to bypass the offline content download limitations by choosing my locally loaded basemap. This doesn't seem to be an option any longer unless I am missing something.

Our field workers work in an area that encompasses 80,262 square kilometres.  Often they don't have internet connectivity and based on weather concerns they don't always know when they leave a connected state where they will be working.  For the past few years we have been using this workaround to take our entire geographical area offline for our field workers.  The ESRI employee I worked with to develop this strategy seemed to think that things would improve for us once the new Collector came out, but it seems that we are back at square one.  I guess I don't understand why the program limits the amount of data that a person can choose to take offline.

Do you have any ideas?

Jessica

MarkBockenhauer · Answer

Jessica,

Using Collector on IOS you should be able to side load, and then choose the side loaded map to use as a basemap.

For example, I create a VTPK.

Used Itunes to side load it to collector.

Then in Collector I opened my editable webmap and chose the "VTPK" to use as a basemap from the basemap gallery.

Is this what you are trying to do?

Mark