topic Re: Field map alternatives for windows 11 in ArcGIS Field Maps Questions

Field map alternatives for windows 11

forestknutsen1 — Wed, 20 Mar 2024 17:27:35 GMT

We were planning on deploying Field Maps on windows 11. But now that Microsoft's support is ending for Android that is no longer looking like a viable option. So, I am looking for some suggestions for GIS solutions for our filed workers on win 11 devices. We would like them to be able to view data only -- no editing or forms. It would be nice if we could get the device's GPS location to show up on the map. We would also like it to be available offline (in remote areas outside of cell coverage).

So, far I have thought of a Portal App in a web browser. I also thought about ArcGIS explorer with a local tile cache for offline use. Suggestions?

Re: Field map alternatives for windows 11

ChristopherCounsell — Thu, 21 Mar 2024 10:17:56 GMT

Have there been any communications from Esri on Field Maps for Windows 11 being dropped / the lack of android support?

Don't use ArcGIS Explorer, it's retired.

Portal web mapping applications are your best bet, for light-weight and easy to use apps. Some apps can show user location if the device is enabled for it.

There is also ArcGIS Earth. I believe it supports offline but haven't used it.

https://www.esri.com/en-us/arcgis/products/arcgis-earth/overview

Re: Field map alternatives for windows 11

RyanUthoff — Thu, 21 Mar 2024 13:34:52 GMT

Esri was completely silent about Windows 11 support at the Dev Summit last week. I went to multiple Field Maps/Apps sessions and no one even acknowledged it in the ones I attended. And in one of them while talking about OS compatibility, they only mentioned Android/iOS without acknowledging Windows 11 retirement. I talked to the Field Maps team in the Expo and their official stance is not in the product plan at this time.

Here is Esri's official statement on Field Maps on Windows 11: https://support.esri.com/en-us/knowledge-base/arcgis-field-maps-on-windows-subsystem-for-android-depr-000032174

I was personally told ArcGIS Earth as an alternative, but it's a pretty bad replacement (not calling ArcGIS Earth bad, but a bad replacement for Field Maps). If you ever used the Google Earth program, it's essentially a copy of that. You can use MMPKs in them, but they do not respect pre-set symbology, meaning your symbology is going to change every time you bring it into Earth. It doesn't track user's GPS location. S123 launch links do no work. And popup information takes many seconds to load, vs. the same web map in Portal taking only a second.

I've never tried this on a Windows 11 tablet, but you might be able to run an Android emulator and use Field Maps that way, although I don't know how well the performance of am emulator would be on a tablet though.

Re: Field map alternatives for windows 11

BillFox — Thu, 21 Mar 2024 15:27:01 GMT

Planning to use ArcGIS Pro on Windows 11 tough tablet because it does the GPS RTK vertical elevation on-the-fly adjustment to orthometric height in ftUS into the geometry's z-value

Re: Field map alternatives for windows 11

ChristopherCounsell — Thu, 21 Mar 2024 21:25:47 GMT

So it sounds like ESRI developed field maps for windows 11 but had the rug pulled on them? Unfortunate but for map centric apps on Windows that really only leaves you Pro and Earth.

I recall during the collector overhauls ESRI sharing the % of users on Windows for field work. It was extremely low. It's not surprising that they and other mobile app developers focus on iOS/Android. Windows Handheld support was another one.

Survey123 could do it via Inbox but the map is very limited.

Thanks for sharing this info. I guess your options are roughly:

Web apps (great, but don't work offline)
Survey123 (offline but map not good)
ArcGIS Pro (best option, but overkill for $ and skill)
ArcGIS Earth (the app designed for free viewing on windows, but less functionality)
Use iOS or Android devices

I'd encourage you and any other users wanting a dedicated field maps app for Windows to let them know (enh requests, ideas and through account managers).

Re: Field map alternatives for windows 11

RyanUthoff — Thu, 21 Mar 2024 21:47:52 GMT

Technically no, they didn't develop it for Windows 11. They decided to use the Windows Subsystem for Android (WSA) which allowed them to essentially copy their Android version of Field Maps into the Android Subsystem with minimal development effort. They did not develop a native Windows 11 app. But they did get the rug pulled out from under them with the deprecation of the (WSA). This wouldn't have been an issue if a native Windows 11 app was built from the beginning though.

Re: Field map alternatives for windows 11

forestknutsen1 — Thu, 21 Mar 2024 22:37:34 GMT

I reached out to Esri support regarding the future of Field maps on win 11. They said to used it on a android or iOS device. So, I guess that is a no for now. Field maps is dead on windows.

Re: Field map alternatives for windows 11

forestknutsen1 — Thu, 21 Mar 2024 22:46:34 GMT

I did think about the emulator too. I think it might technically work fine. But it sounds unwieldy from a IT support/admin point of view.

Maybe Arc earth is worth looking at for us.

We could just install ArcMap on all the devices and push a fgdb export of sde to the win 11 machines for offline use. It feels like going back in time. But maybe that is the thing to do.

Re: Field map alternatives for windows 11

forestknutsen1 — Thu, 21 Mar 2024 22:49:02 GMT

That is cool. But we don't have that use case.

Re: Field map alternatives for windows 11

forestknutsen1 — Fri, 22 Mar 2024 16:50:11 GMT

Okay so it looks like Explorer is not technically dead on windows:

Deprecation Notice for Explorer, Collector, and Tracker (esri.com)

"What about the Windows versions of Collector and Explorer? Will they be retired in December 2021 as well?

We are not actively in development of ArcGIS Field Maps on the Windows 10 platform, so Collector (Windows) and Explorer (Windows) will be supported for the foreseeable future. While they are not planned to retire – there are no additional enhancements planned for the Windows apps.

For users who need a Windows solution in active development, ArcGIS Survey123 and ArcGIS QuickCapture are active in their cross-platform development and continue to build new features on the Windows platform.

Additionally, ArcGIS Pro supports GPS-based data collection workflows (blue dot, map panning to keep blue dot centered, etc.). ArcGIS Pro already supports commonly requested features such as the Utility Network and the ability to operate completely offline for long periods of time."

So, this does not say anything about windows 11 support. I am guessing it is not supported there.

Re: Field map alternatives for windows 11

forestknutsen1 — Thu, 28 Mar 2024 17:03:01 GMT

So, it does look like ArcGIS Explorer is only available for windows 10.

What are the requirements ArcGIS Explorer?

Re: Field map alternatives for windows 11

ChristopherCounsell — Wed, 27 Mar 2024 09:23:23 GMT

I believe the windows versions of the mobile apps didn't go through the original collector 'classic' overhaul aka the aurora project. I'd advise anyone considering Explorer or Collector on Windows 10 to either design their maps specifically for these apps or check the behaviour of newer functionality (arcade, symbology) as it might not be what you expect.

Re: Field map alternatives for windows 11

JakeBrownMaps — Wed, 27 Mar 2024 18:36:32 GMT

Little late this thread - here is the official deprecation notice for Field Maps on Windows 11. Others have mentioned, Field Maps on Windows 11 ran on Windows Subsystem for Android which was deprecated by Microsoft.

Recommendations are as follows:

The recommended approach is to utilize ArcGIS Field Maps on Android and iOS platforms. At this time, a Windows version of ArcGIS Field Maps is not planned. Alternative ArcGIS applications using the Windows’s platform include ArcGIS Pro, ArcGIS Survey123, ArcGIS QuickCapture, and ArcGIS Earth.

Re: Field map alternatives for windows 11

forestknutsen1 — Thu, 28 Mar 2024 17:04:28 GMT

@JakeBrownMaps Why is ArcMap not on your list?

Re: Field map alternatives for windows 11

ChristopherCounsell — Thu, 28 Mar 2024 23:24:30 GMT

ArcMap entered mature support this month and is getting retired in 2026. No development and increasing divide between it and other parts of the platform like Arcade and Map Viewer. There's been a migration to Pro push for at least 4-5 years. Existing users should be looking to move off it ASAP and new users should not be considering it. No one should be recommending ArcMap, especially Esri staff.

Technically, ArcGIS Pro better supports web map workflows for publishing, online and offline. ArcMap is not comparable.

Re: Field map alternatives for windows 11

forestknutsen1 — Fri, 29 Mar 2024 18:28:23 GMT

Yes, I am very aware of the ArcMap life cycle and Pro push. We are a power utility. So, we will not be getting off ArcMap for a number of years as the migration to the utility network is a major undertaking. I think for us it makes the most sense to just deploy ArcMap to the devices with fgdb dump of our SDE for offline use. And then use a Portal web map or app for online use. That way we can use the same mxd on the device that the web services are based off.

Re: Field map alternatives for windows 11

BillFox — Fri, 29 Mar 2024 18:58:53 GMT

The end of software updates and patches is the end of ArcMap for us from a security point of view (Feb 2024).

Re: Field map alternatives for windows 11

JRhodes — Thu, 25 Apr 2024 18:10:35 GMT

I've tested Explorer on Windows 11. It seems to work fine and is available from the Microsoft Store.

I'm afraid to deploy to any production workflows since all the support links for Explorer in the Microsoft Store redirect you to Field Maps docs. It's unclear whether Explorer is still supported by Esri, or if so, what the Explorer support lifecycle might look like. But we are in a bit of a bind without a Windows 11 option that can show device location with offline capability.

Re: Field map alternatives for windows 11

RyanUthoff — Thu, 25 Apr 2024 18:52:04 GMT

Per this article (https://support.esri.com/en-us/knowledge-base/arcgis-explorer-deprecation-000026437#:~:text=The%20ArcGIS%20Explorer%20app%20on,enhance%20ArcGIS%20Explorer%20on%20Windows), Esri isn't deprecating Explorer on Windows, but they also aren't "enhancing" it either. So it sounds like if something breaks on it someday, it just isn't going to be fixed. Unfortunately, us Windows 11 users were left out to dry. I still don't understand why half of Esri's mobile app ecosystem has Windows 11 support, but the other half doesn't. Sure, let's collect data in Survey123 on Windows 11, but let's not give you the ability to view it in Field Maps. Makes no sense at all.

Re: Field map alternatives for windows 11

JRhodes — Wed, 20 Aug 2025 14:12:42 GMT

I did some more testing, and our 4x map looks great on Explorer on Windows 11 without any modification. Arcade expressions work (including FeatureSets). Multiline labels and layer grouping from hosted feature layers. Created an MMPK and it works great.

@RyanUthoff: ArcGIS Explorer (Windows) Life Cycle | Esri Support shows Explorer still in General Availability, which means patches/bugfixes should happen, maybe. It would be great if someone from Esri could confirm. It looks to still be fully supported, although I know the official recommendation is to move to Field Maps on iOS/Android.

FWIW, our use case is a sheriff's office needing offline maps on their Windows-based mobile data terminals (ruggedized laptops mounted in patrol cars). Moving to Android or iOS just isn't possible.