"Data is inaccessible" error for apps embedded in StoryMaps

EmileeFreeman — Thu, 15 Jan 2026 16:51:35 GMT

Hi everyone,

We’ve been running into an issue with embedded apps in StoryMaps and wanted to see if anyone else has experienced something similar.

The setup:

We have a StoryMap that includes embedded web apps (e.g., Experience Builder, Dashboards).
These apps reference data from services hosted on an external ArcGIS Server (not ArcGIS Online).

The problem:

When accessing the StoryMap on our internal network, the embedded apps throw a "data is inaccessible error".
The error does not occur when:
- Accessing the StoryMap off-network.
- Accessing the embedded app directly (on or off network).
The issue persists across browsers (Chrome, Edge) and even in incognito/private mode.
It’s not limited to one app type, this happens across all embedded app types.
Data hosted in ArcGIS Online works fine; the issue only affects services hosted on our external ArcGIS Server.

We believe this could be related to recent changes in Chrome’s handling of embedded iframes and the their Local network access settings. We've had issues recently with staff and their data not loading, which we were able to correct pretty easily - when staff access web maps or apps directly, they sometimes see a Chrome prompt asking to “Allow local network access.” If they click Deny, the app fails to load data but we can fix this by adjusting their Chrome settings later.

However, when the app is embedded in a StoryMap, users never see this prompt, and correcting the setting in Chrome does not resolve the issue for StoryMaps. Our sys admin team was researching this issue and found that Chrome now requires explicit permission for nested iframes to access local network resources. (https://paulserban.eu/blog/post/demystifying-nested-iframes-and-the-allowlocal-network-access-attribute-in-chrome/)

Has anyone else run into this issue with embedded apps in StoryMaps failing to load data when accessed on an internal network? Any insights would be greatly appreciated!

Re: "Data is inaccessible" error for apps embedded in StoryMaps

OwenGeo — Fri, 16 Jan 2026 15:36:50 GMT

@EmileeFreeman -- Yes, this is a new security feature that has been recently added to some browsers. We are working on supporting this in a future update (possibly later this month).

Re: "Data is inaccessible" error for apps embedded in StoryMaps

EmileeFreeman — Tue, 20 Jan 2026 21:12:35 GMT

That is great to hear! We have a few StoryMaps that this has been affecting.

Re: "Data is inaccessible" error for apps embedded in StoryMaps

OwenGeo — Thu, 29 Jan 2026 15:14:48 GMT

@EmileeFreeman -- Please give this a try now. Support for the local network access property for embedded apps went out in an update last night.

Re: "Data is inaccessible" error for apps embedded in StoryMaps

EmileeFreeman — Fri, 30 Jan 2026 19:02:07 GMT

Yes that fixed it!! Great to see - thank y'all for your hard work!!

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"Data is inaccessible" error for apps embedded in StoryMaps

Re: "Data is inaccessible" error for apps embedded in StoryMaps

Re: "Data is inaccessible" error for apps embedded in StoryMaps

Re: "Data is inaccessible" error for apps embedded in StoryMaps

Re: "Data is inaccessible" error for apps embedded in StoryMaps