Licensing changes coming in AppStudio for ArcGIS 4.0
The AppStudio team is hard at work on the next version of AppStudio for ArcGIS (version 4.0). As always there will be technical updates to the software, but with this new version there will also come some significant changes to how we license the software.
More details about the new technical features and capabilities coming with AppStudio 4.0 are detailed in this blog post, but here is an overview of the highlights.
- New 3D Scene Viewer template
- AppStudio extension for Visual Studio Code (open VS Code from AppStudio, write QML)
- Support for opening a permission dialog while app is running
- Preview file before sharing
- Change language while app is running
- Updates to JavaScript environment (ECMAScript 7)
If you want access to the AppStudio 4.0 beta visit the AppStudio for ArcGIS Early Adopter Community.
Licensing Changes
AppStudio is a powerful suite of tools that provides our users an easy to use, yet extremely robust cross-platform app development experience. We want more ArcGIS users to experience the full power of AppStudio, and have access to more templates, layouts, samples, and tools. To give access to more of what AppStudio has to offer, we have decided to make some changes to the license levels.
Name Change
First things first, we are changing the name of the licensing levels
| Original Name | New Name |
|---|---|
| AppStudio for ArcGIS Basic | AppStudio for ArcGIS |
| AppStudio for ArcGIS Standard | AppStudio for ArcGIS Developer Edition |
Just as before, every ArcGIS organization member with a user type of Creator or GIS Professional will have access to AppStudio for ArcGIS (we’ve dropped “Basic” from the name). If you have an AppStudio for ArcGIS Standard license it will be renamed to AppStudio for ArcGIS Developer Edition. We are also working on making an easier experience to purchase and provision an AppStudio Developer Edition license to the ArcGIS organization of your choice.
What comes with an AppStudio for ArcGIS license?
Previously, the AppStudio Basic license lets you create a native app from one of three templates on appstudio.arcgis.com. This online template experience offered minimal configuration options and required that maps and data be public. At version 4.0 all AppStudio for ArcGIS licenses now includes the AppStudio Desktop application. AppStudio Desktop lets you configure an app from a template, build an app from a layout, or add functionality to an app using code from one of our 70+ live samples. Speaking of code... also included is the ability to write custom code for your app using Qt Creator (installed with desktop) or Microsoft Visual Studio Code (using a new AppStudio extension).
After you have created an app using AppStudio Desktop you can upload it to your ArcGIS organization and share it with others in your org using AppStudio Player. An AppStudio app stored in ArcGIS Online is just another item in your organization. And just as you share data, maps, and web apps with others, you can share your AppStudio apps and then run the app using AppStudio Player (more about AppStudio Player below).
Note: The app building experience on appstudio.arcgis.com will be retired on August 15th, 2019, see the Q&A below for more information.
What comes with an AppStudio for ArcGIS Developer Edition license?
The Developer Edition license adds a few key components for more advanced developers or those who want to distribute their apps as a standalone installed app via a public app store or an enterprise deployment. The Developer Edition includes a set of Enterprise templates such as Survey123, AuGeo, and AppStudio Player. Access to the AppStudio cloud Make service is also included with the Developer Edition so you can generate app installation files for iOS, Android, Windows, Mac, and Linux.
This table highlights the capabilities of AppStudio editions at version 4.0:
| AppStudio for ArcGIS | AppStudio Developer Edition | |
|---|---|---|
| Download and use AppStudio Desktop | X | X |
| Convert your ArcGIS web maps into mobile apps | X | X |
| Build apps with no coding, using configurable app templates | X | X |
| Extend apps built using the configurable app templates | X | X |
| Create custom apps using your developer skills | X | X |
| Share apps within your ArcGIS organization using AppStudio Player | X | X |
| Use Cloud Make to build install executables (Android, iOS, Windows, OS X Linux) | X | |
| Publish to the Apple and Google Play app stores | X | |
| Use Mobile Device Management (MDM) systems to share in an Enterprise | X | |
| Access to AppStudio enterprise app templates (Survey123, QuickCapture, AuGeo, more...) | X | |
| In the future - Create add-ins for Survey123 for ArcGIS | X |
We are excited about these new changes to AppStudio and the opportunity to share more of the great tools in AppStudio with a larger audience. We understand that these changes may be disruptive for some of our existing users who have been using the web experience to build apps. Please reach out to us (appstudiofeedback@esri.com) so we can better help you through this license transition.
Below is a Q&A to help with some of the common questions we think people might have. If you have other questions, please leave them in the comments section below.
Thank You – The AppStudio team
Q & A
What will happen to the app building experience on appstudio.arcgis.com website?
The template based app building tools on appstudio.arcgis.com will be shutdown August 15th, 2019 with the release of AppStudio 4.0. Going forward you will use the tools in AppStudio Desktop to configure an app based on one of the standard templates (Map Viewer, Map Tour, Quick Report). AppStudio Desktop offers many more settings for these templates, so you have more control configuring the look and feel of your app... without writing any code. Some of the settings you can configure in AppStudio desktop include the app color, text color, custom fonts, feedback email, offline map package, and more.
If you have already created apps using the website tools those apps will not go away, you can download and further customize those apps using AppStudio Desktop.
What AppStudio license level has access to generate a build? (access to cloud Make)
A significant change in the licensing is that to generate a standalone install build (suitable for submitting to the app stores) for an app will require an AppStudio Developer Edition license.
Those users who have created apps from the website experience using an AppStudio Basic license will no longer have access to generate a standalone build of their app after August 15th, 2019.
How do I share my app with others using AppStudio Player for ArcGIS?
AppStudio for ArcGIS Player is an amazing tool that can transform how you distribute apps in your organization. Using AppStudio Player is like having a private app store, which you control. You can determine who has access to what apps in your organization and when they get updated.
Here how it works:
1. Create an app using AppStudio Desktop
2. Using AppStudio Desktop upload your app to ArcGIS Online or Enterprise
3. In your portal set the sharing property to share your app with others in your ArcGIS organization. Share it with a group of users, the entire organization, or even the public.
4. The end user of the app downloads AppStudio Player onto their device from the app stores or from the AppStudio website.
5. They login using their username/password for their ArcGIS organization.
6. Next, they download the shared app to the device
7. Now they can run the app as a native application right within AppStudio Player