ArcGIS Explorer App suddenly needing sign-in/out to access web maps

[WillArellano]

In order to allow field workers to access interactive maps in the field, I created some web apps in AGOL and installed the latest ArcGIS Explorer app on their android tablets. Everyone has their own viewer account and things have been working great. However, in the last few weeks some of the workers have been experiencing problems with random layers in the web maps not displaying. The fix for this situation seems to be logging out of the app/AGOL and back in again. This procedure is very annoying to our workers and didn't have to be done in the past (they logged in once and stayed logged in unless the tablet shut down). I am wondering if the new security updates ESRI put in place are messing with things. Anybody else having this issue? 

[Anonymous User]

I've been told our field people have had issues with all the apps - Collector, S123, and Explorer - kicking them out several times a day, requiring them to log back in. Not sure what the fix would be other than having them continue logging back in. I believe they opened an Esri case and they weren't much help.

[HeatherMcCracken]

That's not great, is it. Sorry to hear this.

Are you able to share the Support Incident # with us? We can look into the details.

The fact that all 3 are signing out, makes me think that it's possibly that the Org might have a very short token expiry set? Or perhaps some other environment specific factor is playing in.

Are you able to share a login for that specific org with us for testing purposes? Perhaps this info is already in the support incident? This might get us to understanding the issue quickly.

Which platform/versions of the apps are your field workers using?

Thanks,

Heather

[Anonymous User]

I looked at our support records and it doesn't appear a case was created. I know they talked about opening one. We're in a similar situation as Alyssia - throughout the day and night the apps just log off and people have to sign back in. It's not hard, but makes it tough on them out in the field. My original thought was just a timeout thing - if their device doesn't have a mobile connection for a few minutes, the apps timeout and log them out? Since I'm not out in the field all day using the apps I can't directly speak to what is happening, but like Alyssia I'm just got told at the end of shifts that "we had issues with this app".

[WillArellano]

Nathan, are the apps actually logging people out, or are they giving them an error which forces them to log out and log back in to fix the issues? Just to clarify, my issue is that the field workers are getting an error like "cannot access maps" or something similar even though the app says they are still logged in. 

[Anonymous User]

They sometimes get errors about layers not loading but I'm 99% certain that's because they hit a dead zone with the mobile connection and the app couldn't load the map. We've been trying to work towards offline maps, but the current limitations in AGO with Sync Enabled make it really hard to keep the authoritative layers updated (Esri's great design - check this box to take layers offline but we won't let you update said layers because sync is enabled so you can take them offline). We've tested some MMPK's with Explorer and that seems to work for at least the maps that don't require editing.

They primarily use S123, Explorer, and Collector and the apps kick them out or have some sort of error that indicates they were logged out. I assume both these issues are due to losing the mobile connection.

Our issues could be related or they couldn't be. But your original post of layers not loading requiring people to log out and back in has happened to us and my guess was data connections were lost.

[HeatherMcCracken]

Alyssia Church‌

Are you able to open a support incident for your case as well? And then share that incident number with this thread, and can see if I we can sort out what's happening?

Thanks,

Heather

[WillArellano]

I did not open a ticket because I am not sure how to do that and I wanted to first see if others were experiencing the same thing or if I was doing something wrong. I also don't have great information about the issue other then having the field crews coming to me in a panic because they get random errors and can't get to their maps in Explorer (we haven't tested Workforce or Collector enough to know if this is a problem with that app too). When our field worker gets a map error my solution has been to have them sign out of their AGOL account on Explorer and sign back in which seems to work, but is a giant pain because it is a struggle for them to remember their logins and it is making them think that the software isn't good and makes them want to go back to paper.  I did notice that this became a problem after the new security protocol went into place. 

[ClintSpencer]

My organization experiences the exact same issue with Explorer regularly.  The field workers open the app on their mobile phone and have a message that states "No Maps Maps will appear when they are created or shared with you."  Signing out of the app and resigning in fixes the issue but it winds up being a big headache because getting 12 staff to remember their passwords is a challenge.  When someone comes with the error I invariably have to reset their password as well as help them sign in.

[GarethBaker1]

I've had a couple of Explorer users on Android with ArcGIS Enterprise 10.7.1 reporting the same issue with the No Maps message appearing. They can use the app for a few hours or even a whole day but when they go back to it the next day they get that message. My suspicion is that they don't fully close down the app when they've finished with it so it is still running in the background and the token that the app is using to access our Portal is expiring (not sure if it's the Portal token itself or the ADFS gateway token that we use for our security).