Enable easier access to attachments / photos captured with Field Maps - batch download from AGOL or local saving to device

[Anonymous User]

Hi Community,

I find it difficult to access attachments or photos captured with Field Maps. I can download them 1-by-1 from ArcGIS Online, or use Extract Data in desktop GIS, or use the python scripts in desktop GIS, but I need an easier way to access photos.

Field workers do not have access to Desktop GIS, so the only option they have is to download photos 1-by-1 from AGOL. This is very inefficient when there are hundreds of photos to download.

I would like to suggest either allowing batch downloading of photos from AGOL (zip?), or the option to save photos locally to the mobile device storage  (as well as uploading to AGOL), for downloading when back in the office using a USB cable.

Thanks,

Ben

[PeterORegan]

+1 on this thread.  Bulk downloading of photos to share with other apps/ devices is VERY important.

Video attachments also need to be bulk downloadable/ sharable, as video evidence is underpinning an increasing range of workflows.

[HylonPlumb]

Improving access to the photo attachments on a smart device would be beneficial in the following ways ;

1 If field maps has a sync error, attachments could be tracked down quickly

2 A batch download would improve efficiency, if all photos are needed, I would need to click on each point individually.

And an observation; when accessing photo attachments on an offline map with sync errors, coordinates are not written to jpg file meta data when downloaded.

Thanks for listening,

Hylon

[HannahV]

Imagine my horror spending hours using this app and getting back to the office to realise I have to download photos individually or learn how to run a python script 😑 The images need to be saved to the camera roll simultaneously. 

[NLI_Wendy]

This should have been done when the forms were first created. 

[andrewRaaf]

Yes ESRI we need this feature. It used to exist in a prev version a few years ago and users have been asking for it ever since. When using Field Maps forms on a mobile device, we collect a point and use the in-app camera feature to take a photo, that jpeg file should be saved automatically to the phone's camera roll in addition to the jpeg being attached internally to the ArcGIS online service. It's crazy that the jpegs are locked in the Arc Field Maps ecosystem and we have to drill down and download individual photos one at a time. 

[BraydenDokkestul]

It is completely unacceptable to have the process of extracting photos how it is, there should be a tool directly for this, or a way to download them within AGOL. This is a classic example of ESRI not having any competition, I cannot be alone in saying, if there was an alternative service that was offered elsewhere, I would take my money elsewhere. I shouldn't have to convert to a GDB, or create my own tool based off of a user provided script, simply unacceptable and lazy of ESRI.

[KathyDube]

I totally agree and can't believe that E$RI (it accidentally typed it that way but it is a more accurate spelling so I left it like that!) STILL has not developed a method to be able to easily access photos taken in Field Maps. It is a royal pain to try to extract them one by one and then "share" or do a script later.  This is not a new request.  Please provide a way to easily access photos. 

[arthurV]

Totally crazy and nontheless i can't use thoses photo un a map series !

[Debert]

What an absolute pain!
I have 658 images attached to 658 points in ArcPro. The purpose was to give Field Techs the ability to access these in the field when needed. What is the workflow for achieving this?

[Debert]

Well, I jumped to conclusions. After submitting my last comment, I contacted support and we were able to get them to show (it still makes no sense how this worked)...
I originally configured this in Pro, using Add Attachments Tool, to batch attach all 658 JPGs at once.
I then published as Web Map. Initially, no attachments were showing in Field Maps.
The steps below are what was taken to get them to show in Field Maps:
(1) Open the Web Map in AGOL
(2) Removed 1 of the 568 attachments and reattached
(3) Save
(4) Reload the Map in Field Maps
WaLa, they all now appear! Crazy.