Discontinuing Support for IE11 & Edge Legacy in Layout Editor

[BrianRollison]

Early next week, ArcGIS Hub is discontinuing support for Internet Explorer 11 and Edge Legacy browsers in the layout editor for all Hub Sites and Hub Pages.  To the best of our knowledge, an extremely small percentage of you will be impacted by this change — if you fit into this cohort, then continue reading below.

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR YOU?

If you are using Internet Explorer 11 or Edge Legacy, then upon entry into the layout editor for either a Hub Site or Hub Page you’ll be met with an “Unsupported Browsers” splash screen.  This screen will prevent you from previewing the Hub Site or Hub Page and accessing most of the layout editor controls you may be familiar with.  You’ll still be able to adjust your Hub Site’s settings, share, delete, and save your Hub Site or Hub Page; however, controls such as header/footer configuration, site theming, and all layout functionality will be inaccessible.

DOES THIS IMPACT VIEWING MY SITE?

Internet Explorer 11 and Edge Legacy users will still be able to view and explore your Hub Site as usual — to repeat, there will be no material impact to viewing Hub Sites and Hub Pages outside the layout editor.

IS THIS THE ONLY PLACE I CAN’T USE IE11 OR EDGE LEGACY WITHIN HUB?

Yes, only the layout editor will have Internet Explorer 11 and Edge Legacy supported discontinued at this time.

HOW DOES THIS IMPACT ENTERPRISE SITES?

Customers upgrading to Enterprise 10.8.1 will experience no changes in their use of Internet Explorer 11 or Edge Legacy within the layout editor on Enterprise Sites — there will be no splash screen.

WHAT IS THE PLAN FOR IE11 AND EDGE LEGACY GOING FORWARD?

If you’ve browsed ArcGIS documentation recently (ArcGIS Online, Web AppBuilder, Survey123, etc.) you’ve likely seen warnings that support for Internet Explorer 11 and/or Edge Legacy will be discontinued at a future release.  Additionally, some ArcGIS applications/functionality already don’t support the browsers at all or offer limited availability (JSAPI 4.x, StoryMaps, Urban, etc.).

In the coming months Esri will be communicating a forward-looking plan regarding ongoing support for Internet Explorer 11 and Edge Legacy, please stay tuned to your regular information channels for updates.

WHERE CAN I DOWNLOAD A “MODERN BROWSER”?

You are likely already use a “modern browser” in your daily life, recommended browsers are the following…

• Google Chrome - https://www.google.com/chrome/
• Mozilla Firefox - https://www.mozilla.org/firefox/new/
• Microsoft Edge - https://www.microsoft.com/edge/
• Apple Safari - https://www.apple.com/safari/

HOW DO I KNOW IF I’M USING EDGE LEGACY?

Microsoft has a simple set of instructions; if you see a version number format such as 80.0.000.00 in your browser settings, then you are using the new Microsoft Edge (it’s pretty great actually, even on macOS).  Current Edge Legacy users can learn more about upgrading here.

Hope this answers any questions you might have 

[KevinTrappe1]

Just wondering if you could clarify the statement that there will be no material impact to viewing Hub Sites and Hub Pages outside the layout editor.

This differs from behavior that I and other colleagues have experienced when viewing Hub Sites and Hub Pages in IE 11.

[BrianRollison]

Hi Kevin Trappe‌ - specifically there will be no splash screen when viewing a Hub Site or Hub Page on IE11 or Edge Legacy outside the layout editor.  All browsers may render elements slightly differently; however, we've always done our best to ensure there is visual parity when possible.

Is there a specific behavior you are referring to?

[KevinTrappe1]

When viewing a Hub site I've found that IE just becomes unstable in general.  Pages won't scroll, links won't open when clicked, even when trying to close the tab or the browser window altogether it seems to be unresponsive.

[BrianRollison]

I'm not observing the inability to scroll the page or open links on Hub Sites or Hub Pages while in IE11.  I would recommend opening a support case if you regularly run into the issue, from there we'll be able to better understand what might be going on.

Regarding unresponsive browser behavior.  This may be due to the number of applications, videos, social media feeds, or images displayed on any individual site/page.  Unfortunately, IE11 doesn't provide us the ability to lazy-load content on Hub Sites or Hub Pages, this means all content is loaded immediately every time.  Considering some of this content can be 100s MBs in size, this can cripple some browsers leading to an "unresponsive" experience.

[TomWayson]

FYI - as of 2/17/21, ArcGIS Hub no longer supports Internet Explorer. See this blog post for more information.