Survey123 on Trimble TDC100 slow to launch

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01-11-2019 11:24 AM
AaronWorthley1
Occasional Contributor II

I'm in the process of moving our field data collection workflow over to Collector/Survey123 from Arcpad. We have some newly acquired TDC100s as field computers, but I'm dismayed at the launch time for Survey123. With no apps running and a clean factory reset with only the Survey123 app installed, it takes over 15 seconds for the app to launch. This is before any survey is even downloaded, so it's not the complexity of the xlsForm. On my iPhone 8, it takes less than 2 seconds to launch Survey123.

This is a major hindrance to our field workflow as I'm setting up a Collector/Survey123 combination to record more complex attributes. If the field worker has to wait an extra 15-20 seconds to open the form after recording a location in Collector, we're dead in the water. The lag time is the same whether launching the app directly, or from Collector with a custom URL scheme.

The TDC100 is running Android 6.1, and the hardware just debuted a couple years ago so it shouldn't be that far out of the loop.

Anyone else with similar experience and/or advice on how to speed up the launch time?

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9 Replies
BrandonArmstrong
Esri Regular Contributor

Hi Aaron,

Are you finding this load speed to be true on all TDC-100's that you have?

I am in the process of getting a hold of one to test and will let you know my results early next week.

Best,

Brandon

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AaronWorthley1
Occasional Contributor II

Thanks Brandon- I’ve been reluctant to unbox the rest of them, especially since encountering this issue in case I can’t get it working and am forced to return. If it seems critical  i’ll try another next week. 

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AaronWorthley1
Occasional Contributor II

Brandon- just checking back to see if you were able to test this issue?

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BrandonArmstrong
Esri Regular Contributor

Hi Aaron,

I was able to test the load time of Survey123 on a TDC-100 and do see that it takes about 12 seconds to load. 

Having said that, if your field workflow will incorporate launching Survey123 from a custom url scheme in Collector,  please keep in mind that it will only be the initial load time of Survey123 that will encounter the delay.  As Survey123 would likely be open for sequential collection or editing, the app would not need to be launched again, and therefore the lag would not continually be encountered.

Once Survey123 is open on this device, our testing has indicated that it is very good, however I do understand the concern with the initial load time.

Are you finding any issues once Survey123 is launched from Collector and can you confirm that once opened, sequential launching from Collector (with Survey123 still opened) works as expected?

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AaronWorthley1
Occasional Contributor II

Hmm, when I was testing it last week, it seemed to relaunch Survey123 each time (long time showing the Survey123 green launch screen). I thought it odd, and figured if it didn't do that it wouldn't take so long. I'll test again this afternoon to confirm and get back to you. Thanks for your help.

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AaronWorthley1
Occasional Contributor II

Confirmed. Survey123 relaunches each time I fire from a new point in Collector via custom url scheme. I have to wait through the launch screen and delay even though the app is still running in the background.

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BrandonArmstrong
Esri Regular Contributor

Interesting, Aaron. Do you mind explaining your workflow in further detail? 

It may make sense to have a discussion over the phone, or setup a method for us to test load times with the same web map and survey.  I have sent you a message in GeoNet which discusses this in further.

Thanks,

Brandon

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BrandonArmstrong
Esri Regular Contributor

To follow-up, we determined that the workflow leading to a need to re-open the Survey123 field app each time the link containing the custom-url for the survey was selected from Collector included pushing the 'Android Back button' on the Android device as opposed to the 'Android Menu button'. 

As a current best practice, it is recommended to use the menu button to access apps that are already open (i.e. when navigating back to Collector after submitting a survey from Survey123).  The picture below represents these buttons on the TDC-100.

As for general load time on this device or Androids in general, we will need to do further testing and gather feedback to determine potential causes.  

Best,

Brandon

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AaronWorthley1
Occasional Contributor II

Any chance you can tell me what Survey123 launch time is like on other Android devices- say Galaxy s8? ...or any 1-2 year old device?

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