ArcGIS Web AppBuilder Future....

[Lake_Country_GIS]

Hi there,

Just wondering on what the future holds for ArcGIS Web AppBuilder. Will this product continue to develop and be supported? Or, will this product be migrated to something like Experience Builder at some point?

Any inside scoop would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance,

Mark

[BrianLeroux]

Fantastic question. I would love to know the same. I vote to keep it around for the foreseeable future. I tried experience builder and it is just nowhere near as good as WAB.

[jcarlson]

WAB : EB :: Map Viewer Classic : Map Viewer

WAB is built on the ArcGIS JavaScript 3.x API, whereas the new Map Viewer and EB are built on the 4.x library. WAB continues to see minor updates, but long-term, it probably won't be developed in any meaningful way, and you could take a look at your apps to consider migration. But it's not an either/or choice!

As @BrianLeroux notes, parity between the two is uneven. But is one better? That really depends on your specific use case. There are plenty of reasons to hang onto WAB (parcel drafter widget, for instance), but there are also lots of things in EB that aren't possible at all in WAB, or things that, personally, I think EB does better than WAB. In our org, we make extensive use of both app builders.

As you consider your use cases, make note of this Functionality Matrix. It can help you evaluate which of your apps are even worth testing in EB.