Latest Contributions by ChrisLeSueur

The goal of AppStudio is to bring native app creation tools to all ArcGIS users. As you know AppStudio provides productivity tools for building, testing, and distributing apps that can be used by both developer and non-developers...and everyone in-between.  If you peel back the technical layers of the AppStudio stack you will find various components such as the Qt SDK, Android SDK, Apple Xcode and ArcGIS Runtime that enable things like cross platform development and geospatial mapping tools.  These components are development projects in themselves, each with release timelines and feature updates. This blog post is to update you on some the current state of AppStudio versions and upcoming important dates and dependencies for different platforms.   AppStudio for ArcGIS 2.1 Deprecation and ArcGIS Runtime 10.2.6 Retirement The ArcGIS Runtime is the core mapping component that gives AppStudio access to various mapping and geospatial capabilities. The initial 1.0 release of AppStudio was built on earlier 10.2.x version of the ArcGIS Runtime, and at AppStudio 2.0 we included support for both the 10.2.x Runtime as well as introduced the new 100.x Runtime.  In April of 2018 AppStudio 3.0 was released and the 10.2.x Runtime was removed completely form the AppStudio product. The 10.2.6 ver of ArcGIS Runtime for Qt that was included in AppStudio 2.1 is now in Mature Support. This means that it will no longer receive updates, patches, or platform testing and certification. AppStudio for ArcGIS 2.1 has been in Mature Support since April 2018 and will be retired starting April 1 2019. Because of the support status of ArcGIS Runtime 10.2.x and issues with submitting to app stores (see the next sections), AppStudio 2.1 is being deprecated and it is recommended that users move any current development projects to a newer version of AppStudio. The apps you have already created and/or published to the app stores will continue to work, but your ability to support and enhance these apps will be limited (see next section about Android and iOS support). The AppStudio 2.1 Desktop download has already been removed from our website, if you require access to download AppStudio Desktop 2.1 for app maintenance purpose please reach out to the AppStudio team directly at [email protected].   Android API Level 26 Requirement for the Google Play Store At the beginning of November 2018 any Android app submitted to the Google Play Store (new app or update to existing app) needs to be built to target the Android API Level 26 (Android 8.0) or higher.  The AppStudio Cloud Make servers have been upgraded to support API Level 26 Android builds if you are using AppStudio Desktop 3.0 or higher.  If you have apps built with AppStudio 2.1 earlier you will not be able to submit an apps (new or update) to the Google Play Store. Xcode 9 / iOS 11 SDK Requirement for the Apple App Store The Apple App Store currently requires that all new apps and updates are built with Xcode 9 (iOS 11 SDK). AppStudio 2.1 and the ArcGIS Runtime 10.2.6 are use an older verion of Xcdoe and thus are not capable of creating iOS binaries (IPA files) that meet the App Store requirement.   April 2019 Xcode 10.1 / iOS 12 SKD Requirement for the Apple App Store When you request an iOS build using the AppStudio Cloud Make service your AppStudio app is compiled using Apple’s Xcode tools to create a binary (ipa) file suitable for distribution.  In March 2019 Apple Inc will require that all apps (new and updates) submitted to the Apple App Store are compiled using a XCode 10.1.  This timing of the requirement is problematic because support for XCode 10 in the Qt SDK is a recent addition and the ArcGIS Runtime for Qt is still working on support for this version of the Qt SDK.  What does this mean for the AppStudio Developers? Starting in March of 2019 you will not be able to submit AppStudio app to the Apple App Store using any version of AppStudio, including the released 3.2 version of AppStudio.  We will release a beta version of AppStudio 3.3 in the beginning of March that supports Xcode 10 so you can develop and test your apps in preparation of the final release. In April we will release AppStudio 3.3 with support for Xcode 10.1 and providing a way for you to submit apps to the Apple App Store on a released version of AppStudio.  We are providing this information so you can plan accordingly with any iOS releases that may be scheduled for March or April 2019.  If you have questions or concerns about the timeline for iOS / Xcode 10.1 support, please contact the AppStudio Team [email protected].     Ref links https://support.esri.com/en/Products/Developers/native-runtime-sdks/arcgis-runtime-sdk-for-qt/10-2-6#product-support   https://support.esri.com/en/Products/Apps/app-builders/AppStudio-for-ArcGIS/3-1#product-support   https://android-developers.googleblog.com/2017/12/improving-app-security-and-performance.html   https://developer.apple.com/news/?id=05072018a   https://developer.apple.com/news/?id=09122018c ... View more

ArcGIS Explorer Desktop is retired as of Oct 1, 2017.  As a retired product there will be no new development, patches/bug fixes, or live technical support.  Users can use the Esri Support site to find answers to questions and solutions to technical issues. Although the online information will remain available to users, this information will not be updated for retired products. This GeoNet space will however remain available for users to ask questions from the user community. For more information about the retirement status of Esri products see the Esri Product Lifecycle Policy.   Moving Forward: Esri has a growing suite of apps that can provide users access to your map and data on variety of platforms. Here are some examples: ArcGIS Earth a 3D/2D application for viewing data on desktop computers Explorer for ArcGIS for viewing apps on iPad, iPhones and Android devices Web AppBuilder a configurable widget based tool for quickly creating custom web mapping applications.   Explorer Desktop Resources: As a legacy resource you can download the last version (3400) of ArcGIS Explorer Desktop from these links. English - https://gisupdates.esri.com/ArcGISExplorer/Build3400/ArcGISExplorerDownload.exe Chinese -  https://gisupdates.esri.com/ArcGISExplorer/Build3400/ArcGISExplorerDownloadChinese.exe French -  https://gisupdates.esri.com/ArcGISExplorer/Build3400/ArcGISExplorerDownloadFrench.exe German -  https://gisupdates.esri.com/ArcGISExplorer/Build3400/ArcGISExplorerDownloadGerman.exe Japanese -  https://gisupdates.esri.com/ArcGISExplorer/Build3400/ArcGISExplorerDownloadJapanese.exe Spanish -  https://gisupdates.esri.com/ArcGISExplorer/Build3400/ArcGISExplorerDownloadSpanish.exe   ArcGIS Explorer Desktop SDK: https://gisupdates.esri.com/ArcGISExplorer/Build3400/ArcGISExplorerSDKDownload.exe Fonts Expansion Pack: https://gisupdates.esri.com/ArcGISExplorer/Build3400/ArcGISExplorerFontsDownload.exe   Local Help Doc English https://gisupdates.esri.com/ArcGISExplorer/Build2500/arcgisexplorer_help_en.zip Simplified Chinese https://gisupdates.esri.com/ArcGISExplorer/Build2500/arcgisexplorer_help_zh-CN.zip French https://gisupdates.esri.com/ArcGISExplorer/Build2500/arcgisexplorer_help_fr.zip German https://gisupdates.esri.com/ArcGISExplorer/Build2500/arcgisexplorer_help_de.zip Japanese https://gisupdates.esri.com/ArcGISExplorer/Build2500/arcgisexplorer_help_ja-JP.zip Spanish https://gisupdates.esri.com/ArcGISExplorer/Build2500/arcgisexplorer_help_es.zip ... View more

We have a new Beta of Explorer for ArcGIS for Android devices (phones and tablet) available through the Google Play Store.  If you would like to participate in testing the latest beta version of Explorer please follow this link for for sign-up instructions.  Android Explorer Beta: Signup and Install Info The new Beta 2 release includes the following: Tap features and see details about them, including attachments. View the layers and sublayers in your map and toggle their visibility. Change the basemap. Launch Explorer through an email, a website, or even another app using the custom URL scheme. Sideload mobile map packages (MMPKs) from a central location on the device (/ArcGIS/mmpks), allowing cross-app sharing. Custom attribute display in a feature popup is now supported and rendered in Explorer We are getting close to the final version of Explorer ver 17.x. Thank you for your continued support of Explorer for ArcGIS. We value your feedback. If you are looking for the iOS version of Explorer please see this blog post: Now Available Explorer for ArcGIS 17.2 Beta 2 for iOS -Explorer Team ... View more

We have just released a new Beta of Explorer for ArcGIS for iOS devices (iPhones and iPads) through Apple’s TestFlight app.  If you would like to participate in testing the latest beta version of Explorer please send a request to [email protected] . The 17.2 Beta 2 release includes additional functionality based on user feedback as well as important fixes. Added Functionality: Groups are available in Browse view (BUG-000106841) to provide quick and easy access to the maps organized within Groups in the ArcGIS Organization. You can now search for, browse to, and open the Groups from the browse map experience.  Support for zoom to layer. Tap on a layer name in the map layer list to zoom to the full extent of that layer Addition of magnifier tool BUG-000106840. Access a magnifier window view by a long press and hold on a map display, and then release your finger to drop a pin at that location. Bug fixes and usability enhancements Updated Measure Tool readability Date filter now being honored Now showing description in Custom Attribute Display instead of domain code Optimized viewing details by auto-selecting features on search and identify if only one result Fixed cases where symbology is not shown in panel Improved identify performance Fixed bug with identifying on layers with in-memory joins   Thank you for your continued support of Explorer for ArcGIS. We value your feedback. If you are looking for the Android version of Explorer please sign up by visiting this link. Contact us at [email protected]   -Explorer Team ... View more

ArcPad 10.2.4 is available to download from My Esri. ArcPad 10.2.4 includes a critical fix (BUG-000095878) for users who are synchronizing data with ArcGIS server. Also included with 10.2.4 is support for NTv2 datum transformations. Note: Access to secured web services using SHA-1 certificates is no longer supported, this means some older mobile devices may no longer have access to secured feature services and ArcPad Packages hosted in ArcGIS Online. (More about SHA-1/SHA-2 certificates here) For more information about ArcPad 10.2.4 see the ArcPad Help section in the ArcPad Help documentation. ... View more

The Allegheny County Parks division has created a great app for finding hiking trails in the parks they manage. The app is available now on iOS and Android. This is a great example of creating a custom cross platform app that can publishing into the app stores using AppStudio. iOS: Allegheny County Parks Trails on the App Store  Android: Allegheny County Parks Trails - Android Apps on Google Play        ... View more

Synopsis: The Cloud Make service for AppStudio has been updated to include a new libpng library that fixes a security vulnerability on the Android platform.  To update your AppStudio Android apps with this fix simply run a another build process for Android from the online "Build App" web page or using the "Make" tool in AppStudio Desktop Edition    Background: Earlier in the year a security vulnerability was discovered in the popular Open Source libpng libraries, and the Google Play store flagged any apps with include the un-patched libpng library with a "Security Alert" notice. The AppStudio Cloud Make servers have now been updated with a new Qt Runtime SDK that addresses the libpng security vulnerabilities. This update allows AppStudio Android apps that are published to the Google Play store to be updated and any new published apps to comply with Google Play’s Malicious Behavior policy. You can read more about this vulnerability in CVE-2015-8540. Again, to update your AppStudio Android apps with this fix simply run a another build process using the Cloud Make service to generate a new Android APK file. ... View more

ArcGIS Online security update (SHA-2) and how it affects ArcPad users Background: Security certificates and tokens are the standard way that websites control and maintain a private and secure connection between user and the server.  A user typically enters a username and password and the server sends back a token-signing certificate. These certificates have different levels of encryption security such as support for SHA-1 or SHA-2 encryption.  The encryption for logging into ArcGIS Online has been upgraded to SHA-2 (beginning Dec 2 2015). The move to SHA-2 is an industry wide action to improve internet security. The following article describes Microsoft's position. https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/2986556.  The support for SHA-2 encryption is at the operating system level, and for Windows it is available on Windows (XP, 7, 8.1, 10) and Windows Embedded HandHeld 6.5 devices that have been patched by the manufacture. Devices with mobile operating systems older than Windows Embedded HandHeld 6.5 cannot be patched. What does this mean for ArcPad users? This means that ArcPad running on many mobile devices (Windows Mobile/Windows CE) will not be able to login to ArcGIS Online after Dec 2 nd 2015 unless: The mobile device is running Windows Embedded HandHeld 6.5 devices that has a SHA-2 patch provided by the manufacturer. (see more information below)      or The ArcPad user is running ArcPad 10.2.3, scheduled to be released on Dec 15 th 2015. Note: Even with ArcPad 10.2.3 devices that only support SHA-1 certificates will only be supported by ArcGIS Online until November 2016. The use of Esri basemaps is not affected by this security update. The security update only pertains to ArcPad users who are signing into ArcGIS Online to retrieve ArcPad Packages or edit feature services. What mobile devices running Windows Embedded Handheld 6.5 have a patch available for SHA-2? Esri has made contact with many hardware manufacturers who already provide or are working on SHA-2 patches for Windows Embedded HandHeld 6.5 models.  The list below is for the devices we currently know about. If you have questions about the availability of the SHA-2 patch for your Windows Embedded Handheld 6.5 device we encourage you to contact the manufacturer. Trimble:             Trimble Geo7x – The 6.7.17 OS upgrade (supports SHA-2) – Download here​ Trimble is working on SHA-2 updates for all the Windows Embedded Handheld 6.5 they are currently selling Juniper Systems Mesa –The 1.2.2 upgrade supports SHA-2 – Download here Archer 2 and Allegro 2 will be support in a future update Leica Geosystems              Zeno 20 – Already supports SHA-2              Zeno 5 – Planned to be updated with SHA-2 support in 2016 ... View more