How to build an offline app

1. Select a type of offline app

There are two types of offline apps you can build with ArcGIS Maps SDKs for Native AppsArcGIS Maps SDKs for Native Apps, previously known as ArcGIS Runtime SDKs, are developer products for building mapping and spatial analysis applications for native devices.Learn more:

1. Partially offline appsA partially offline app is a type of offline app built with ArcGIS Maps SDKs for Native Apps that is designed to work where network connectivity is unreliable.Learn more are suitable if you will have periods of disconnectivity and connectivity or if you want to use online services in the offline app.
2. Fully offline appsA fully offline app is a type of offline app built with ArcGIS Maps SDKs for Native Apps that is designed to work where network connectivity is entirely absent.Learn more are suitable if you will be disconnected at all times or if your data is too large and impractical to transfer over the network.

2. Prepare a mobile data source

Mobile data sourcesA mobile data source is a data format used to build offline apps. The formats include offline maps, offline data, mobile packages, and data files.Learn more provide your offline appAn offline application, also known as offline app, is an application that runs on a phone, tablet, laptop or desktop device with limited or no network connection. Offline applications are built with ArcGIS Maps SDKs for Native Apps.Learn more with the data and maps that it needs to function. Examples of mobile data sources are offline mapsAn offline map is a map area and its data content downloaded from an offline-enabled web map for use in offline applications built with ArcGIS Maps SDKs for Native Apps.Learn more, offline dataOffline data is data that is generated and downloaded from a feature service, vector tile service, or image tile service for use in offline applications built with ArcGIS Maps SDKs for Native Apps.Learn more, mobile packagesA mobile package is a stand-alone Mobile Map Package (MMPK) or Mobile Scene Package (MSPK) file for use in offline applications built with ArcGIS Maps SDKs for Native Apps.Learn more, and data filesA data file is a stand-alone file containing geographic data that can be sideloaded on to a device. It is typically used in offline applications that never connect to a network.Learn more. Different types of offline apps have different options for mobile data sources. You can choose from various mobile data sources that suit your type of offline appAn offline application, also known as offline app, is an application that runs on a phone, tablet, laptop or desktop device with limited or no network connection. Offline applications are built with ArcGIS Maps SDKs for Native Apps.Learn more.

Partially offline apps support a wider selection of mobile data sources. This type of offline app has network access to download data, such as offline-enabledOffline-enabled is a setting in a web map or hosted layer item that allows it to be downloaded and used by offline apps.Learn more web mapsA web map is a map stored as a JSON object that defines properties such as the basemap layer, data layers, layer styles, and pop-up styles. Its JSON structure is defined by the web map specification.Learn more to generate offline mapsAn offline map is a map area and its data content downloaded from an offline-enabled web map for use in offline applications built with ArcGIS Maps SDKs for Native Apps.Learn more or data servicesData services, also known as hosted data services, are services created dynamically to store and provide access to your data in ArcGIS. Examples are feature services, vector tile services, map tile services, image services, and scene services.Learn more to generate offline dataOffline data is data that is generated and downloaded from a feature service, vector tile service, or image tile service for use in offline applications built with ArcGIS Maps SDKs for Native Apps.Learn more.

Fully offline apps have more limited options for mobile data sources. These apps rely primarily on locally stored data, such as mobile packagesA mobile package is a stand-alone Mobile Map Package (MMPK) or Mobile Scene Package (MSPK) file for use in offline applications built with ArcGIS Maps SDKs for Native Apps.Learn more authored in ArcGIS Pro or data filesA data file is a stand-alone file containing geographic data that can be sideloaded on to a device. It is typically used in offline applications that never connect to a network.Learn more then sideloaded onto the device.

Refer to the chart below to prepare the correct mobile data sourceA mobile data source is a data format used to build offline apps. The formats include offline maps, offline data, mobile packages, and data files.Learn more for your offline app.

The general steps to prepare a mobile data source are:

1. Select a type of mobile data sourceA mobile data source is a data format used to build offline apps. The formats include offline maps, offline data, mobile packages, and data files.Learn more for your offline app.
2. Prepare the data using toolsTools, also known as developer tools, are ArcGIS software applications such as portal and ArcGIS Pro that developers can use to prepare content and data for custom applications they are building.Learn more such as ArcGIS ProArcGIS Pro is a professional desktop GIS application that can explore, visualize, analyze, and manage 2D and 3D data.Learn more, Map ViewerMap Viewer is a browser-based mapping tool that can view, create, and save web maps. It can also perform mapping, visualization, and spatial analysis operations.Learn more, or the portalArcGIS portal, also known as a portal, is a website with applications and tools that can be used to create, manage, access, and share geospatial content and data. It supports security and authentication, developer credentials, content and data service management, user and group management, and site administration. A portal can be hosted in Esri's infrastructure or your own infrastructure.Learn more.
3. For data hosted in the portal, such as a web map or a feature service, enable it for offline use in the item pageAn item page is a web page in ArcGIS Online or the developer dashboard used to access and manage the properties for an item and the content it references such as a web map, hosted layer, or file.Learn more.
4. Obtain the item ID to download the data to your device, or export the data to sideload it onto your device.

3. Build the app

After preparing a mobile data source, the next step is to create an application with ArcGIS Maps SDKs for Native Apps for your preferred platform. Your application will access the mobile data source you have prepared, and can then be expanded with additional functionalities, such as geocoding or routing.

The following examples show how to access different mobile data sourcesA mobile data source is a data format used to build offline apps. The formats include offline maps, offline data, mobile packages, and data files.Learn more in partially offlineA partially offline app is a type of offline app built with ArcGIS Maps SDKs for Native Apps that is designed to work where network connectivity is unreliable.Learn more and fully offline appsA fully offline app is a type of offline app built with ArcGIS Maps SDKs for Native Apps that is designed to work where network connectivity is entirely absent.Learn more.

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
var portal = await ArcGISPortal.CreateAsync();
var portalItem = await PortalItem.CreateAsync(portal, "YOUR_ITEM_ID"); // Replace with your web map ID
var map = new Map(portalItem);

OfflineMapTask offlineTask = await OfflineMapTask.CreateAsync(map);

GenerateOfflineMapParameters generateParameters =
    await offlineTask.CreateDefaultGenerateOfflineMapParametersAsync(areaOfInterest);

GenerateOfflineMapJob job = offlineTask.GenerateOfflineMap(generateParameters, "path\\to\\map\\directory");

GenerateOfflineMapResult result = await job.GetResultAsync();

if (result.OfflineMap is Map offlineMap)
{
    MainMapView.Map = offlineMap;
}

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
MainMapView.Map = new Map(BasemapStyle.ArcGISStreets);
var areaOfInterest = new Esri.ArcGISRuntime.Geometry.Polygon(new [] {
    new MapPoint(-88.153245, 41.778064, SpatialReferences.Wgs84),
    new MapPoint(-88.146708, 41.778870, SpatialReferences.Wgs84),
    new MapPoint(-88.145878, 41.769764, SpatialReferences.Wgs84),
    new MapPoint(-88.153431, 41.770330, SpatialReferences.Wgs84)
});

var featureServiceUri = new Uri("https://services2.arcgis.com/ZQgQTuoyBrtmoGdP/arcgis/rest/services/WaterDistributionNetwork/FeatureServer");
GeodatabaseSyncTask geodatabaseSyncTask = await GeodatabaseSyncTask.CreateAsync(featureServiceUri);

GenerateGeodatabaseParameters gdbGenerateParameters
    = await geodatabaseSyncTask.CreateDefaultGenerateGeodatabaseParametersAsync(areaOfInterest.Extent);
gdbGenerateParameters.ReturnAttachments = false;

GenerateGeodatabaseJob job = geodatabaseSyncTask.GenerateGeodatabase(gdbGenerateParameters, "path\\to\\file.geodatabase");

// Optionally listen for progress changes
job.ProgressChanged += (o,e) => { };

Geodatabase generateResult = await job.GetResultAsync();

MainMapView.Map.OperationalLayers.AddRange(
    generateResult.GeodatabaseFeatureTables.Select(table => new FeatureLayer(table))
  );

MainMapView.SetViewpointGeometryAsync(areaOfInterest, 50);

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
try
{
    var mobileMapPackage = await MobileMapPackage.OpenAsync(path: "path\\to\\file.mmpk");
    await mobileMapPackage.LoadAsync();
    MainMapView.Map = mobileMapPackage.Maps.First();
}
catch(Exception ex)
{
    // Handle error.
}

1
2
3
4
5
6

var shapefileTable = new ShapefileFeatureTable("\\path\\to\\shapefile.shp");

var shapefileLayer = new FeatureLayer(shapefileTable);

MainMapView.Map.OperationalLayers.Add(shapefileLayer);

Tutorials

ToolsAPIs

Create an offline-enabled web map

Use Map Viewer and the ArcGIS portal to create an offline-enabled web map.

ArcGIS portalMap Viewer

Create an offline map area

Use your portal to create an offline map area from an offline-enabled web map.

ArcGIS portal

Create a mobile map package

Use ArcGIS Pro to create a mobile map package.

ArcGIS Pro

Workflows

Create an app using a web map (ahead of time)

Learn how to build an offline app using an offline-enabled web map using the ahead-of-time method.

Create an app using a web map (on-demand)

Learn how to build an offline app using an offline-enabled web map using the on-demand method.

Create an app using a web map with layers (ahead of time)

Learn how to build an offline app using an offline-enabled web map and feature layer using the ahead-of-time method.

Create an app using a web map with layers (on-demand)

Learn how to build an offline app using an offline-enabled web map and feature layer using the on-demand method.

Create an app using a mobile map package

Learn how to build an offline app using a mobile map package created with ArcGIS Pro.