Frequently asked questions

With AppStudio, you can create native apps that can be installed on Android, iOS, Windows, macOS, or Ubuntu. AppStudio apps can run offline or make use of online content and services. With Web AppBuilder, you can create apps that run in a web browser on your desktop or mobile devices.

AppStudio bundles the ArcGIS Runtime API from the ArcGIS Runtime SDK for Qt with additional components to help you build cross-platform apps. The AppStudio cloud Make is a service that creates installation files for all platforms. If you choose to use cloud Make, you do not need to install developer tools such as Visual Studio to build your apps.

The ArcGIS AppStudio license allows you to create apps in AppStudio and share your apps within your organization that can be used in AppStudio Player. ArcGIS AppStudio Developer Edition gives you additional capabilities to build your own native apps that can be published to app stores.

To use ArcGIS AppStudio Developer Edition, a licensed subscription is needed and must be managed by an ArcGIS organization administrator. All members of the organization can use ArcGIS AppStudio. Developer Edition functionality is locked in ArcGIS AppStudio unless the ArcGIS account has been configured with an ArcGIS AppStudio Developer Edition license and the user is signed in with that account.

An AppStudio Developer Edition license is included with an ArcGIS Developer Subscription of a Builder level or above. For information on how to assign this license, see License AppStudio Developer Edition.

Installing two or more instances of AppStudio side by side on the same machine is possible, but not supported, and will cause issues. If you need to run multiple AppStudio environments, including using different versions of AppStudio, it's recommended that you install them under different logins.

The best way to get an app on your device is to download it from ArcGIS within AppStudio Player. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Ensure that you've used the Upload tool on your desktop to upload your app to ArcGIS.
2. Install AppStudio Player on your device.
3. Sign in with your ArcGIS organizational account.
4. Browse to your app, select it, and download it.

Before others can see your app in AppStudio Player, it must be shared. You can share it with your organization, a group, or everyone.

AppStudio samples are available that demonstrate discrete functionality that you may want to include in your apps. In AppStudio, click New App and click Samples. Download these to your computer and view them in AppStudio Player or Qt Creator.

Before you publish it to a store, your app must contain a valid certificate. The Make tool (both cloud and local) uses certificates for iOS and Android. Assigning of certificates will soon be added for other operating systems.

When you install AppStudio, Qt Creator is also installed. The AppStudio QML plug-ins are automatically associated with this installation of Qt Creator and can be used right away to create apps with no additional configuration.

If you also install the developer tools (so that you can build stand-alone apps locally), you get a copy of Qt Creator with each Qt framework you install. These installations of Qt Creator should not be used for creating apps.

Local Make requires installation of Qt kits. To have access to these, you must use a Qt open source or enterprise license. For more information, visit the Qt website.

You can immediately use ArcGIS Runtime in your app; however, any map will be watermarked and debug messages will appear, indicating that your app is licensed for developer use only. To remove this messaging, you must license ArcGIS Runtime at a level that suits your needs. For more information on these license levels, see License your app.

Beta components may have incomplete functionality or documentation and may undergo some minor, unannounced changes. If you have issues or are experiencing problems with any of the beta functionality, contact Esri Support or visit the Esri Community for AppStudio.

Building apps with a large amount of local resources can considerably increase the time it takes to build an app, either through cloud or local Make. This can lead to the build process appearing to stall due to thrashing virtual memory, fail due to insufficient memory, or time out.

To avoid these issues, consider redesigning the app. You can deploy resources separately, such as manually copying the files to an SD card, or deploy them as part of an in-app download function.

OpenSSL libraries are included with AppStudio and AppStudio Player on certain platforms, with the libraries included being updated regularly. The libraries provided with each version, and for what platforms, are as follows:

Currently, the following command line parameters are supported by AppStudio stand-alone apps. These parameters should have two hyphens before them, for example, --show maximized .

• show maximized —Opens the window as maximized on desktop platforms.
• show fullscreen —Opens the window as full screen on desktop platforms.
• show minimized —Opens the window as minimized on desktop platforms.
• show normal —Opens the window as neither maximized, minimized, nor full screen.
• locale localeCode —Overrides the system language with the language defined by the locale code. For example, locale fr uses French translation files. This can be useful when testing your app in different languages.
• enablehighdpi —Enables automatic scaling based on the pixel density of the screen.
• disablehighdpi —Disables all scaling. This is intended for applications that need to use actual window system coordinates.
• renderingEngine —Only supported on Windows. This sets the graphics rendering engine. Supported values are default (which will use OpenGL and fall back to ANGLE if OpenGL encounters errors), opengl , and angle .

Updates to AppStudio often update the Qt framework or ArcGIS Runtime that apps are built with. These updates will render your app incompatible with earlier versions of AppStudio Player.

On iOS and Android, AppStudio Player will automatically update when a new version has been released, but AppStudio Player needs to be updated manually on macOS, Windows, and Ubuntu devices.

You can improve the accuracy of the location captured by your device by using a high-accuracy receiver.

There are a broad range of GNSS receivers that can connect to your smartphone or tablet through Bluetooth.

The Design tab in Qt Creator is not recommended for creating the user interface of an AppStudio app. This tab does not provide access to ArcGIS.AppFramework or Esri.ArcGISRuntime components, and it requires a full installation of the Qt SDK. If you have installed developer tools (so that you can build stand-alone apps locally), you may have the Qt SDK requirements, but you still would not have access to ArcGIS.AppFramework or Esri.ArcGISRuntime components.