How to build a partially offline app

1. Define app functionalities
Define the functionalities you want to include in your partially offline app.
2. Prepare a mobile data source
Select and prepare a mobile data source based on the functionalities you defined.
3. Build the app
Build the app using the mobile data source you have selected.

1. Define app functionalities

Before you start building your partially offline app, you need to define the functionalities you want to offer in your app. Your specific use case will determine the most suitable mobile data source for your application. Some questions to get you started are:

Will you be working with preconfigured 3D scenes or 2D maps?
Will you be editing data offline and synchronizing offline edits?
Will you be geocoding, routing, or finding an address using a locator file?

Once you have outlined the requirements of your partially offline app, you can begin to prepare a mobile data source.

2. Prepare a mobile data source

To start creating a partially offline app, you select a mobile data source as the foundation for your app. You can download an offline map from an offline-enabled web map, download offline data from a data service, use a mobile map package (.mmpk) or mobile scene package (.mspk) created in ArcGIS Pro, or use data files containing geospatial features.

If you choose an offline map or offline data as your data source, you have the additional capability to synchronize offline edits as soon as your device is connected to a network.

Use the following table to help select your mobile data source.

	Offline maps	Offline data	Data files
2D maps		¹	¹
3D scenes		²	²
Edit data while offline			³
Synchronize offline edits			⁴
Fully disconnected apps/devices	⁴	⁴
Offline geocoding			⁵
Offline routing			⁶
Offline analysis
Set expiration date for data access

Full supportPartial supportNo support

1. Map constructed in code
2. Scene constructed in code
3. Shapefiles, GeoPackages, and KML
4. Custom sideloading workflows required
5. Locator exported from ArcGIS Pro
6. Network Analysis dataset exported from ArcGIS Pro

Once you select a mobile data source, the general steps to prepare the mobile data source are:

Create a web map using Map Viewer or ArcGIS Pro.
Enable it for offline use in the Settings tab of the web map's item page.
Obtain the item ID so you can download it later.

Launch ArcGIS Pro.
Start a new Map project if you are working with 2D maps. Or select a Global Scene or Local Scene project if you are working with 3D scenes.
Set a basemap and add data into the project.
Export the project into a mobile map package (.mmpk) or mobile scene package (.mspk).

3. Build the app

Once you have prepared a mobile data source, you are ready to build an offline application. Use the ArcGIS Maps SDKs for Native Apps to create a partially offline app that runs on your preferred platform.

Example code to access data from a mobile data source in an offline app:

ArcGIS Maps SDK for .NET

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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;
}

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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);

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try
{
    var mobileMapPackage = await MobileMapPackage.OpenAsync(path: "path\\to\\file.mmpk");
    await mobileMapPackage.LoadAsync();
    MainMapView.Map = mobileMapPackage.Maps.First();
}
catch(Exception ex)
{
    // Handle error.
}

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

var shapefileLayer = new FeatureLayer(shapefileTable);

MainMapView.Map.OperationalLayers.Add(shapefileLayer);