ArcGIS Runtime SDK for iOS



Offline patterns

ArcGIS Runtime SDK for iOS supports a range of workflows to help you take your maps and scenes offline. These workflows fall into two broad categories; the Services pattern, best for supporting multiple users who edit and share data, and the Desktop pattern, best for supporting read-only data.

Services pattern





Preplanned workflow





  2. Identify and select a map area.

The app can now go offline with this map. For details of these steps see the take a map offline - preplanned.

On-demand offline workflow



  2. Generate the map content using that area of interest.
  3. Download the map content to the user's device.
  4. Load and display the offline map.

For details of these steps see the take a map offline - on-demand.

Take individual layers offline


Data and licensing

Operational data




Basemap data




Apps that use offline mapping require the following license levels:



See License your app for more information on license levels.

Desktop pattern

ArcGIS Pro allows you to create mobile map and scene packages or individual data sets that can be taken offline. Any of this read-only data can be shared within your ArcGIS organizational account, downloaded or sideloaded directly to your device. This desktop pattern is appropriate where the data is not changing on a regular basis. This content can include features, tabular data, tile caches, network datasets for directions and locators that can be packaged and distributed individually or combined into a mobile map or scene package.

Create an offline map or scene

You can use ArcGIS Pro to package maps and scenes into a mobile map package (.mmpk) or mobile scene packages (.mspk) files, respectively. Each package can contain multiple maps or scenes, their associated layers and data, and optionally networks and locators. After the mobile package is downloaded or sideloaded onto your device you can open it using the AGSMobileMapPackage or AGSMobileScenePackage class. For more detail on how to work with mobile map packages see open a mobile map package from ArcGIS Pro.

One advantage of this approach is that you can prepare the data using ArcGIS Pro and sideload it onto a device without needing an internet or network connection. You can prepare the data once and deliver it to any number of devices.


Currently all mobile map and scene packages that are authored by ArcGIS Pro are read-only.

For more information see create a mobile map package or create a mobile scene package in the ArcGIS Pro documentation. If you'd like a ready-to-use and regularly updated network dataset (and locator) for your area of interest, you can license StreetMap Premium data (in mobile map package format). For details, see add StreetMap Premium data.

Create offline layers



See work with offline layers for more information on working with data such as geodatabases, tile packages, geopackages, and raster datasets.