Forum Discussion
Articulate Mobile Player (AMP) End Support?
Hi,
I hope everyone is having a wonderful day, I am just here to voice a major concern about the coming end of life of the AMP.
I am a multimedia developer for an E-learning firm based in Canada. We have been using the AMP for some time and we think it's a wonderful tool to be able to provide our clients in developing countries experiencing internet issues with custom HTML5 downloadable offline content. Our main concern is that when December 31, 2020 arrives we will be left in limbo on how to provide offline content to our valuable clients.
We have tried different methods and this solution with the AMP works the best. I totally agree that HTML5 has matured in all browsers making it the best experience but the problem between the user and the offline content is how they get that content on their mobile devices? We have tried FTP, computer to tablet using USB, Micro-SD cards etc. and things get very complicated when running content that needs to be unzipped/launch directly on the iPad or Android. Also Google chrome or Firefox makes it impossible to launch the story.html file from a download folder on a tablet due to security issues.
From an end users point of view with little technical knowledge this can be a daunting task. So my question is why are you ending support when people like us rely on this fantastic piece of software?
Will the App remain available on the App store but with no support available?
Thanks so much for your answers in advanced.
43 Replies
Hi Salvador,
Thanks so much for reaching out and voicing your concern over the Articulate Mobile Player. Since AMP courses rely on Flash output, there won't be an option to view courses offline when Adobe discontinues Flash on December 31, 2020.
I've sent your request for this feature to our product team, and I'll let you know as soon as we have more info to share about offline viewing options.
I have to agree with Salvador. I too am disappointed with the discontinuation of support for offline playback. The availability of AMP for IOS and Android and it's offline playback capability was the primary reason for my company choosing Storyline 2 originally and subsequently acquiring multiple subscriptions of Articulate 360.
I understand, Adobe's discontinuation of Flash as being your stated reason for discontinuing AMP. On the surface one might read that and say "oh well, unfortunate, but nothing Articulate can do about that". However it makes me wonder what prevents Articulate from investing in developing an updated version of AMP in which it does not rely on Flash? Is it simply a business decision not to put development resources into offline mobile playback because not enough of your customers will object to losing that capability?
Thanks
GaryHi Gary!
Fortunately, we've been preparing for discontinuing Flash for some time to make sure all of those who rely on the Articulate Mobile Player have a better option.
With Articulate 360, there is no need to use the Articulate Mobile Player since the Modern Player is a fully responsive design. This means that you no longer have to take an extra step to publish the course for Articulate Mobile Player. Your mobile devices will configure automatically so the content is displayed perfectly.
Although it is sad to say goodbye to the Articulate Mobile Player, we've perfected Articulate 360 so it's fully responsive without downloading an additional app.
If you have any additional questions about what this means for other programs, please let us know!
Hello Lauren,
I don't think you understood my comments or those of the original poster. It was not about formatting of the content so it is sized correctly to play on various mobile devices. It was about the ability to play content on a mobile device when access to a server is not possible.
Does the Modern Player with responsive design allow my Storyline 360 content to play when there is no internet access? If not, then it is way more than just sad to say goodbye to the Articulate Mobile Player. At least to me it is.
You mention that Articulate has been preparing for the discontinuation of Flash for some time. Does that preparation you speak of include the ability to play content offline?
Gary
Hi Gary!
I apologize if I was off-base! Thanks for clarifying!
That's right, the Modern Player addresses the design concerns for the removal of the Articulate Mobile Player.
Offline viewing is another part of the Articulate Mobile Player which you brought up. We are preparing for how this is going to affect those who rely on the app to view content when the internet is not available.
I don't have any public details to share right now but if there are any specifics that I can pass along to our Engineers I'm happy to do so. You can either reply here or contact us through a support case. Either way, we'll get your comments in the right hands.
Hi Lauren,
Able to give any updates on this topic of how we can download view Modules offline?
Thanks!
No worries Lauren!
Hopefully your engineers will come up with a workable alternative to offline delivery that is easy to use for the end user (like AMP is already) . I've enjoyed authoring content in Storyline the last several years, but unfortunately offline delivery is that important to us. Losing that functionality entirely will reluctantly force us to look for alternatives.
Hello David,
Thanks for reaching out!
We are actively tracking requests for new ways to allow learners to access an offline version of a course. We haven't made any development decisions as of yet, but we will update you here if we make a change that will help.
Let me know if there's anything else I can do. I'm happy to help!
But this is NOT a new feature request. This is a continuation of a feature that seems to have been a major selling point for your product for a lot of us who chose to purchase Articulate.
Greetings Ruth:
I agree, and the above discussion was speculation on how we might find an alternate solution for downloads. Here's the email I sent to Articulate requesting that the company reconsider creating an HTML5 version of the AMP that continues to allow downloads. It would be helpful if other users were to send similar emails directly to the company.
______________________________________Greetings Folks:
I've been a loyal Storyline/Articulate user since 2015. I use Storyline exclusively to create all my eLearning courses. One of the attractive features that Articulate offered was the ability to view courses offline. As it stands now, all of my 12,300 eLearning customers have the option of downloading their courses to their iPad or Android tablet device. This was a major selling feature for my courses and one of the main reasons I chose Articulate over other eLearning creation software.
Given Adobe's elimination of Flash beginning next year, I understand that downloads will no longer be available via the Articulate Mobile Player (AMP). I find this troublesome since downloads are a necessary feature that is now disappearing with no HTML5 download replacement offered by your company. It seems to me that this is a great disservice to all those, like me, who purchased your product anticipating that this feature wouldn't disappear.
Given Articulate's resources and its obligation to its customers, it seems reasonable that you'd create an HTML5 download replacement for the AMP. As far as I can tell from the Articulate forums, no such replacement will occur. Therefore, I'm asking that you reconsider this decision and consider offering an alternate means of downloading Storyline-created eLearning courses to a mobile device.
Please remember that I, and many others, purchased Storyline primarily because of its “downloading” feature. Now this feature is disappearing. While I don't want to tell you how to run your business, it seems to me that it would be relatively easy for your company to create an HTML5 replacement version of the AMP that allows downloads.
I sure do appreciate your consideration here. I look forward to hearing your response to my request.
Sincerely,
Rod Machado
www.rodmachado.com
This response sounds quite different than where Lauren says above "We are preparing for how this is going to affect those who rely on the app to view content when the internet is not available."
This recent response makes it appear that Articulate is now treating offline playback on mobile devices, not as an existing relied upon feature by Storyline users for many years, but as a "new feature" that has to be requested by enough existing users.
Given that we are only 5 months away from when you have stated you will pull support for AMP, and you are not already engineering a solution as implied previously, but instead asking for a "feature request" for it, it appears the writing is on the wall.
So that leaves me with two questions:
1. How long will the AMP player remain on the App Store and Play Store after 12/31/20?
2. Will Storyline updates after 12/31/20 have the AMP publishing option removed?Answers to these two questions will help me a lot in determining how long I have to find an alternative authoring solution.
Thanks
GaryHi Gary!
Happy to offer more information! As we've learned more about the removal of Flash in the past few months, we've had to pivot our plans.
Articulate Mobile Player (AMP) courses rely on Flash output, so we’ll end support for the AMP app on December 31, 2020.
- How long will the AMP player remain on the App Store and Play Store after 12/31/20?
- Great question! We don't have an exact timeframe yet because it depends on when those stores will remove it, but we'll let you know as soon as we do. Since operating systems plan to disable Flash at the end of 2020, we don’t expect AMP to continue working after that.
- Will Storyline updates after 12/31/20 have the AMP publishing option removed?
- Our plan is to phase it out over time! There are many factors involved since other applications will also be affected. Since Flash will be removed by Microsoft in the end of 2020 and the beginning of 2021, we'll use that timing to remove the option from our tools. We plan to keep everyone informed so they are prepared when we make the switch.
Thanks for taking the time to follow up, Gary! We're happy to help if you have more questions.
I have a question. Why is Articulate scrapping a great feature that obviously many people use? I realize AMP relies on Flash but so did a lot of other things.
Just update the app?
My company makes extensive use of offline learning via the AMP. For a while there I thought there might be a trend away from offline learning and reliance primarily on Wifi and 4/5G for course delivery. That was a misconception on my part. The trend I've seen over the past few years is that offline learning is becoming even more popular given the mobility of learners and their desire to access eLearning anywhere and anytime while using their mobile phones or tablet devices. I have customers that listen to eLearning courses while driving, similar to how they'd listen to an audiobook. Other customers enjoy eLearning courses while traveling on airplanes, and so on. Given the complexity and extensive use of videos in my courses, 4G streaming to an iPhone doesn't work very well. Please ask your engineers to provide an HTML replacement for the AMP. As it stands now, I'm actively looking for an app that allows affordable delivery of my courses offline via a mobile device. Offline learning is essential for my business.
Thank you,
Rod Machado
- How long will the AMP player remain on the App Store and Play Store after 12/31/20?
Thank you for those responses Lauren. They are helpful.
Would you say come 1/1/21 with support for AMP gone, that it would be a safe, or at least a logical assumption that an Articulate supported offline playback method for tablets will not exist?
Thanks
Gary
