Articulate Mobile Player (AMP) End Support?

Hello Helena and Rod,

After a few vague responses from a Customer Support Engineer about whether or not the offline viewing feature would continue to be available, I sent this email:

All of our modules have been published using HTML5--that's not the issue. The issue is offline access to modules on tablets for children who go to school in rural areas without robust wi-fi infrastructure. The AMP app solved that problem for us which is why we chose Articulate in the first place. And we're not the only ones who are having concerns about this; there's a lot of "grumbling" about this very issue on your community site: https://community.articulate.com/discussions/articulate-storyline/articulate-mobile-player-amp-end-support. Please escalate this case to your senior staff. We are looking for a replacement for your AMP app that is not Flash-based. This is not a new feature request.

As a result, I was contacted by a Senior Customer Support Engineer who is looking into the issue. I will be sure to let you know what the response is. Hopefully, we will finally get a straight answer so that we can plan accordingly.

In the meanwhile, as we have invested thousands of hours of production time into the development of our modules (you can have a look here: https://flora.nbed.nb.ca/ I am so very proud of my team!), I am still looking for other solutions. Have you considered this https://www.disciplemedia.com/features/ ?

Ruth

Greetings Ruth:

Thank you for your reply. Yes, I was always puzzled by Articulate's reply regarding the utility of HTML5 when I asked about the disappearance of Flash. It was as if Articulate support didn't quite understand my question. I guess this was a "talking point" to be mentioned (typed) during all AMP/Flash inquiries. Very strange.

Below is the response I received from Articulate support. It seems strange that I've never seen a customer survey regarding the disappearance of offline learning capabilities. It seems to me that Articulate would want to know how their customers feel about this issue.

And I did check out "Disciplemedia." I can't see where any offline learning capability is offered there. I sent an inquiry to their customer support. 

Please keep me posted and I'll do the same.

Thank you,
Rod Machado

_____________________________

Hi Rod,

 Thanks for contacting Articulate Support! 

I understand that you would like Offline Playback on Mobile Devices since Flash is being discontinued. 

We'll end support for the Articulate Mobile Player (AMP) on December 31, 2020. AMP courses rely on Flash output, and since Flash is ending, AMP will no longer be supported. 

HTML5 support has matured in all major browsers, making HTML5 the best experience for mobile learners. Because AMP output is the default viewing option for Android devices and iPads, we recommend republishing courses to HTML5 without AMP output by December 31, 2020. 

We will be leaving AMP available in the Apple App Store as well as on Google Play. While AMP will be considered an unsupported product, it should function as it does now for the near future and therefore remain usable. 

We are actively monitoring requests for the capability to allow learners to access an offline version of a course, so I'll make sure our report is updated with your request.

 You may also want to take a look at LMSs that offer an offline player like the SuccessFactors mobile app that has an offline viewing option.

 Please let me know if you have other questions! 

Hazel Bartolome
Customer Support Engineer
Articulate Support - https://articulate.com/support/

Greetings Gary:
The AMP still shows up in the App store. Here's a link from my site: 
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/articulate-mobile-player/id505546381

My offline courses still download. I'm not quite sure why they do, but they do and that's just fine with me. What worries me is that the folks at Articulate HQ might remove the ability to create offline courses with future updates of Storyline software, thereby rendering the option of downloads and the AMP mute. For this reason, I have not installed the latest update yet. 

Best,
Rod Machado
www.rodmachado.com

Thanks Rod. And sorry, I didn't mean to make that reply to you directly. 

Thanks for the link. After posting this a few minutes ago, I realized that I was searching the App Store on my iPhone which of course AMP was never offered for iPhones. I switched to my iPad and searched there and of course it then showed up.  Don't I feel stupid :-) 

So far, my previously published AMP pieces continue to function on the iPad. But it sure would be nice to hear from Articulate support on the status of AMP's replacement method for offline tablet delivery.   <he said already knowing the vague answer that is coming>

Gary

Can I get an update on what is happening with the Articulate Mobile Player?  Is there a solution that is non-Flash based?  Does anyone have a best way to play Articulate content offline (for example, off line content on an iPad)?

Greetings Lauren:

So far, the AMP still plays my courses off-line for my customers. I've not updated Storyline 3 to its latest version for fear that the ability to publish courses for the AMP has been removed. Unfortunately, I don't know the internal workings of where Flash participates in the AMP's ability to play courses offline. Therefore, I'm assuming that as long as I can publish to the AMP, then my courses will still be available offline. To confirm my assumption, I have two questions for you:

1. How long will Articulate maintain the ability to publish to the AMP in Storyline?
2. How long will the AMP remain in the App store?

If you don't have answers to these questions, could you check with your company to find this information? I sure would appreciate it. I purchased Storyline on the basis of having offline course ability. Now I expect not to have that, which leaves me deeply disappointed in Articulate. 

Sincerely,
Rod Machado

Hi Rod,

Thanks for sharing your research and efforts so far and sharing them with the forum! You've been busy! For myself and my need for offline playback, it's different I'm sure than almost everyone else. Although I develop a small amount of LMS delivered eLearning, That's not the use case that I have for offline delivery.

I have been using SL360 (and earlier versions) for developing interactive multimedia sales presentations, that are downloaded via AMP and able to deliver in scenarios where a sales rep is in front of a prospect with little to no control over internet access sufficient to deliver rich content. AMP was easy for them to download and present content. It had limitations Such as I disliked the inability to pinch-to-zoom content and lack of other type typical iPad navigation features. The lack of JavaScript support was frustrating as well. But the ability to easily download and play content offline trumped its limitations IMO.

I don't want my frustration over the failure of Articulate to redesign AMP for HTML5 like they did for the entire authoring program itself, to make it sound like I dislike Articulate. I still think SL is a  great eLearning authoring program. Better than most out there now that I am aware of. However it doesn't stop me from missing Authorware every day though :-). I am however not giving up. Still hoping Articulate will eventually see the error of their ways...but not holding my breath while doing so. 

Good luck to you and please continue to share any progress you make with your research.

Gary

Is there a resolution to this yet?

Greetings Brisy:
 
Unfortunately, the answer is "No." When it became clear to me that the folks at Articulate were not going to offer offline viewing after the demise of Flash, I decided to have my own offline player created. The App I now offer my customers plays my eCourse videos offline but doesn't (as yet) have the ability to offer quizzes/interactions. These must be accessed online. This works for me at the moment given the demand for offline eCourse access. I'll eventually have the player modified for quizzing and interactions. If you're interested, please let me know and I'll forward the name of the App designer. 


Sincerely,
Rod Machado

Definitely need an easy way to download and study courses offline on mobile devices. If Storyline 360 ever adds this, it would be a compelling reason for our organization to upgrade from Storyline 3.