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
I agree with Gary. This is not a new feature request. This is a feature that has been supported for years. Many of us chose this tool because of this feature and our programs rely on it.
Another vote for updating the AMP app to support HTML5 export. We have been using this feature extensively for years for our clients to use modules in locations with no or unreliable wifi ... offshore, inductions at security points, even in classrooms. It is just a much more robust method as often wifi drops out or has trouble keeping up video streaming bitrates.
Offline is definitely required, and as mentioned above I think it should be treated by Articulate as a necessary upgrade of an exisiting feature.
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 MachadoWe are also working on some learning that we will need the option for the user to view offline based on their location/connection. Please ask your engineers to provide any HTML replacement for AMP. Any other options out there?
I also rely heavily on the offline capabilities of the articulate mobile player. There are a few existing apps that I have found recently that will play the courses offline - most file manager apps do not. Document GoGo (although the player is tiny) is one that works and My File Manager (has adverts though) is another. However, because you need to zip a published web version to get this to work offline, the user then has access to your entire file structure including copyright images and sound files etc. Does anyone know of a way to hide/encrypt the files/folders within the zip so that only the story.html file is visible/accesible?
Greetings Helena and Eric:
I have eLearning courses built with Storyline and they're offered for offline use via the Articulate Mobile player. My customers enjoy that flexibility. So I'm concerned about continuing that service. I tried the "My File Manager" app and it works to download videos, but the questions embedded in each course are missing. There's no practical similarity or course structure here other than videos, which doesn't suit my needs, unfortunately.
Fortunately, I do have a LMS using LearnDash that also hosts my Storyline-created courses as .zip files. It turns out that there might be two opportunities (that I've found so far) that might allow me to create an App for my courses that allows downloading via my LMS. I'm checking into this now. Here are the two links you might want to check out.
1. Use an app builder platform (https://apppresser.com/).
2. Get an app custom-developed (https://appboss.com/learndash-mobile-app-case-study-for-editsu/).
The folks at BuddyBoss have just redesigned a mobile app that might have downloadable features. I'm waiting to hear from them. Ultimately, I might have to hire someone to design an App to offer my courses offline.
And please let me know if you find any additional information regarding downloads.
Sincerely,
Rod Machado
www.rodmachado.comThank you for this Rod. I will look into the links you have provided.
Did you link to a zipped version of the web published content when using my file manager? My modules work perfectly, its just that they would have access to all the other folders. You also need to launch with the story.html file.
I am really interested to see what Buddyboss have to say and I wondered whether there may be enough people interested in working together to hire somebody to create an alternative to amp?
I will continue to dig and update on here with anything useful.
Best wishes
Helena
Greetings Helena:
Yes, I did try File Manager with a zipped file. And I did access the "story.html" file, too. It works fine for showing despite creating a static image of the first frame on each video and placing this between each video. This isn't, however, the kind of tool that would be useful for me. It turns out that AppPresser is an App creation site that allows the import of a LearnDash site (the LMS I use to support all my video content). Once the LMS is imported into the app (and it looks nice, too), the students can download videos directly to their device (see link below). Creating this app using AppPresser's software is relatively easy and much less expensive than most other App creation software. But, this is just one option.
I think the upcoming Buddyboss App (due out this month) looks promising.
That said, I would be interested in the creation of an app with a clean interface that could allow downloading of Storyline content. Sharing the cost on this would certainly make this more affordable. Please keep me posted.
LINK: https://docs.apppresser.com/article/425-download-media-from-wordpress
Sincerely,
Rod Machado
rod@rodmachado.com
Hi Rod and Ruth,
I totally agree that this is not a new feature request. I am also concerned that with just over 2 months to go, we are not getting a straight answer about whether there is going to be a solution to this.
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
Nice work on your modules 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/Are you sure about that? I don't see it in the Apple App Store anymore.
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/id505546381My 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
