As you move your Web app through different deployment stages within the Web Designer (Development, Testing, Staging, or Production), a copy of its web map is created and given a new ID in the Esri portal.

Along with web maps and web scenes, your Web app can include references to other VertiGIS Studio portal items that are also created and updated as your app is deployed to each environment (specifically, Workflow, Printing, and Reporting). Items the web map references (for example, feature layers or Esri-published map services) are not included in the copy of the web map.

You can make changes to the app only in the Development stage. Then, those changes are deployed to Testing, Staging or Production - in that order. At each stage, a copy of the app is created and given a unique ID in both the portal and Web Designer.

Once an app reaches the Production stage, it gets a unique and permanent ID that stays with the app from that point onwards. This is the ID that is shared with end users.