Episode 3 - Microsoft Power Apps

When we covered Power Platform in the first episode of this series, you mentioned that Power Apps were a component part of the Power Platform, and that they could be used to build and deploy customized applications.

CP: Indeed I did and yes, they can. I talked specifically about the iPhone and how the expression “there’s an app for that” entered our everyday language when it comes to mobile devices and then, how the Power Platform or Power Apps in particular, really brings to the fore the expression “there's a business app for that” right now.

UK: OK, so when it comes to these apps, or “applications,” what does Power Apps provide that means a partner should start to take notice and get to know more about what they are?

CP: Yes, so Power Apps provides today what is known as a “low code” developer environment that can be used to build custom applications or “apps” for business needs. There are different types of Power Apps including Canvas Apps and Model Driven Apps as well as other things branded under the same product family. Both Model Driven and Canvas apps sit nicely on top of the Microsoft Dataverse, but there are also hundreds of pre-built connectors that can be used to consume data from, or push data to, other systems.

UK: Right Chris so, when you say other things branded under the same product family, what exactly do you mean?

CP: Yes, of course. So, Microsoft acquired a company called Adxstudio back in 2015 primarily to strengthen their web self-service product portfolio and there’s a product now known as Power Apps Portals which is the modern-day equivalent of Adxstudio Web portals. The original product was built by the Microsoft ISV partner natively on top of what was Dynamics CRM. It became Dynamics 365 Portals and then more recently Power Apps Portals.

UK: OK, so that’s the history of that product, but what do these Power Apps Portals actually provide?

CP: Well, although they’ve been rebranded and have technically evolved over time, the concept of these portals hasn’t changed. In general, they provide a way to give access to data, anonymously if required or, through secure sign in to protected information stored within an organisation. So, to give you an example here, if you were a membership organisation and you wanted to provide a website for people browsing to access anonymously to encourage them to consider joining, you could use Power Apps portals to do that. And then, for any members that had already joined, you could also use it to provide secure access to additional content repositories or personalised member areas.

UK: Right, that is clear. Then also Chris, what is the difference between a Canvas App and a Model Driven App? You have mentioned both, can you help me understand why they are different?

CP: Yes, I can of course. So, model driven apps are designed and built on top of the Dataverse. Microsoft’s own first party apps such as Dynamics 365 for Sales or Customer Service are examples of Model Driven apps in their own right. And, one of the things that Power Apps provides is the ability for anyone to create a model driven app that can leverage the same user interface as those first party applications. You can also use the same capabilities to enforce business logic and then publish apps easily for consumption in a way that is almost identical to how those first party apps are published.

Usually, you would start the creation of those apps with a structured data model in mind, hence, “model driven” apps. Canvas Apps start from the opposite end of the design thinking. They provide a blank canvas, onto which you can drag and drop pre-built controls, and then use Excel like expressions known as Power Fx to define logic and work with data. You can share them natively or embed them so that they can be consumed from other places such as Teams, SharePoint or Power BI.