Power Apps Features for Developers: Top 10 Highlights

Power Apps is constantly evolving to provide developers with powerful tools to enhance productivity and improve app performance. In this blog, we’ll explore the top 10 features introduced in 2024 that every Power Apps developer should know about. From simplifying formula creation to enabling seamless collaboration, these updates are designed to streamline your development process.

1. Comment-Generated Formulas

This feature simplifies PowerFx formula creation by allowing developers to input natural language prompts. Whether you’re a beginner or an experienced developer, this feature reduces complexity and boosts productivity.

For example, you can input: ‘Filter the gallery to show items where the status is Active.’ Power Apps will automatically generate the corresponding formula: ‘Filter(GalleryItems, Status = “Active”)‘.

Availability: December 2024 (2024 Release Wave 2)

Reference: What’s new in Power Apps: October 2024 Feature Update – Microsoft Power Platform Blog

Power Apps Features for Developers

2. Real-Time Co-Authoring

Collaborating on canvas apps has never been easier! With real-time co-authoring, multiple makers can now edit an app simultaneously, just like in Microsoft Word or PowerPoint. This feature significantly speeds up development and fosters better teamwork.

Example: If you and a colleague are working on a canvas app, you’ll both be able to see each other’s changes in real-time, making collaboration seamless and efficient.

Availability: June 2024 (2024 Release Wave 1)

Reference: Work together in real time to create canvas apps | Microsoft Learn

3. Customizable Offline Profiles

Optimize your offline-enabled apps by selecting specific columns for each table. This reduces unnecessary data load, ensuring a smoother and more efficient experience for users, even when they’re offline.

Example: A field agent app that only needs a subset of columns can be customized to download only the essential data, reducing load time and improving offline performance.

Availability: December 2024 (2024 Release Wave 2)

Reference: Select columns downloaded on mobile devices | Microsoft Learn

4. Code View for Canvas App Functionality

Power Apps introduces a Code View that allows developers to inspect, share, and copy control code easily using a YAML-based format. This feature is invaluable for understanding app functionality at a granular level.

Example: To view the code for a specific control, right-click on it in the tree view and select ‘View Code (Preview)’. This makes it easy to share and modify control code.

Availability: October 2024 (2024 Release Wave 2)

Reference: Use code view for canvas app controls (preview) – Power Apps | Microsoft Learn

Visuals:

  • To view the code for a control, right-click the control in the tree view or directly on the screen, and then select View Code (Preview).

To add a new control from the copied code, right-click on the screen where you want to place the new control, and then select Paste Code (Preview).

5. WYSIWYG Data Modeling with Copilot

Create tables and relationships visually with Copilot’s WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) data modeling feature. Copilot generates Entity Relationship Diagrams (ERDs), making complex data modeling easier and more intuitive.

Settings:

  1. Open Power Apps
  2. Invoke Copilot
  3. Create a Table
    1. Prompt
    1. Define Relationship
  4. Visualize Relationships
  5. Refine and Update

Example: With a few clicks, you can generate an ERD that visually represents your data tables and their relationships, making the process of creating and managing data models faster and simpler.

Availability: June 2024 (2024 Release Wave 1)

Reference: Visualize and work with complex data using copilot | Microsoft Learn

Visuals:

Describe the solution requirements.

The copilot will generate the ERD (Entity Relationship Diagram) based on the requirements

An AI-generated table containing sample data.

Drag and drop the entities to establish a relationship.

6. Seamless Pipeline Setup

Setting up deployment pipelines is now faster than ever. In less than 60 seconds, you can automate solution transitions between development, testing, and production environments, ensuring smoother releases and better version control.

Example: Set up a pipeline to automate your app’s deployment from development to production, reducing the risk of human error and ensuring smoother transitions.

Availability: June 2024 (2024 Release Wave 1)

Reference: Set up pipelines in Power Platform – Power Platform | Microsoft Learn

7. Canvas App Insights with Monitor

Monitor your app’s performance and get actionable insights to improve its functionality with the new Monitor tool. This feature helps identify issues and recommends improvements, ensuring a better user experience.

Example: After deploying an app, use the Monitor tool to check performance metrics and receive recommendations to optimize the app’s responsiveness.

Availability: December 2024 (2024 Release Wave 2)

Reference: Get valuable insights and recommendations for your canvas app using Monitor | Microsoft Learn

8. GitHub ALM Integration

With GitHub integration, Power Apps now supports Application Lifecycle Management (ALM), enabling developers to implement version control, continuous integration (CI), and continuous deployment (CD) workflows.

Example: By linking your Power Apps project to a GitHub repository, you can manage source code, automate deployments, and monitor testing processes in one unified platform.

Setting Up ALM in Power Apps with GitHub

  1. Create a GitHub Repository
  2. Install Power Platform Build Tools
  3. Export Solutions from Power Apps
  4. Set Up a CI/CD Pipeline
  5. Configure GitHub Actions
  6. Automate Testing
  7. Monitor and Maintain

Availability: September 2024 (2024 Release Wave 1)

Reference: Available GitHub Actions for Microsoft Power Platform development – Power Platform | Microsoft Learn

9. Smart Paste in Model-Driven Apps

Streamline data entry in model-driven apps with the new Smart Paste feature. This feature automatically suggests inputs based on the content copied to your clipboard, saving time and reducing manual entry errors.

Example: If you copy a list of addresses into your clipboard, Smart Paste will automatically fill out the corresponding fields in your model-driven app, making data entry faster and more accurate.

Availability: September 2024 (2024 Release Wave 1)

Reference: Use Copilot’s form fill assistance feature in model-driven apps – Power Apps | Microsoft Learn

Visuals:

The Smart Paste feature suggests inputs for the fields in the form by analyzing the copied text and the form structure.

To accept all suggestions on the open tab of the form, on the notification bar, select Accept all suggestions.

10. SQL Server Procedure Integration

You can now call SQL Server stored procedures directly in PowerFx without relying on Power Automate, simplifying the app development process and improving performance.

Example: The following PowerFx formula demonstrates how to call a stored procedure: ClearCollect(ResultCollection, SQLConnection.spMyStoredProcedure(param1: TextInput1.Text).ResultSets.Table1).

Availability: September 2024 (2024 Release Wave 1)

Reference: Call SQL Server stored procedures directly in Power Fx (Preview) – Microsoft Power Platform Blog

Example:

ClearCollect(
    ResultCollection,
    SQLConnection.spMyStoredProcedure(
        param1: TextInput1.Text
    ).ResultSets.Table1
)

Select the stored procedure, as shown in the image below.

Below is an example of reference code that you can use in the Power Fx formula bar

Conclusion

The 2024 Power Apps features offer developers powerful tools to improve efficiency, collaboration, and app performance. These updates, including real-time co-authoring, enhanced offline capabilities, and better integration with GitHub and SQL Server, will significantly streamline your development process and improve your app’s functionality.

Stay ahead of the curve by exploring these features today. For detailed guides and video tutorials, visit Microsoft Learn or watch the latest demo videos on Sysfore’s YouTube channel.

Microsoft Power Automate

Microsoft Power Automate

Formerly Microsoft Flow, is a solution developed by Microsoft to allow individuals to efficiently build workflow implementations across a wide range of applications and services. Thanks to its easy-to-use GUI that requires no professional experience, Power Automate helps everyone to build workflows.

microsoft-power-automate

Enhance your workflows with AI Builder

Bring intelligent automation to your business processes with AI that’s easy to train and configure within Microsoft Power Automate.

Easily add AI to workflows

Easily build, train, and publish AI models without writing a single line of code, using templates and a guided process, or quickly embed prebuilt components directly into your workflows.

Power Automation

Increase efficiency throughout your organization

Quickly simplify tasks using AI models such as prediction, form processing, object detection, category classification, and entity extraction via a simple, intuitive interface. Get straight to productivity with prebuilt AI scenarios including key phrase extraction, language detection, sentiment analysis, text recognition (OCR), business card reader, entity extraction, receipt processing, and category classification.

Automate your workflows and apps

Focus on high-value work by automating your time-consuming manual processes with AI Builder and the robotic process automation (RPA) capability in Power Automate. Quickly access AI Builder components in Microsoft Power Apps to extract text and visual information using your camera or from available images and documents.

Gain value from your data

Built on the strength of Azure AI capabilities, AI Builder in Power Automate allows you to train and build no-code models and enhance the intelligence of your business apps using your data in Dynamics 365, Office 365, and Common Data Service.

  • Use pre-built automation templates for common automations (within the Flow Gallery)
  • Create you own automations by connecting various applications, such as Outlook, SharePoint Dynamics 365 or non-Microsoft apps like Twitter, Asana, Gmail, MailChimp etc.
  • Set up triggers, alerts, automated emails, push notifications and much more – with no coding and in minutes
  • Overall it allows you to save time, reduce human error and streamline your processes

 

Microsoft Power Apps

Microsoft Power Apps Platform

What is Microsoft Power Apps

Microsoft Power Apps enables you to build zero or minimal code web and mobile applications, enabling you to turn your ideas into feature-rich apps that can transform your processes digitally, solve business problems, or increase business value. You can interact with intuitive visual tools that do not require code, work faster with a platform that allows data integration and distribution, and for professional developers to extend the platform with building blocks.

Microsoft Power Apps
Microsoft Power Apps interface

As it integrates with Microsoft applications such as SQL Server, SharePoint, OneDrive, as well as third-party applications such as Dropbox, Google Docs, SAP, and Oracle, the scope of use of Power Apps is huge. In addition, Common Data Service, the enterprise-grade datastore on which Microsoft Dynamics 365 apps are natively built, is built-in, eliminating the need for further integration of data.

  • With these capabilities, you can drive enhanced mobility, productivity, and innovation in your organization. 
  • From tailored apps to advanced applications
  • Power Apps enables you to create a broad range of app scenarios that infuse digital transformation into manual and outdated processes.

Canvas Apps

Canvas applications allow you the opportunity to organise the user experience and interface the way you want it to be. To create a highly personalised interface with the power of a blank canvas, begin with your user experience, connect it to a choice of more than 200 data sources. For online, smartphone, and tablet applications, canvas apps can be built.

Model-driven Apps

You use the Common Data Service ‘s power to quickly configure your forms, business rules, and process flows when you create a model-driven app. Start with your data model, building up to model forms, views and other components from the shape of your core business information and processes in the Common Data Service. Model-driven apps generate a great UI automatically that is responsive across devices.

Microsoft Power Apps: Features

Although it can sound like a difficult challenge to build applications, Microsoft Power Apps provides many features and functionality that help you create them as a professional and with minimal effort, most importantly.

Feature model

  • Common Data Service to store data
  • 200+ connectors to integrate data and systems
  • Pre-built templates
  • Drag-and-drop designer
  • Power App Canvas
  • AI Builder and pre-built AI components
  • Portals (for no code responsive websites)
  • Role-based user experience customization
  • Pixel perfect website development
  • Several app scenarios
  • Wide variety of controls such as camera and location
  • Logins via authentication providers like LinkedIn and Facebook
  • Private and secure submission of information


 

Microsoft Power Apps: Benefits

  • By rapidly building low-code apps that modernise processes and resolve business challenges, Microsoft Power Apps boost agility across your organisation.
  • Work faster with data integration and distribution
  • Enhance mobility and innovation with no code capability
  • Enhance productivity with prebuilt AI scenarios
  • Simplify tasks and enhance prediction with AI Builder
  • Gain value from data
  • Improve user engagement
  • Forrester Consulting’s commissioned report, a Total Economic Impact™ study, showed that Microsoft Power App consumers experienced 188 percent ROI in three years, 74 percent decrease in app production costs, and 3.2 hours / week average increase in productivity of line-of – business workers.

Why Sysfore Technologies?

You can ensure that your application is all you need and more with a Power Apps partner, capable of deployment all across your business, pulling data from internal and external applications and delivering analytics-based insights that take your data to the next level.

Sysfore Technologies offers data integration and analytics expertise, a solid understanding of data architecture, enterprise-grade application building experience, and a deep industry partnership with Microsoft to help you create tailored Power Apps for your business. We handle the end-to – end process and take care of all collection and UI design specifications and use the Common Data Service to map diverse data sources within the business.

 

You can talk to one of our solution experts today to learn more about you can leverage Power Apps and the Power Platform in your organization.