Thursday 23 July 2020

Power Apps: Different type of Apps with Detailed Understanding

Power Apps provides options to create app based on the requirement and usage. There are three different type of apps available.
  • Canvas 
  • Model Driven  
  • Portal 

Power Apps with the above three type of apps, adds more value to the Microsoft power platform, along with Power Automate. With both of these services from power platform, some of the complex business scenarios could be achieved with no-code or less-code approach. You will get this fact at the end of this article.

Let us quickly understand these different types.


Canvas App


When power Apps was introduced few years ago, this was the only type available. This type provides options to customize the user experience. That means, you can build the app from scratch defining each and every aspect of it. That includes,
  • Design and UI elements –  
    • Helps creating screens and adding necessary controls with just drag and drop approach.  
    • Business logic can be  manipulated and achieved with functions/formulas with less-code or no-code scenarios. 
  • Data connectivity – 
    • There are default connectors available, providing flexibility to connect to multiple services without even writing code. This includes underlying common data service, and other SAAS services. 
    • On top of this, Power Automate provides greater flexibility in integrating the multiple services/systems data with no-code configurations. 
  • Users: 
    • This canvas type is available for Azure AD or external users. 
    • Only licensed users can only access the app. - The basic options available as of writing are for single app or multiple apps per user.