Power Apps are recognized as leaders in the realm of low-code app development. To provide small and medium businesses with a platform to develop competent software applications, Microsoft introduced Power Apps.
The article explains the Power Apps, their types, and the downsides of using them for app development.
What Are Power Apps?
Launched in 2015 by Microsoft, Power Apps gives software developers a platform to develop low-code applications in a quick turnaround time. Using Power Apps, professionals with no prior coding experience can build enterprise-grade apps.
The platform improves workflow capabilities, accelerates business operations, and helps management to overcome organizational challenges efficiently and effectively. Organizations with restricted budgets can use Power Apps to control costs.
Users can connect applications developed using PowerApps platforms to an array of data sources, including Dynamic 365, Salesforce, Excel, SQL Server, Power Automate, Power BI, and more.
These apps that are developed using the PowerApps platform are fast and allow employees to handle individual tasks independently. However, if you feel that the app you are using is running slow on your laptop, you might need to check and remove Search Baron from Chrome browser, for example, or scan the device with antivirus software to eliminate potentially corrupted data.
Different Types of Power Apps
Power Apps are of different types that include Model-driven, Canvas, and PowerApps Portals. Let’s understand these types in detail.
- Model-driven Applications: This approach focuses on adding functional components to the application without coding. Developers can add dashboards, charts, forms, tables, and tablets to develop simple to complex applications.
- Canvas Applications: These are the most popular types of apps that businesses develop to pull data from a wide range of data sources into one single platform. Building these apps does not require knowledge of programming languages. It uses a drag-and-drop interface instead.
- Power Apps Portals: The portals are used for website design projects. It helps develop portals that allow vendors and external partners to sign in altogether and browse content. It also allows users to view data in Dataverse.
The popular use cases of Power Apps include holiday management apps, expense approval apps, field service apps, event management apps, asset management apps, communication apps, scheduling apps, and more.
Unique Features of Power Apps
Implementing the traditional methods to develop enterprise-grade applications is time-consuming and requires massive investment.
Power Apps, on the other hand, provides an all-inclusive platform that empowers developers to build applications efficiently and economically.
The low-code application development platform brings along some unique features that make it a potential option in the software industry.
- Accelerate Development:
App development is a long process that integrates different crucial stages right from planning to final design. Power Apps has sped up this tedious and time-intensive process and app development is no more a matter of months. Creating a user interface, defining navigation, and establishing links through drag-and-drop elements make the process easier too.
- Streamline Operations:
Power Apps allow businesses to overcome challenges that they are dealing with in the app development arena. Power Apps platforms not only allow simplifying the development process, but they also allow users to automate communication, and introduce artificial intelligence into operations while tracking operational expenses.
- Integration with Other Apps:
Power Apps allows for easy integration with Microsoft Office 365 suite. Having said that, it means users can work efficiently with Excel, PowerPoint, Word, OneNote, Outlook, Teams, OneDrive, Power Automate, and other professional apps.
Applications developed using Power Apps integrate rich business logic capabilities that help automate high-end tasks.
Challenges and Limitations of Power Apps Platform
Despite unique features and multiple capabilities, Power Apps platforms include several limitations mentioned here.
- Limited Customization Capabilities
Power Apps is a proprietary platform developed and owned by Microsoft. Unlike open-source platforms, it does not allow endless customization features.
So, if you are planning to use the Power Apps platform for your next low-code app development project, you may not be able to customize your app to the full extent.
- Using the Power Apps App Player Only to run the app
While you can now publish your apps on app store in Android or iOS because of the introduction of much awaited Wrap feature from Microsoft, for a very long time low-code apps that you build using the Power Apps platform could not be published on Google Play, Windows Store, or Apple App Store. So, you may only get a limited volume of traffic on your app.
This was a huge challenge as it impacted the number of downloads and revenue. Things however will change with the introduction of this new feature.
- Lack of Compatibility with Other Systems
Even though Power Apps offers seamless integration with other applications, developers face challenges integrating the platform with legacy systems. The platform supports only half a dozen third-party apps and services.
Therefore, integration with external systems can be a big challenge that restricts users from using the platform.
The Conclusion
Power Apps gives professionals with no coding experience a platform to develop applications that allow businesses to remain on the competitive edge.
Overall, businesses with less capital and staffing capabilities can use the platform for building enterprise-grade apps.
Does the Wrap feature get around your second challenge?
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-apps/maker/common/wrap/overview