Microsoft has released another new application, to join its fleet of ever growing useful and productive enterprise apps. PowerApps is a new app that helps businesses create basic applications from scratch, without having to write even a single line of code. You can then instantly publish the app online for use on the web or mobile.
PowerApps had been a part of the private preview experiment for a very long time, and after rigorous testing and feedback from the loyal Insider community, the app is finally out of private and ready for use by all, with a work and student e-mail id(the only drawback of this app!?).
Now, how easy is it develop applications using PowerApps!? It’s as easy as dragging the required component onto the canvas, loading your data, photos and completing the connections to make a bare-bones app, that will run just fine. The PowerApp platform is a business solution, that will help many small and medium scale companies build and deploy apps with ease. So, to help the businesses out, Microsoft has included a slew of tools that will make it easier to make conscious connections inside the app.
You can choose between creating an app from your existing data by connecting embedded Microsoft tools, like Office 365, SharePoint Online, OneDrive for Business, or using third-party tools like Dynamics CRM, Salesforce, Dropbox, and many more. Or you can also use the pre-built templates, edit them and make them usable for your business proposition without much effort. Also, if you don’t see a service that your business relies upon, don’t worry, you can register and connect to any Restful API.
Microsoft PowerApps also allow you to share the application with other users, and security groups. You can decide the security restrictions applied to each user, and if he/she can edit the app or not. The user will not be able to share the application with another user. The focus here is on security, and collaboration to develop enterprise apps. You can then view the app on the PowerApps online platform or use the PowerApps Android and iOS app, to view and edit on the fly.
Alongwith the above said features, Microsoft has included its latest app preview also released today, Microsoft Flow, completely integrated into the PowerApp platform. The ‘Microsoft Flow’ is an IFTTT-esque application, just out of preview and can be used for automating workflow across the growing number of apps and SaaS services that business users rely on. You can build connections to automate tasks and workflows, just like in IFTTT, but for business applications like Twitter, MailChimp, Slack, E-mail, and many more. For example, it can be used to track your twitter following, and send a greeting to each and every person who now follows you.
Flow gives you a more flexible environment to work in, where you can easily create apps from scratch, without much complications. PowerApps is thus, Microsoft’s attempt to change and better the business app development process, with the least road-blocks possible.
Microsoft has included a Get-Started guide and a host of tutorials to guide you through the whole app development process, click here to start building an app for your business.
