Power Apps is the mobile app which was originally built to access Canvas Apps in Andriod and iOS. Right now, using both canvas and model-driven apps together on a mobile device is a painful experience since it requires two different mobile apps to be installed on your device. We need to use Dynamics 365 apps to access model-driven apps on mobile.
With the new Power Apps mobile app, we can easily access both canvas and model-driven apps in a single list of apps.
Microsoft has also introduced a brand new, responsive UX with Power Apps app for Model-driven apps, designed specifically with mobile scenarios at heart. Usability enhancements to some of the core components of unified interface brings your model apps to life on mobile with a native look and feel, gesture support, updated animations, and interaction patterns that are intrinsic to mobile.
How to try this Public Preview Feature?
Well, as this feature is still in preview, we can’t try it out using default Power Apps from play store. We need to download and install the beta version for iOS and Android.
You can click on following links to get the steps to download the beta version of Power Apps:
Install Power Apps for iOS or Install Power Apps for android
Model-driven apps for Dynamics 365 Sales, Customer Service, Field Service, Marketing, and Project Service Automation don’t run in the Power Apps mobile app.
Instead, we need to use the Dynamics 365 for phones and tablets app (at least for now).
What are the UX enhancements to model-driven apps?
Prominent header
- The hamburger menu on the top left corner houses the sitemap, with Search and Quick Create options on the top right – discoverable on all pages.
- The sitemap is a slide-out panel, a common mobile interaction pattern, that is a window into the different navigation options for the model app. It has a cleaner layout, with emphasis on your content.
- Quick Create enables you to create a record in context, with optimizations to Save and related options.
Navigation
- You can tap on the view name on a list page to switch between views easily using the updated view switcher.
- Updated page transition animation enables you to navigate back by swiping across the screen. On Android phones, you can use the device’s softback button to go back to the previous page.
Commanding
- You can find page-level commands on any page at the bottom of the screen. On iOS, they have circled icons with stacked text. On Android phones, they are under the floating button at the bottom.
- Global commands are in the overflow drawer on iOS as a horizontally scrollable list and in the vertical ellipsis in the header on Android phones.
Well, I hope everyone would appreciate this ease of accessibility introduced by Microsoft for their customers. I hope this new feature will eventually grow with better offline capabilities and maybe they will merge the Dynamics 365 app within Power Apps.
Till next time, Cheers 😉
