In the fast-paced world of low-code development, staying ahead requires leveraging the latest tools and enhancements to streamline app creation and improve user experiences. The January 2025 update to Microsoft Power Apps introduced a suite of innovative features designed to enhance developer productivity and application intelligence.

What is Microsoft PowerApps?

At its core, Microsoft Power Apps is about making app development accessible, intuitive, and impactful. It’s a suite of tools that enables businesses to create custom applications quickly and efficiently, without the need for extensive coding expertise.

By seamlessly integrating with Microsoft Dataverse and a wide range of data sources—including SharePoint, Microsoft 365, Dynamics 365, and SQL Server—Power Apps bridges the gap between business needs and technology. Whether you’re looking to digitize workflows, enhance collaboration, or build solutions tailored to your unique challenges, Power Apps provides the flexibility and power to turn ideas into reality.

Why Use Microsoft PowerApps?

1. Simplifying Workflows – Power Apps takes manual, time-consuming processes and transforms them into automated, streamlined solutions. By reducing inefficiencies and minimizing errors, teams can focus on what truly matters—delivering value.
2. Tailored for You – No two businesses are the same, and Power Apps understands that. With the ability to design custom applications that align with your exact needs, organizations can foster innovation and stay ahead in a competitive landscape.
3. Empowering People – Innovation doesn’t have to come from a development team. Power Apps puts the tools directly in the hands of employees, enabling them to create solutions that make their work easier and more efficient. This fosters a culture of ownership, agility, and problem-solving.
4. Smarter, Faster Decisions – In a fast-moving world, access to real-time data is essential. Power Apps equips businesses with insights at their fingertips, allowing for data-driven decisions that keep them adaptable and proactive.

Types of PowerApps

Depending on where and how you’d like to build apps, there are a few ways to do so, with each type of Power App covering a different business need. 

SharePoint online forms

While on SharePoint, if you go to a list or library and select edit form, you can customize the form using Power Apps capabilities. This ranges from making visual improvements to improving functionality through options such as customizing predefined controls like dropdown menus and galleries. 

You can also take it one step further by introducing business rules to do things like adjusting certain fields based on prior input or referencing data from other sites and databases. 

Canvas apps

Next up, we have the most recognizable type of Power App. Canvas apps are created from–you guessed it–a blank canvas. This is where the no-code aspect shines, as it allows users to design apps by dragging & dropping elements onto a canvas, just like you would in PowerPoint. 

It’s worth noting that Canvas apps also exist in a version of Power Apps for Microsoft Teams. It’s more or less a stripped-back version where you can create apps that exist only for a specific team. 

Model-driven apps

The idea behind model-driven apps is that you connect to your data within Dataverse, which allows you to model specific business processes that are unique to your organization. They can retrieve and write data using Dataverse, allowing you to save information or display it.  

It’s important to recognize that to create a model-driven app, you must have your data inside of Dataverse. If not, the app won’t have any data to work with. If you’re interested in transferring data regarding Dataverse, this document goes over that process. 

Don’t worry if you use other data sources, such as SQL; you can still use Power Apps. You’ll just need to purchase a per-app or per-user license, which we touch on near the bottom of this article. 

Hear From Microsoft on How to Get Started with Power Apps

1. Left navigation pane
2. Search
3. Environment information and settings
4. Copilot in Power Apps
5. Build apps

Left navigation pane

            Start with the left navigation panel to discover the main menu items.

1. Home: Takes you to the Power Apps home page.
2. Create: Create apps as such as canvas apps, model-driven apps, chatbots, and AI models.
3. Learn: The learn hub lets you explore documents, training material, get help from the Power Apps community, and other resources that help you to create and build Power Apps.
4. Plans: View and edit your plans. More information: Use the Plan designer (preview).
5. Apps: If you’ve created an app or someone else has created one and shared it with you, you can play or edit it. You can also filter the list of apps based on criteria such as whether you opened it recently.
6. Your most used pages such as Tables, Connections, Flows: When you first sign in the top three pages that you use most are pinned to the left navigation pane. Use the More option to unpin any of these pages and pin something else.
7. More: Pin your most used items to the left navigation such as tables, flows, and more.
8. Power Platform: Explore other Power Platform products or service.

Search

Use the Search to find apps, create apps, or find help documentation.

*To find your app, start typing one or more characters in the search bar. When you find the app you want, select the banner icon to play or edit the app.

Environment Information and Settings

For best results, start by ensuring that the home page is set to the right environment. More information Choose an environment.

Copilot in Power Apps

If your organization has Copilot in Power Apps (preview) enabled then you’ll see Copilot assistant on the Power Apps Home screen. With Copilot in Power Apps, you can build apps using natural conversations. Just instruct the AI to create data tables and canvas apps. Access it from the Power Apps home screen, guide it on what you need, and it will generate Dataverse tables and shape your app, simplifying development. For more information, see Build apps through conversation (preview).

Build Apps

Start building apps with powerful business logic and workflow capabilities to streamline and automate your manual business operations.

To create an app, choose from the following options:

• Start with data: Upload an Excel file, create a custom table, select a Dataverse table, or connect to an external data source such as SharePoint, Excel, or SQL to begin building your app.
• Start with a page design: Choose the type of app you want to create. Use the Filter option in the top-right corner to narrow templates by app type or features like offline access, responsive design, or integration with Microsoft 365 products. Learn more about creating apps in Power Apps.
• Start with an app template: Select from a variety of templates, including data-driven options for mobile apps. Learn more about creating a canvas app from a template.
• Your apps: On the Home page, access your top six apps—whether you own them or they’ve been shared with you. Quickly filter and sort apps to find what you need. Use the Commands button to edit apps, view details, or adjust settings.
• My apps: On the Apps page, browse the apps you own. Utilize the search, filter, and sort options to locate specific apps. Select an app to edit, view details, or adjust settings using the command bar or the Commands button.

Reference: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-apps/maker/canvas-apps/intro-maker-portal

If you need assistance in getting started with learning about Power Apps keep an eye out on our events page or sign up for newsletter to receive information about our App in a day sessions.

Latest Power App Updates: Q1 2025

The 2025 Release Wave 1 for Microsoft Power Platform introduces new AI-driven automation, improved integrations, and enhanced usability across various applications. The updates will roll out from April to September 2025, with early access available in February.

Key Updates:

• AI-Driven Automation: Copilot enhancements will provide intelligent recommendations, automate workflows, and streamline operations across Power Platform applications.
• Improved Integration: Stronger connections with Microsoft 365, Teams, and other external data sources enhance collaboration and data accessibility.
• Enhanced Usability: Updates focus on better user experience, including optimized design templates, more efficient navigation, and improved customization options.
• Industry-Specific Features: Power Platform will include tailored solutions for various industries, aligning with the Microsoft Cloud for Industry strategy.

Key Dates:

• Early Access: February 3, 2025
• General Availability: April 1, 2025

Organizations can leverage these advancements to drive automation, improve efficiency, and enhance business intelligence.

Notably, the public preview of the Plan Designer simplifies the transformation of business requirements into comprehensive low-code solutions, leveraging Copilot and a team of agents skilled in solution architecture, data modeling, and user experience generation. Additionally, the general availability of React and Fluent-based virtual code components empowers developers to create diverse components without the need to package these libraries. These enhancements signify a significant leap forward in the Power Apps platform, enabling the creation of intelligent, scalable, and user-centric applications.

Microsoft Power Apps continues to redefine how businesses build and deploy applications, making development more accessible, efficient, and intelligent. With its seamless integrations, low-code capabilities, and the latest AI-driven enhancements, Power Apps empowers organizations to streamline workflows, improve collaboration, and make data-driven decisions with ease. As Microsoft rolls out its latest updates in 2025, businesses can look forward to even greater automation, improved usability, and industry-specific solutions tailored to their needs. Whether you’re just starting with Power Apps or looking to maximize its potential, now is the perfect time to explore how it can transform your business operations.

For up-to-date tracking of the latest Power Apps updates, click this link: Microsoft Release Plans

Reference: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-apps/maker/canvas-apps/intro-maker-portal