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5 ways Microsoft Power Apps canvas apps put advanced tools in your team's hands

by Sam Kumar
VP | Dynamics 365 | Power Platform, Inogic

Since its inception, Microsoft Power Platform has been progressively improving the experiences of app developers. Be it working with Dynamics 365 CRM, Power Apps, or Dataverse, solving business problems has become easier with all the intuitive and user-friendly tools. And Power Apps, with its low code/no-code approach, has been helping businesses create complex applications more easily and with participation across an organization.

Using Power Apps, you can build and share apps for web, mobile, or tablets using either canvas apps or model-driven apps. Both methods have their own merits and cater to specific needs.

Model-driven apps use a data-first approach and are used to create immersive and responsive applications regardless of the devices. They build on the types of entity relationships and processes that have traditionally been the strengths of full-scale business applications like Dynamics 365 Sales or Customer Service.

Canvas apps are typically built with layout and user experience considerations first rather than data model, making them simpler to start and better suited for citizen developers. That design-first approach, with drag-and-drop elements and a lower barrier to entry, creates new opportunities for an organization to quickly deploy some of Microsoft's most cutting-edge technology and gain benefits that may have seemed inaccessible with other development models.

What is exciting about canvas apps?

In this article we will look at five canvas app features and benefits that are helping Power Apps customers today. Workers are well-aware of cutting-edge technologies that they see in their private lives and want the same types of tools implemented in their business apps. And canvas apps, with their vast features, can help you do that with less complexity and coding.

So, here are some tips and tricks that you can use to build custom canvas apps that will satisfy the needs of your employees and customers.

1. Building Responsive Canvas Apps

Although getting started building canvas apps is no harder than creating PowerPoint presentations, for an optimized user experience it is important that the apps are uniform and responsive regardless of the device or the screen size. You can use the layout containers (horizontal and vertical containers) to make the canvas apps more responsive with fewer efforts.

2. 3D View in Canvas Apps

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About Sam Kumar

Inogic is one the leading Microsoft Gold ISV Partners with an exclusive focus on providing innovative apps and development services on Dynamics 365 CRM/Power Platform. Its flagship Dynamics 365 CRM maps integration app Maplytics™, a 5-star rated Preferred App on Microsoft AppSource, is changing the way locational intelligence is leveraged with features like Radius Search, Territory Management, Route Optimization, Auto-scheduling, et al.

Inogic is renowned for its 15+ Microsoft Preferred Co-sell ready Productivity Apps on Microsoft AppSource. From the latest WhatsApp Business integration with Dynamics 365 CRM, Document Management in Dynamics 365 CRM/CE with Attach2Dynamics and SharePoint Security Sync, Sales enablement using Lead Assignment and Distribution Automation, Alerts4Dynamics, and Business Process Checklist, improving productivity with Click2Clone, Click2Export, and Undo2Restore, user adoption and motivation with User Adoption Monitor and Gamifics365, popular Visualization Apps Kanban Board, Map My Relationships and Integrations like MailChimp Integration, Subscription & Recurring Billing Management, to QuickBooks ...

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