What-Why-How | Native Mobile Apps using PowerApps

Product: PowerApps, Canvas Apps
Feature: Wrap Projects

If you are looking for a way to create native mobile apps without writing code, you might want to check out the wrap projects of Canvas Apps.

There are many blogs and videos explaining step by step, on how to create a simple mobile app for Android or iOS platforms using the Wrap Project feature of PowerApps. However, very few explain the need and use cases. Let’s try to understand the ‘What’ and ‘Why’ parts in this article.

(How to wrap it? Thanks to the wonderful user group leaders of Singapore Power Platform User Group, I got into creating a wrap and also created step-by-step details to create a wrap project for an Android App. You can check the PDF of the presentation, used for the session, at the end of this article.)

What is a wrap and why do we need to wrap?

Wrap projects are a feature of Canvas Apps that allows you to package your app as a native app for iOS or Android. There are several reasons to use the Wrap Project:

• You can reach a wider audience by making your app available on the App Store or Google Play.
• You can improve the user experience by making your app look and feel like a native app.
• You can leverage native device features such as push notifications, offline access, and device sensors.
• You can simplify the app update process by using the App Store or Google Play mechanisms.

Wrap projects are a powerful feature of Canvas Apps that can help you create native mobile apps without writing code.

How do wrap projects work?

To create a wrap project, you need to have a Canvas App that is ready to publish. You can then go to the Power Apps portal and select the option to create a wrap project. You will need to provide some information about your app, such as the name, description, icon, and splash screen. You will also need to select the target platform (iOS or Android) and the minimum OS version.

Once you create the wrap project, you will get a link to download the native app package. You can then use tools such as Xcode or Android Studio to sign and publish your app to the App Store or Google Play. Alternatively, you can use services such as App Center or HockeyApp to distribute your app to testers or internal users.

Any use cases?

We need to understand here that at this moment, native mobile apps created using wrap projects do not support a B2C scenario. This means, your users need to be part of the organization to gain access to the app.

While this reduces the ability to use the app by the general public, we can still use it for publishing an organization’s features or functionalities to its partners or vendors. We will just need to onboard the partner/vendor / third-party service provider’s users as Guest Users in the azure active directory and give them the required licenses. This is known as Azure AD B2B Collaboration. You can get more details by clicking MS Learn links given at the end of the article.

Few use cases:

1. A local council can build a simple canvas app to upload before and after images by their third-party service provider or vendor to use part of their routing garbage pickup, which will act as a very basic app for on-field agents
2. An insurance provider can build a simple canvas app for Lead Generation that can be used by their banking partner to cross-sell products
3. An IT service provider can build a resource management canvas app for their Vendors or HR consultancies to upload their candidates/resources’ CV, and time entries or even extend it to submit invoices

and any more.

Excited to see how the wrap feature will grow in the future, hopefully catering to B2C as well.

Do comment with your thoughts / Ideas and Questions. Happy wrapping!

Cheers.

Azure AD B2B Collaboration: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/active-directory/external-identities/what-is-b2b

Adding guest users: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/active-directory/external-identities/b2b-quickstart-add-guest-users-portal

Disclaimer: The content under the title ‘Why do we need to wrap’ was generated by the New Bing! 🙂