What is PowerApps

PowerApps is a service that lets you build business apps that run in a browser or on a phone or tablet, and no coding experience is required.

• The objective of PowerApps is to enable business users to build new capabilities via apps, without requiring that they have code expertise. Microsoft touts an intuitive visual design for PowerApps, with drag-and-drop functionality and a familiar look and feel taken from applications like PowerPoint.
• PowerApps has connections to various Microsoft-based and third-party applications, including Microsoft SQL Server, SharePoint and OneDrive in the Office 365 productivity suite, as well as Dropbox, Google Docs, SAP, Oracle and Dynamics CRM.

Can I use PowerApps if I have SharePoint on premises?

• Yes. PowerApps is a cloud-based tool, so you would need to have your AD connected into Office 365 to assign licenses and use PowerApps. After your users have a license to use PowerApps, you can install an “On-Prem Gateway” on your SharePoint Server and then register it to your Office 365 tenant. You can then use that gateway to access all your information in SharePoint like you normally would in PowerApps.

Can I add conditional logic to a form? (Show and hide columns)

• Yes. One of the biggest things with InfoPath was the ability to show and hide columns based on rules in the form. PowerApps allows you to add logic to your controls within your forms so you can not only show/hide, but you can also change colors, disabled/enabled, spacing, etc. It’s not the same controls as InfoPath, but PowerApps has been working on their logic within forms to make it easier. After you learn how to add conditional logic into a PowerApp, it is very repeatable and simple.

Can I have a PowerApp replace the normal SharePoint list form?

• Yes. This feature was announced at Ignite 2017 and will be coming out soon to first release users. This feature will only be available in the modern experience so classic users will not be able to change their forms with PowerApps. If you are using the modern experience for lists, you can go into List Settings->Form Settings-> “Use a custom form in PowerApps”, customize the PowerApp form, and it will automatically save back to the list. Doing this will allow you to have a new and customized view/edit form, just like you would have with InfoPath.

Can I migrate my InfoPath forms to PowerApps?

• No. Your custom InfoPath forms would have to be remade in PowerApps. It sounds daunting, but with PowerApps’ new tools, you can transform your basic InfoPath form into an efficient PowerApp to streamline your processes.

What if PowerApps is not perfect for you?

• Just like with InfoPath, PowerApps fits many needs, but sometimes companies cannot use PowerApps or it might not be the best tool for the job. If you are looking for a very similar user experience to InfoPath on both the frontend and backend, I suggest a third-party tool like Nintex. Nintex not only gives you an InfoPath-like interface that some might be used to, but it also allows you to easily create mobile and complex forms.

3 things to know about PowerApps as an InfoPath successor

The wait is over — Microsoft has now designated PowerApps as the successor to InfoPath. On the occasion of PowerApps being released to general availability this week, here’s our take.

1. PowerApps was not intended as an InfoPath replacement but has been pulled into that role

The Original Story

When it was first introduced in November 2015, the SharePoint community lit up with speculation this might be the long-awaited replacement for InfoPath. Microsoft worked to dispel this perception, even to the point of denial. From an early Office dev center blog on PowerApps:

“… you might naturally ask the question whether this is intended as a replacement for InfoPath or SharePoint Designer. It’s a fair question, but the short answer is ‘no.’”

Dan Holme concurred:

“PowerApps does not replace InfoPath and SharePoint Designer. It creates an entirely new class of capability….”

All indications are that PowerApps was not intended as an InfoPath replacement — including the way the word ‘forms’ was so carefully avoided in its roll-out.

The New Story

For the first three quarters of 2016 the silence from Microsoft on InfoPath replacement remained deafening. Then at Ignite 2016 Formotus first started talking about PowerApps as being a successor to InfoPath.

In this interview from Ignite, Microsoft Senior Product Manager Chris McNulty said:

“We’ve talked about ‘we want you to get off InfoPath’ but we never gave you a good answer before. We’ve really learned from that. And now we have the answer, and the answer is PowerApps and Flow. They are the successor to the InfoPath / SharePoint Designer model.”

This week Microsoft announced the general availability of PowerApps and Flow, and at the same time on its SharePoint blog made the most definitive statement to date about these new products being the designated replacements for InfoPath:

“PowerApps and Microsoft Flow are tools for business users to build business applications and automation in SharePoint today and tomorrow. They are the successors to InfoPath and SharePoint Designer for many common business scenarios, especially custom forms used on SharePoint lists.”

2. PowerApps is not a SharePoint-first or browser-first offering

If you aren’t yet familiar with PowerApps, here’s a little background:

• It is a product of Azure, not SharePoint. It has close ties to Dynamics 365 and an underlying goal of promoting the use of the Common Data Service (aka Common Data Model).
• Its full-power design tool is a Windows (Win32) application, with a browser-based version being developed after.
• Its full-featured clients are mobile apps, with browser-based form filling promised on the roadmap.

So PowerApps was invented as a Windows application to design mobile apps that consume Azure services. The idea that it will also be used as a browser-based interface to modern SharePoint lists has been a later development.

There’s an interesting historical parallel here, because InfoPath itself was not originally intended for designing web-based forms for SharePoint. But SharePoint needed such a tool, and InfoPath was ultimately pulled in to fill that role. Now it’s PowerApps’ turn.

3 PowerApps only partially replaces InfoPath

The integration with SharePoint is clearly focused on providing a rich user interface to data in SharePoint lists. While list UI has been a common use for InfoPath in the SharePoint community, it’s important to note that it’s only one of many uses for InfoPath. (In this sense PowerApps might more precisely be called a replacement for FoSL — the Forms on SharePoint Lists project announced in January 2014 and later discontinued.)

Microsoft has clearly been giving caveats. The slide at Ignite read:

“PowerApps is the successor for forms scenarios, but doesn’t seek feature parity with InfoPath.”

Chris McNulty said in his presentation:

“There are some scenarios InfoPath excels at — the offline access, those rich XML document scenarios — these you should continue to use.”

So while Microsoft is developing PowerApps as the new best way to create rich user interfaces for SharePoint lists, they are not promising to replace other scenarios in which InfoPath is commonly used.

InfoPath Scenarios not supported by PowerApps

If you use InfoPath for any of the following scenarios, PowerApps is not recommended, even by Microsoft, as a replacement:

• Offline scenarios in which InfoPath Filler can be used without an Internet connection.
• Rich XML document scenarios in which forms can be moved, shared, reopened, edited, or processed for data.
• Wider audience scenarios in which users outside the organization are filling the forms. PowerApps only supports appropriately licensed users in the same organization.

For these kinds of scenarios, there is no reason to believe that Microsoft will be providing any new alternative to InfoPath, so it’s probably time to get serious about investigating third-party solutions.