What is Power Apps?

Introduction to Power Apps

Luise Freese

Azure & Power Platform Architect

Meet your instructor

Luise Freese, Azure & Power Platform Architect

Luise Freese, Azure & Power Platform Architect (Düsseldorf)
2× Microsoft MVP, M365 Development + Business Applications

What you'll learn

Microsoft Power Apps product icon

Ch 1 → Get oriented and build your first single-screen app
Ch 2 → Connect to data and show it in a gallery
Ch 3 → Add navigation, forms, validation, a real workflow
Ch 4 → Make it responsive, publish it, share it

Where this course takes you

Real screenshot of the Bramblewood app in Power Apps Studio showing a gallery list screen alongside a detail/edit form screen

A multi-screen app that lists data, opens a detail, and lets you add or edit records
Bound to a real data source
All built with Power Fx, no traditional coding

Meet the Power Platform

Power Apps → custom business apps (this course)
Power Automate → automated workflows
Power BI → dashboards and reports
Power Pages → external websites and portals
Copilot Studio → custom AI agents and chatbots

Microsoft Power Platform family tree with the official product logos for all five tools, Power Apps, Power BI, Power Pages, Copilot Studio, and Power Automate, each in a labeled card under a "Power Platform" header

Canvas apps

Real screenshot of the Library Sign-in canvas app open in Power Apps Studio, showing the tree view, canvas with controls, formula bar, and properties panel

You design the screen, pixel by pixel
Great for single-purpose tools: sign-in kiosks, field forms, logging apps
Works with many data sources: SharePoint, Excel, and more

Model-driven apps

Auto-generated from your data tables
Standardized layout, list, form, view, repeat
Ideal for CRM, service desks, case management at scale

Model-driven app showing a standardized grid view with sidebar navigation, header bar, and data columns

Two generations of controls

Modern controls → the default in new apps
This course teaches modern throughout
Classic controls → still supported in older apps

recraft: half: Two phone-app screens side by side on white background. Left screen has sharp rectangular buttons with thick borders and old beige-gray palette. Right screen has rounded soft buttons with flat fills and modern blue-teal palette. Curved arrow from left to right. Flat 2D, no shadows.

Why Power Apps?

nanobanana: half: Clean modern flat illustration on pure white background of three diverse business people each holding a phone showing a different small app screen. The central figure looks confident and is pointing at their phone screen. Flat 2D, no shadows, no logos.

Low-code: drag-and-drop UI, formulas instead of code
Business people ship apps without waiting on IT
Included with most Microsoft 365 plans

Let's practice!

Introduction to Power Apps