Key features from the Microsoft Power Platform 2023 Release Wave 1 Plans

In addition to the new features coming to Dynamics 365 between April and September 2023, Microsoft has also announced a variety of capabilities launching across the Power Platform. These roll out as part of the first wave release of 2023, and bring a variety of new possibilities for organisations.

We have summarised the key points across the applications (you can read our D365 round-up here), so keep reading to find out Pragmatiq’s top picks from the Power Platform 2023 Release Wave 1.

Key dates for the 2023 Release Wave 1:

• 25th January 2023: 2023 Release Wave 1 plans available. These detail the initial list of features and capabilities rolling out from April. We highlight our top picks from the plans in the following blog, so keep reading to find these out.
• 30th January 2023: Early Access available. From this date, early access will be available for particular features, allowing administrators to test certain capabilities in a sandbox instance, before they are automatically enabled in April.
• 1st April 2023: General Availability for the 2023 Release Wave 1 begins. Deployment of the wave 1 release will commence on April 1^st and continue until September 2023. A more detailed schedule of the rollout and regional deployment dates will be published nearer the time, which we will continue to monitor and update you on.

New features coming to Microsoft Power Apps

Add table columns to forms and views automatically

Public Preview January 2023 / General Availability April 2023

Users currently face challenges when creating table columns in Power Apps. Forms and views to be used for their model-driven apps aren’t automatically updated, meaning each time a new column is created, users must manually update forms and views.

This new feature will resolve this issue, allowing users to add table columns to selected forms and views within the table designer and table hub.

Build responsive pages using drag-and-drop

Public Preview July 2023 / General Availability September 2023

Users can build a canvas app that is fully responsive to the device someone is using. The current functionality to achieve this is a bit fiddly, so this update introduces drag-and-drop components to simplify the experience.

Responsive layout containers will make it easy to add and reorder control, as well as adjust the space between them from within the authoring canvas.

New look and feel for model-driven Power Apps

Public Preview January 2023 / General Availability April 2023

We are going to be seeing an exciting uplift in the look and feel of model-driven Power Apps. This will align with the latest Microsoft Fluent Design System and includes new controls, layouts, fonts, colours, and more.

Power BI quick reports in Power Apps enabled by default

Early Access January 2023 / General Availability April 2023

This feature brings the capability to enable Power BI quick report visualisations on a table, across all grid pages. This will be enabled by default across all apps, however the setting to disable this per app will be available.

View offline sync icon in the navigation bar

Public Preview January 2023 / General Availability April 2023

The offline sync icon will now always be visible in the mobile navigation bar, to quickly show users the current sync status. Relevant icons will demonstrate:

• If the app is connected / not connected
• If data is currently syncing
• If there are pending user updates that haven’t synchronised yet
• If the sync has an error or warning

The sync status page has also been improved to provide more details about pending changes.

New features coming to Microsoft Power BI

Create and share paginated reports on the web

Public Preview July 2023 / General Availability September 2023

Users will be able to create various operational reports, such as invoices or financial statements, with the low-code web-authoring experience.

Integrate Power BI into Teams meetings

Public Preview July 2023

This feature brings new in-meeting experiences for Microsoft Teams, enabling users to include Power BI content seamlessly in meetings.

Users can easily add reports to Teams meetings by adding the Power BI tab to the meeting. People joining will be able to find reports quickly, organise reports, and assist presenters. This feature enhances collaboration across businesses and provides the relevant data to make decisions in the moment.

New features coming to Microsoft Power Pages

Use cloud flows with Power Pages sites

Public Preview April 2023

Developers will be able to securely call Power Automate cloud flows using an API from web pages. A connector will be available in Power Automate that can be triggered on demand from events in Power Pages, and will also be capable of bi-directional data exchange.

This feature increases developers’ flexibility and increases the potential of what we can do with Power Pages.

New features coming to Microsoft Power Automate

Sequential approvals

General Availability May 2023

Users will soon be able to create more complex approval workflows within Microsoft Teams and Power Automate flows.

Essentially, users can define multiple levels or stages within in approval, and assign who needs to approve something. If is it rejected at any stage within the flow, it is considered rejected and will not move on to the next stage. All approvers will also be able to view a history of the approval at each stage.

Use native integrations for flows in Excel

Public Preview May 2023 / General Availability May 2023

This feature enables ausers to create and execute flows directly from within Excel, making it easier to work with Power Automate flows.

From the ‘Automate’ menu in Excel, users can access Excel-specific templates. There is a template onboarding experience to support users setting up and also the ability to manage flows associated with the Excel file they are currently accessing.

Access the Full 2023 Release Wave 1 Notes

Hopefully, this article has provided you with a good overview of some of the new features coming to the Power Platform in the coming months. If you wish to access the full release plans, you can do so via Microsoft’s new release planner here:

• Power Platform
• Dynamics 365

Contact us

If you have any questions about the release and how your business can leverage some of the upcoming features, please contact us. Fill out the contact form and a member of our team will be in touch shortly, or if you’d prefer, email us at info@pragmatiq.co.uk or call us on 01908 038110.