Power Platform Release wave 1 2023
It’s here, the release of wave 1 2023 is announced. Every year Microsoft hits us twice with the release wave, and yeah it’s always a long list of features, so I’m very glad it’s only twice and not three times a year 
In my last blogpost I listed my top features about Dynamics 365 CE in this release and continuing with the same subject, I would like now to list my top features about Power Platform. I hope this list is not as long as the previous one on Dynamics 365 CE.
I’ve used the new experience to dig into the release wave documentation, so go I highly recommend it if you haven’t started using yet.
Before we go any further, it’s worth mentioning that everything in this list is subject to change and the following images are the same ones that Microsoft has released as part of the feature wave, including the quality of them.
So without further introduction, let’s get started.
Power Apps
Organize business logic in your app with components
How many times have we (myself included) created a canvas app with logic repeated throughout the application? To be honest I have lost count. This is too difficult to maintain. But with this feature, common logic can be placed in a component that can be shared within and between applications using a component library.
With this feature, any formula in an app can be placed in a function definition with parameters, immediately reused across the app, and abstracted for use across other apps.
Timelines:
Early Access: —
Public Preview: Feb 2023
GA: To be announced
Formula columns in Microsoft Dataverse
We have all seen this feature for a little while now, still in preview of course, but I have to say that it makes me happy to know that this feature will be in GA March 2023 (a couple of months away at the time I write this blogpost).
Formula columns can be created using Power FX, which significantly improves the power of calculated and rollup columns and adds the ability to perform calculations in real time.
Timelines:
Early Access: —
Public Preview: Sep 30, 2022
GA: Mar 2023
Grid control support for grouping, aggregation, nested grids
Long time ago we had the feature of nested grids in Model Driven Apps, but in order to use it, we had to make the subgrid editable. This was really cool because and still it is because we have features like grouping and aggregation. I’ve used it several times in past projects.
But let’s be honest since Power App Grid control came out, it has been a huge improvement for the Model Driven Apps UI. So now this control is being extended in the following ways to not only reach parity with the legacy read only and editable grids but also provide even more advanced functionality. It’s important to note that these capabilities are available regardless of whether the grid is being used in read only or editable mode.
The Power Apps grid control for model-driven apps features the following capabilities:
- Infinite scrolling
- Inline editing within views and subgrids
- Customizable cells
An now will have more features such as:
- Nested grids
- Grouping.
- Aggregation
Timelines:
Early Access: —
Public Preview: —
GA: Mar 2023
Power Fx supports direct calls to Dataverse actions
This one also made me happy since it was announced. Now our apps will support the ability to directly call synchronous Dataverse actions without having to create a cloud flow, and why not even our Custom APIs. In the end this means less components in our solution and probably a significant performance increase.
Timelines:
Early Access: —
Public Preview: Jan 2023
GA: Mar 2023
Use Teams chat with others in app
This feature is currently available for sales and customer service app, nevertheless now we will be able to start multiple Teams chats with colleagues without leaving the model driven app (out of the box or custom).
All chats are shown in a side-panel on the right. The chats are tracked as chat activities in the timeline and activities views.
Timelines:
Early Access: —
Public Preview: Mar 2023
GA: —
Add table columns to forms and views automatically
This feature is a game changer for apps makers, because nowadays one of the biggest friction points when creating table columns is that the forms and views to be used int the model driven app aren’t automatically updated. As a result, every time a new column is created, makers will need to manually update their forms and views.
Feature Details:
Makers will be able to add table columns to selected forms and views through the table designer and table hub. An Update forms and views button will show up as the entry point of the feature in the table hub, full-page table designer, and inline table designer in the model-driven app designer. Selecting the button will allow makers to configure what table columns to add to the forms and views for the table.
The feature will be automatically enabled for all makers when generally available.
Timelines:
Early Access: —
Public Preview: Jan 2023
GA: Apr 2023
Create virtual tables easily in Maker Portal
It’s been a little while since it was announced that makers would be able to create virtual tables connected to SQL Server, Excel or SharePoint using a connector to these data sources offering a real low code experience when dealing with virtual tables.
In a nuthsell we will have a guided, step-by-step wizard to create virtual tables in minutes (connected to the mentioned data sources).
Timelines:
Early Access: —
Public Preview: Jan 2023
GA: Apr 2023
Drag and drop to build responsive pages more easily
I love this one, if you are a Canvas app/Custom page maker like me, then you will be familiar with the fact that we have got containers that allow us to create apps fully responsive. To be honest it’s a bit hard to try to align and configure these containers. So in these release wave that maker experience is going to be made easier as we will have drag and drop functionality to align and configure them.
Timelines:
Early Access: —
Public Preview: Jul 2023
GA: Sep
2023
Governance and administration
Simplify ALM with pipelines
This one it was also announced a little while ago, it is still in preview. Now we are able to create and run Pipelines within the Power Platform, simplifying the ALM.
Feature Details:
- Set up automated deployment pipelines with less friction.
- Add low-code logic and approvals to your deployment process with cloud flows or extend pipelines using plug-ins.
- Schedule deployments for a later date and time.
- Deploy using service principals so that citizen developers don’t require elevated permissions within production environments.
- Custom-tailor deployment processes to meet the needs of your organization.
- Developers can do more with additional command line capabilities and build task support.
- Admins have better visibility and auditing capabilities within the streamlined management experience.
- More control over how solutions are managed across various connected environments.
Timelines:
Early Access: —
Public Preview: —
GA: Jun 2023
Power Pages
Configure data grids in design studio
This one may be silly, but believe me it will make life easier for Power Pages makers, with this feature we will be able to do the typical customizations of the data grid components (formerly known as lists) within the Power Pages design studio. In the end this will save a lot of time, no more swapping between applications to configure grids and no more code to style subgrids.
New capabilities include:
- Support for metadata filtering of column data present in the data grid component.
- Grid action styling, such as the create button to add a new row to the data grid.
- Row action customizations, such as icons customizations for edit and delete rows.