Microsoft have announced a new way to visualise your model-driven Power Apps and Dynamics 365 data with a single click.
Currently in preview, Microsoft have integrated Power BI which automatically generates a set of visuals to give you insights into your data. These visuals can be generated with the simple click of a button. It’s also the latest extension of the quick creation experience that Microsoft have developed within the Power BI service and in SharePoint and Microsoft lists.
This button can be found in your model-driven Power App or Dynamics 365 app, at the top of the view in the ribbon, as seen below. 
How can I enable the quick report visualisation button in my app?
You can enable this feature for a model-driven app in the app’s settings area. As seen below, by turning this feature on the command option to ‘visualise this view’ will be displayed on the grid pages of the tables in the model-driven app.
As this is a preview feature, you will have to navigate to the Preview version of the Power Apps Maker portal:
- Visit https://make.preview.powerapps.com/
- Click Apps and find the app you wish to have this feature
- In the ellipsis following the App name, click the arrow to the right of Edit and then Edit in Preview.
- When the App Editor loads, click Settings>Features from the top menu.
- Set Enable Power BI quick report visualization on a table (preview) to Yes
- Save and publish your app
What reports can Power BI produce?
Once clicked, the dialog will open with an automatically generated report with a few fields selected for you. This can come in the form of a variety of charts. If you want to change your data in the report, it is also easy to achieve. You can simply select which fields you want to generate visuals from in the ‘Your Data’ pane. Power BI will automatically add or remove charts to show new visuals. If you want a visual which offers a specific layout or insight, you can use the ‘Personalise this visual’ option found on the top right when hovering over a visual. To read more about personalising your report, you can click here.
At this moment, reports generated within Power Apps and Dynamics 365 apps are only available for that individual user. This means the report can’t currently be shared or saved and the report will time out after one hour. However, Microsoft aims to improve the time duration of the report and add functionality that allows reports to be saved into a Power BI workspace in the future. To find out more details about this feature, you can click here.
What Power BI licence is required for this feature?
As the Power BI reports generated by this functionality are not saved or shared with anyone, the feature is available to anyone with a Power BI Free licence.
Summary
Although this new functionality is only in public preview for the moment, Microsoft introducing visualisation options in Power Apps and Dynamics 365 apps is another powerful feature that can help users to arrange long lists of data into efficient and visually appealing charts and dashboards. However, for organisations that want to go beyond the quick automated visualisations generated by this new feature, the full Power BI functionality will always be a better option. If you are an existing Strategy 365 client and want to discuss this functionality with one of our team, please feel free to get in touch.
