Microsoft Canvas Apps are one of the available apps within the Microsoft Power Apps suite. Microsoft Power Apps has been around for a few years now, but Microsoft are constantly improving and adapting it to meet ever-changing business needs. Microsoft defines Power Apps "as a suite of apps, services, connectors and data platform that provides a rapid application development environment to build custom apps for your business needs".
In short, Power Apps gives users who have little technical knowledge the ability to build apps from scratch with little or no code required.
In terms of Canvas Apps, they are what the name suggests; users are given a blank canvas to work from which can customise the app easily with no code required, enabling you to build apps for your business needs. There are also several pre-built templates available to use. For example, an annual leave request canvas app is available to help employees request leave with a few button clicks. Canvas Apps are best suited when the design you require is somewhat unique and needs to be bespoke.
Canvas Apps can work on both mobile, tablet and web devices.
In the above image, you can see an example of how a customised canvas app can help your business. With the pandemic ongoing, at Crimson we needed a safe and secure way to return to the office. Using our seat booking app has enabled us to monitor who was in the office and when, as well as allowing us to keep to social distancing guidelines.
This app was created with Microsoft Canvas Apps technologies and is a great example showing what can be achieved using powerful Canvas Apps technology.
Another great benefit of Canvas Apps is the ability to connect to hundreds of data sources through connectors bringing your data into a single location. Popular data sources such as Excel, SharePoint, Office 365, Outlook and OneDrive are just a few of the hundreds of data sources you can use with your canvas app. The ability to be able to connect to a wide range of data sources gives you a competitive advantage, allowing you to pull all your relevant data into a single app.
Read our Canvas Apps case study to find out how London Borough of Ealing are returning to the office safely, thanks to their new desk booking app.