The Power Apps April release wave has many exciting end user productivity enhancements you can try out and start to take advantage of now for your model-driven apps.

Start by opting your environment into the April release wave, learn how ( https://docs.microsoft.com/power-platform/admin/opt-in-early-access-updates ).

We have a list of the Power Apps early access features ( https://docs.microsoft.com/power-platform-release-plan/2020wave1/features-ready-early-access ) and Dynamics 365 apps early access features ( https://docs.microsoft.com/dynamics365-release-plan/2020wave1/features-ready-early-access ).

 

Let’s dive into a few enhancements that will increase productivity for your end users.

 

Save in the command bar

End users wanted to make sure items were saving even when auto-save was enabled.  We updated the command bar to include Save along with Save & Close when an end user is editing a record.

Save is always visible in the command bar

 

Open a main record in a dialog

Using the Main Form Dialog (MFD) end users no longer need to navigate away from a main form. You can now open a related record entity on a parent or base form without requiring the user to navigate away, your end users can stay in context and edit an existing record or create a new one.  The record will open in a modal dialog and end users will have access to the command bar, header and tabs that you defined for the records main form.

Example of a Contact entity Main Form Dialog (MDF)

 

Grid filtering and searching

We have made it simple for end users to filter the grid they are on and search for records within that view without having to leave. Many new filtering options are available out of the box for each column type.  Lookup columns have additional ways to filter them that end users have been asking for.

Example of Lookup filtering

 

Searching for records on a grid is more intuitive with the current view definition honored when performing search. The Search this view capability on the grid now applies the current view conditions and then searches on the fields that are configured in the quick find view definition.

 

 

Next Steps

If you have not taken advantage of Unified Interface in your Common Data Service environment now is the time.  It is much faster ( https://powerapps.microsoft.com/blog/performance-benefits-of-unified-interface/ ) and many of the April release wave enhancements make it even better!

If you are ready to move to Unified Interface you can learn more  ( https://powerapps.microsoft.com/blog/moving-forward-with-your-transition-to-unified-interface/ ) and switch over when you are ready.