Unanswered

Power Apps Flows vs Power Automate

(5) Share

Report

Posted on by robin_c

Can anyone point out any good resources that highlight the differences between the following tools for administering Flows:

https://flow.microsoft.com/ - Power Automate
https://make.powerapps.com/ - Power Apps - select 'Flows' from the left hand menu.

I couldn't export a stand alone Flow when using Flows within 'Power Apps'. We eventually figured out that this functionality was only available within the PowerAutomate interface. I can edit the same Flow through either interface though. Comparing the two interfaces, I noticed the following differences:

Power Automate - able to export a Flow, lots more templates available.
Power Apps- unable to export a Flow, more aimed at Dynamics and Canvas/Model Driven Apps?

Logging on here, I also notice that there's two communities - one for Power Automate and one for Power Apps. Why the difference? Why different functionality through the two different interfaces for what is essentially the same tool? Are the two tools aimed at two different user bases? If so, who are the target users for each?

Categories:

Building Power Apps

All responses (14)

Answers (0)

Sort by

Pstork1 69,661 Most Valuable Professional on at

Like
a
(3)

Report
Copy link

Link copied!

Power Apps is a declarative environment that uses connectors to give you access to content that can be edited in a UI. Power Automate is a workflow engine that uses the same connectors to give you access to content for automated processing. What you have seen is that you can invoke a Power Automate flow with a Power Apps trigger from inside the Power App. Other than requiring a specific trigger, this the same as any other Power Automate flow. It just uses a manual trigger that is invoked by a Power App. As long as you use the Power Apps manual trigger you can create the flow to be invoked from either the Power Apps action button or directly in Power Automate. They use the same flow engine.
robin_c 23 on at

Like
a
(3)

Report
Copy link

Link copied!

Many thanks for your thoughts - and apologies if I'm missing the obvious - but under the hood they are the same thing, it's just the interfaces are different with the ability to do different things purely dependent on the interface selected (PowerApps->Flow v Power Automate).

For example, I can create both an automated/listener Flow and a button triggered Flow in both Power Automate and Power Apps Flow; the available actions/steps and connectors are identical; but I can't export a Flow from PowerApps but can from Power Automate, and the number of templates available in Power Automate are massively more that PowerApps.

Why the need for two different interfaces? Why not just add the extra functionality that is available in Power Automate (such as the ability to export Flows, plus all the ootb templates) into the Power Apps interface and just have the one interface?

It feels like a marketing ploy to appealing to different user bases and to sell them as different solutions/tools with 'added value', but just creates confusion. Or am I missing some subtly between the different use cases for each tool? I'm probably just narked at spending time trying work out why I couldn't export the Flow from one interface, but can from the other :-).
stumit 24 on at

Like
a
(2)

Report
Copy link

Link copied!

@robin_c
I waited three times, each time with updated settings and re-published, for the 60 min time out until I decided to search. An incling that make vs flow might be the difference which led me to your question. Thanks for the answer. What's interesting is that the zip, successfully exported from flow, came from make.powerapps.com.
Pstork1 69,661 Most Valuable Professional on at

Like
a
(0)

Report
Copy link

Link copied!

That's not a true statement. Power Apps and Power Automate use the same set of connectors, but the underlying engines are quite different. The flow you create in Power Apps is an actual Power Automate flow. You get exactly the same thing whether you create it from the button in Power Apps or create it in Power Automate and then load it onto the button in Power Apps. As I said in my previous reply. Power Apps is a declarative system while Power Automate is procedural. They are not the same under the hood. Creating a flow from a button in Power Apps simply invokes the Power Automate editor inside a frame in Power Apps. It doesn't change the overall functionality. Its a convenience.
stumit 24 on at

Like
a
(2)

Report
Copy link

Link copied!

@Pstork1
What "is not a true statement?"
Repeating your previous post gives no insight into your allegation.
Pstork1 69,661 Most Valuable Professional on at

Like
a
(0)

Report
Copy link

Link copied!

"...under the hood they are the same thing." is not a true statement. As I've stated Power Apps and Power Automate have different engines "under the hood". Yes, you can create and invoke a Power Automate flow from inside a Power App. But it uses the Power Automate engine when it runs and whether you create it that way or from inside Power Automate it is the same flow. When it is created inside the Power Apps UI it opens the Power Automate designer inside Power Apps. But its still the Power Automate designer. I'm not sure how to state it any better. They are not the same thing with a different UI and its not a marketing ploy. They are two separate tools that are integrated to work together.
stumit 24 on at

Like
a
(2)

Report
Copy link

Link copied!

I beg your pardon. I read your post as it came into my email but failed. I should have noted you weren't replying to me. My apologies.
To your point, however, it doesn't matter what the application does, if the interchange format is compatible. I exported from flow and successfully imported into make. When it comes to integration, the only thing that matters is agreed interchange formats (30 years experience in that).
Pstork1 69,661 Most Valuable Professional on at

Like
a
(0)

Report
Copy link

Link copied!

The flow menu in Power Apps still points at the same place that flow.microsoft.com does. The list of flows there is the same list of flows in both places. Since the interfaces are web sites its easy to make the UI point to the backend for the other system. Its just for convenience. It doesn't do anything different. That's why the interchange format is the same. Make a flow in either place and it will show up in the list in both.
stumit 24 on at

Like
a
(2)

Report
Copy link

Link copied!

@Pstork1
But as @robin_c pointed out, and I confirmed, you can't successfully export the model-driven app from make as part of a solution. I figure you're attached to your Super Duper, answered lots of questions, status.
Pstork1 69,661 Most Valuable Professional on at

Like
a
(1)

Report
Copy link

Link copied!

Getting things in and out of solutions is a whole different issue. This was all about differences between Power Apps and Power Automate. Not sure what that has to do with solutions. It was my understanding that he was complaining that flows can't be exported when you look at the list in Power Apps and that is true. But the exact same list shows up in Power Automate and you can export from there. Its the same list of flows, no matter where you create them. (Other than in Solutions. Flows created inside Solutions tend to only show in Solutions and not in Power Apps > Flows or in Power Automate > My Flows.

One last comment that may clarify some of this discussion. The Flow tab in Power Apps is a recent addition to the interface. You've always been able to create a Power App triggered flow from inside a Power App itself. But the ability to create automated flows has only been available for a little while. They started as separate products, but are increasingly more integrated as time goes on. That doesn't mean they are the same thing with different UIs.