How To Publish A Table Power App Dynamics 365

Enabling offline access for Dynamics 365 and Power Apps

11th January 2021 / Product Updates

Offline mobile access has long been a feature of Dynamics 365; we detail the new process of the equivalent functionality in Dynamics 365 or a model-driven Power App.

As part of the October 2020's Wave 2 release, offline functionality for model driven Power Apps reached general availability, allowing users with little or no internet connectivity to carry on working with their data. Once a network connection was then established, changes made to the data on the mobile device would be seamlessly synchronised back to the cloud.

What do I need to do to enable offline access?

There are four steps that need to be completed:

Firstly, you need to decide which tables of data you want to allow to be stored offline. Core tables such as Accounts and Contacts are already enabled for offline access, but if you have additional or custom entities that you also want to include, you will need to add these. To do this, visit make.powerapps.com and switch to the environment that contains your app using the selector in the upper-right. Then, navigate to your table via the links on the left side (Data>Tables). Within the table, you will see a Settings button in the top toolbar:

and in Settings, click More Settings and then Offline to present the option 'Enable for mobile offline'.

Tick this option and click Done. This entity will now be enabled for mobile offline access – repeat this process for all tables that are required.
Next, a Mobile Offline Profile will need to be created. This can be done via the Power Platform Admin Center. Once logged in, click Environments and select the required environment, followed by the Settings button in the top toolbar. Under Settings, click Users + Permissions to show the Mobile Configuration link:

If you do not already have a profile created, a button will be available to create a new one. Click this and name your profile. Within the profile, you will have the option to add in the tables (historically called entities) you wish to make available offline:
Once you've added all of the required tables, select the people that you would like to have this offline access:

Once you have added all the required tables and people, click the Publish button in the upper-right.
The final step is to set the Enable Mobile Offline option on the app itself. This can be done by visiting https://make.powerapps.com/, selecting the right environment and finding your app. With the App selected, an Edit option will appear:

Within the App editor, on the right hand side, click Properties, scroll the options to the bottom and a tickbox labelled Enable Mobile Offline will be displayed.

Tick this, then click Save and then Publish in the upper right.

Once you have completed the above steps, your selected users will now be able to use the app offline.

Summary

Offline access is a powerful feature for a mobile app and ensures that your users that need to travel for their role need not be hampered by areas of little or no internet connectivity. However, it is important that mobile offline profiles are correctly configured to ensure that only essential data is stored, both for keeping mobile data costs down and for data security. If you are an existing Strategy 365 client and wish to discuss mobile options for your staff and their mobile-driven apps, get in touch with one of our experts today.

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