Microsoft is making a big change to some of its developer tools

Power Apps
(Image credit: Microsoft)

Ahead of its upcoming Build developer conference later this month, Microsoft’s plan to rebrand Power Apps (opens in new tab) portals as Power Pages has leaked online.

As reported by ZDNet (opens in new tab) and first spotted by Twitter user WalkingCat (opens in new tab), several references to the software giant’s new Power Pages have been spotted online including a video explaining “How to create a form with Microsoft Power Pages”.

Based on one of the URLs referenced in the leaked presentations, it's now clear that Power Pages is the new name for Microsoft’s Power App portals.

According to a support document (opens in new tab) from Microsoft, Power App portals is a website builder (opens in new tab) and web hosting (opens in new tab) platform to quickly create and launch business-centered websites. What makes these sites easier to create is the fact that Power App portals use low code (opens in new tab) along with customizable templates.

From Power Apps portals to Power Pages

In addition to the leaks about Power Pages found online, Microsoft itself made a reference to its new offering in a recent Microsoft Dynamics blog post (opens in new tab) that has since been removed.

In the post, the software giant said that it is adding support for Dataverse (opens in new tab) search to Power Apps portals/Power Pages that will allow users to access the search service that is already used by model-driven apps.

Meanwhile, in a job post (opens in new tab) for a principal software engineer, Microsoft praised Power Apps portals and provided some examples of recent sites made using the service, saying:

“Power Apps Portals is emerging to be one of the fast-growing capabilities of Power Platform for large organizations, education institutions, and governments around the world to quickly design and launch external data-centric websites. Examples of Power Apps Portal-powered sites include Government-to-citizen services like COVID-19 vaccination scheduling, Citizen 311 services, and Citizen FAQ sites.”

Besides government-to-citizen services, Power Apps portals have also been used to create sites for self-service customer returns, product warranty registrations, course registrations, application processing and onboarding.

We’ll have to wait until Microsoft Build 2022 (opens in new tab) to hear Microsoft announce the change itself but expect the company to showcase even more uses for Power Pages at its upcoming virtual event (opens in new tab).

Via ZDNet (opens in new tab)

Anthony Spadafora

After working with the TechRadar Pro team for the last several years, Anthony is now the security and networking editor at Tom’s Guide where he covers everything from data breaches and ransomware gangs to the best way to cover your whole home or business with Wi-Fi. When not writing, you can find him tinkering with PCs and game consoles, managing cables and upgrading his smart home.