Create a Phone Messages Powerapp from a SharePoint List

A tutorial by Peter Kalmström

In the previous demo we studied the basics of Power Apps and created a powerapp from a SharePoint Projects list.

In the demo below, Peter Kalmström, CEO and Systems Designer of kalmstrom.com Business Solutions, shows how to create a powerapp from a Phone Messages SharePoint list. In our series SharePoint Online from Scratch, there are several demos on how to enhance a SharePoint Phone Messages list, but here, Peter uses a simple list as an example on powerapp creation.

Create a Phone Messages app

In the Phone Messages list, click on 'Power Apps' in the command bar and select 'Create an app'.
Give the powerapp a name and click on 'Create'.

The new app will now open at make.powerapps.com. It will have a touch friendly design, but the fields shown in the Browse mode is not optimal, so Peter has to modify it:

Modify the Phone Messages powerapp Browse screen

The automatic powerapp creation has given the Browse screen a star rating connected to the ID column, which has no meaning. Peter removes it and adds the person called field instead, which is of course much more interesting!

NOTE: Power Apps has been changed since the demo was created. Therefore, point 2 below does not correspond with the demo. If you want to add a field, follow the steps in this description, not the steps in the demo.

To remove the rating, select the field and press the delete key on the keyboard.
To add the Called field, select the first card in the Browse screen. Then click on Text label under the Insert tab. Connect the label to the Called field by writing 'Called' after ThisItem. IntelliSense will give you suggestions when you start writing.
As 'Called' is a person object, you have to specify which property you want to include in the field. Select 'DisplayName' from the dropdown that is shown when you add a dot after 'Called'.

Search

Peter shows how to search a powerapp by Title. Currently users cannot search for their own messages in the app, if the 'Called' column is of the type Person or Group. To be able to search the Called field, you should make the column a text column.