How can I, progmatically tell if the app is running in play mode or in "design" mode?

[KEarley]

I have a close button on a Canvas app.  Clicking the close button should close my app.  Initially I used the Exit() function.  That worked nicely while in development mode, but not ideal for my users.  I want my users to be left on my company page, in the same tab the application was running.  

To conttrol what web page my users see when they close my app, I switched to using the LaunchTarget function and designated that the webpage should launch in the same tab.  This works great for my users, but not ideal for my developers. 

I want my developers, when in design mode, to experience the Exit() behavour.  

I tried a few different ways to control this and it seems like the best way is to detect if the application is in play mode or design mode, and execute the Exit() method or the Launch...LaunchTarget method accordingly.

Here is some pseudo code to represent what I am trying to accomplish:

If MyApp is in "PlayMode" then 

   Launch "http://companywebsite.com" in the same tab

Else

   Exit()

End If

[v-jefferni]

Hi @KEarley ,

Since there is no difference in so called play mode and edit mode, anything in edit mode is wysiwyg so that developers and end users will have the same experience and make it easier to develop apps.

Anyway, a workaround for you scenario I can imagine is to use to buttons, one for developers the other for regular users. You make have a developers' list and Visible or EditMode of the developer's button could be hidden from regular users based on the checking result.

Hope this helps.

Best regards,

Community Support Team _ Jeffer Ni
If this post helps, then please consider Accept it as the solution to help the other members find it.

[KEarley]

Your reply is greatly appreciated.  However, it is not exactly true.  There are at least a few differences in application behavour between play and and edit mode.  One of them is as I explained in my question.  Fortunately, solving it is only a "nice to have", so at least development is not hendered.  

Again, thank you and I do appreciate your response.

[Dlabar]

This seems to work for me:

1. Enable the "SaveData, LoadData, and ClearData functions in Power Apps - Power Platform | Microsoft Learn" feature.
2. Enable the "Power Fx: Experimental error handling update | Microsoft Power Apps" feature
3. Place this code in the App.OnStart:

IfError(
    // The Collection and key name can be whatever you want, but I needed the LocalCacheCol for something else besides just this
    LoadData(LocalCacheCol, "LocalCache");
    Set(IsDesignMode, false);
,
    // There was an error using LoadData, must be using the Canvas App Studio
    ClearCollect(LocalCacheCol, { Key: "", Value: "" });
    Set(IsDesignMode, true);
);​

• When the app loads in the Canvas App Studio, it will error since LoadData is not supported, and set IsDesignMode to true,
• Use IsDesignMode whenever you want to do something different between Canvas App Studio, and the web player/Devices.

[benmashley]

Hey Kearley,

This is absolutely possible! We have it running on all of our applications to retrieve session information such as whether they are on Mobile/Desktop, App Version and whether on Android or IOS. We used to use the SaveData or checking Altitude but neither of these are reliable. The process is as follows:

• Create a Flow with a PowerApps V1 connector
• Initialise a string variable with the value set as the output from the connector
• Add a parse json with the following schema:

{

    "type": "object",

    "properties": {

        "headers": {

            "type": "object",

            "properties": {

                "Cache-Control": {

                    "type": "string"

                },

                "Connection": {

                    "type": "string"

                },

                "Accept": {

                    "type": "string"

                },

                "Accept-Encoding": {

                    "type": "string"

                },

                "Accept-Language": {

                    "type": "string"

                },

                "Host": {

                    "type": "string"

                },

                "Referer": {

                    "type": "string"

                },

                "User-Agent": {

                    "type": "string"

                },

                "sec-ch-ua": {

                    "type": "string"

                },

                "x-ms-client-session-id": {

                    "type": "string"

                },

                "x-ms-client-region": {

                    "type": "string"

                },

                "x-ms-client-environment-id": {

                    "type": "string"

                },

                "x-ms-client-request-id": {

                    "type": "string"

                },

                "x-ms-client-object-id": {

                    "type": "string"

                },

                "sec-ch-ua-platform": {

                    "type": "string"

                },

                "x-ms-client-tenant-id": {

                    "type": "string"

                },

                "sec-ch-ua-mobile": {

                    "type": "string"

                },

                "x-ms-user-agent": {

                    "type": "string"

                },

                "origin": {

                    "type": "string"

                },

                "sec-fetch-site": {

                    "type": "string"

                },

                "sec-fetch-mode": {

                    "type": "string"

                },

                "sec-fetch-dest": {

                    "type": "string"

                },

                "X-MS-APIM-Referrer": {

                    "type": "string"

                },

                "x-ms-flavor": {

                    "type": "string"

                },

                "x-ms-gateway-object-id": {

                    "type": "string"

                },

                "X-MS-APIM-Referrer-Prefix": {

                    "type": "string"

                },

                "X-MS-APIM-Callback": {

                    "type": "string"

                },

                "x-ms-user-id": {

                    "type": "string"

                },

                "x-ms-user-name": {

                    "type": "string"

                },

                "x-ms-user-name-encoded": {

                    "type": "string"

                },

                "x-ms-user-email": {

                    "type": "string"

                },

                "x-ms-user-email-encoded": {

                    "type": "string"

                },

                "x-ms-user-timestamp": {

                    "type": "string"

                },

                "X-Forwarded-For": {

                    "type": "string"

                },

                "Content-Length": {

                    "type": "string"

                },

                "Content-Type": {

                    "type": "string"

                }

            }

        }

    }

}

• Add a respond to PowerApp with the following variables and code:
  • PowerAppsVersion - substring(body('Parse_JSON')?['headers']?['x-ms-user-agent'],10,10)
  • Android - if(contains(body('Parse_JSON')?['headers']?['x-ms-user-agent'],'android'), 'true','false') 
  • IOS - if(contains(body('Parse_JSON')?['headers']?['x-ms-user-agent'],'ios'), 'true','false')
  • Mobile - if(Or(contains(body('Parse_JSON')?['headers']?['x-ms-user-agent'],'android'), contains(body('Parse_JSON')?['headers']?['x-ms-user-agent'],'ios')), 'true', 'false')
  • Developer - if(contains(body('Parse_JSON')?['headers']?['x-ms-user-agent'],'Web AuthoringTool'), 'true', 'false')
• In the OnStart call this flow (you dont need to give it anything) and collect the returns in a variable. Then you can use the results as you wish. 

Happy to expand this if neeeded!

[timt0m]

@benmashley Hey Ben,

I am new to power automate and confused on the second step. For the value set as the output is that Ask in Powerapps or a different value? Also when I tried to run the flow it expects arguments? Please help I am confused, but really like this idea.

[EdViegas]

Today, the PowerApps V1 connector is no longer available. The version 2 can be used without any issues. To find the header code, add a 'Compose' action and insert the expression:

triggerOutputs()

[Uttam]

You can use the property Host.Version to check.
In studio, the value will begin with "PowerApps-Studio" while in browser the value will begin with "PowerApps-Web".

[EdViegas]

x-ms-user-agent Is the right property 

[Crash]

I came across a similar issue, executing different actions if I'm the editor or in production. I managed to fix this by running the following code in the "OnVisible" property of the first screen:

If(

    IsBlank(Host.Version) || IsBlank(Find("PowerApps-Studio", Host.Version)),

    Set(inProduction,true),

    Set(inProduction,false)

);

I notice during production if the app is running inside MS-teams "Host.Version" can return blank if the app hasn't fully loaded.

Later I just need to ask If(inProduction, "Code I want to omit in the editor")
Host.Version can also be used to determine the OS the app is running, I had a small issue with iOS, so I custom code a way around for them using this idea.