#PowerPlatformTip 105 – ‘PowerApps – EnvironmentVariables Without Premium’

💡 Challenge

Accessing environment variables in PowerApps requires a premium license, despite being freely available in Power Automate. This limitation contradicts the core advantage of environment variables: their ability to be used universally across platforms.

✅ Solution

Implement a simple Power Automate flow triggered on the PowerApp’s startup to fetch environment variables and store them in a local variable within the app.

🔧 How It’s Done

Here’s how to do it:

1. Create a flow within a solution to access environment variables, requiring only a trigger and a response.
   🔸 Use the Power Apps trigger in the flow.
   🔸 Keep the flow in the solution so it can reference environment variables.
2. Use a simple action to store and return the needed environment variable as a response.
   🔸 Add the “Get environment variable” action.
   🔸 Return the value using the response action.
3. Integrate this flow into your PowerApp, triggered by the OnStart event, to load the environment variable into a PowerApp variable.
   🔸 Add the flow to your app via the Power Automate panel.
   🔸 Call the flow in OnStart, assigning its output to a local variable.

🎉 Result

You can now use environment variables in PowerApps without a premium license, enhancing flexibility and efficiency in your app development.

🌟 Key Advantages

🔸 Universal Applicability: Environment variables can be used consistently across different platforms.
🔸 Centralized Changes: Modifications need to be made only in one place, simplifying maintenance.
🔸 Cost Efficiency: Avoids the need for a premium license to access environment variables in PowerApps.

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🎥 Video Tutorial

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🛠️ FAQ

1. How can I retrieve environment variables in PowerApps without a premium license?
Use a Power Automate flow triggered from your PowerApp that fetches the environment variable and returns it to the app.

2. Do I need a premium connector to use environment variables in Power Automate?
No, environment variables are available in Power Automate without a premium license when accessed within a solution.

3. Can I update environment variables centrally?
Yes, since environment variables are hosted in the solution, any changes apply globally to all apps and flows that reference them.

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