How To Determine If Your Canvas App Is In Studio Or Play Mode

Sometimes, you want to run different logic if you’re editing a canvas app, vs “playing” a canvas app.  There is no out of the box function to call, but there is a fairly small work around for it:

/*********************************
 * Determine Studio or Play mode *
 *********************************/
SaveData([true], "IsMobileApp"); // SaveData only works in the Power Apps App, not the web player
Clear(IsMobileApp);
LoadData(IsMobileApp, "IsMobileApp", true);
// TenantId is required for the web player SaveData only works in the Power Apps App, 
// not the web player so if both are blank/empty then it's studio mode
Set(AppMode, If(IsBlank(Param("tenantId")) && IsEmpty(IsMobileApp), "Studio", "Play"));

 

Since the TenantId is included in the URL for the play web page, and you can’t open the studio from the PowerApps Mobile App, the function should cover all bases for determining if you’re in Studio or Play mode.  This makes it possible to automatically change how the app behaves if it is opened in Studio mode.  I personally use it to show certain hidden sections of the app that are helpful when debugging/creating.

 

Enjoy!