In my last newsletter issue, I discussed the benefits of building web apps as the foundation for your Microsoft 365 or SharePoint apps.
My main point was that if you focus on building web apps for Microsoft 365 instead of relying on the scaffolding tools and infrastructure that Microsoft provides, you will have much more flexibility in building Microsoft 365 apps.
I got a bunch of responses from readers to that article, including a great story from one who used React & NextJS to build their own web app as a Microsoft Teams app. That's what this week's newsletter is about
Link to that below! But first…
☝️ I want to share three things:
1️⃣ Microsoft recently recognized my contributions to the Microsoft 365 developer community by renewing my MVP award for the 19th year. 🏆 I guess they didn't read my last article… 🤷♂️
2️⃣ With 100 million users signing up in the first 5 days for Meta's Twitter alternative app, Threads, I guess I'm one of the early adopters being one of the first 3.8 million, right?
At any rate, if you're on Threads 🧵, follow me (@andrewconnell1) and let me know that you saw this note in my newsletter so I can follow Microsoft 365 developers like you!
3️⃣ One more thing: in the coming weeks, I am going to move my newsletter over to a new email provider. There may be a slight hiccup in deliverability, which is inevitable with a change like this.
I'll give you a heads up when this change is about to happen. I just wanted to let you know that this is coming soon, and there will be some exciting opportunities for you when I make the switch. More on that later.
In my last newsletter, I discussed the advantages of building web apps as the foundation for Microsoft 365, Microsoft Teams, and SharePoint apps. I argued against the common approach of relying on tools and frameworks provided by Microsoft for developers.
My main point is that adopting this approach allows for much more flexibility in building apps for Microsoft 365 and SharePoint. Many of you agreed!
In this week's issue, I want to share a prime example of how one of my readers, Juan, adopted this same approach at his company. Learn how Juan and his team:
- Built their own project templates to create Microsoft Teams apps using NextJS and React JS.
- Strategically picked frameworks, tooling, and patterns that fit their needs without the limitations imposed by those provided by Microsoft 365.
- Saved money by hiring non-Microsoft 365 or Microsoft Teams developers to build the project.
| Keep reading (4 minutes) ↗ |
🍿 Click Worthy Things
- 🎁 Redmond released a preview of the next SharePoint Framework (SPFx) version (v1.18) that's filled with updates to Adaptive Card Extensions. It's not due to go GA for a few months, but looks like I'll need to get working on another unboxing video soon…
- 👮♀️ I recently updated the SPFx docs to include additional detail on creating service principals for an Azure AD app that's registered in another tenant. If your SPFx app needs to call an Azure AD-secured endpoint in another tenant, you need to do this extra step. But that's not all…
- 🐞 … Elio Struyf shared troubleshooting tips you might run into when creating, or granting, the service principal and resource grant request.
🏆 My Picks
- 🚀 As a space geek & huge fan of NASA's Apollo Program that took us to the moon, I thought I'd learned all the big stories… until the other day! I'd never heard the story of how NASA came up with an ingenious way to constantly reset the Saturn V guidance computer to account for earth's rotation & the rocket swaying on the pad from high winds 15 seconds before launch! 😳
- 🐦 Wonder how a pigeon store can afford to stay open in New York City? Me too… heck, I didn't realize there were pigeon stores!