How to Achieve Instant Refresh in Power Apps Visual Inside Power BI Without Frequent Database Hits?

[Sanjay_Prasanna]

Hi Community
We have created a Power Apps visual within Power BI that allows us to update records directly from the dashboard, Similar to a write back scenario in a database. Our setup works as follows:

• When a record is selected for update, it hits the database to retrieve the data.
• Once the data is updated, it is instantly reflected in the dashboard since we are using Direct Query mode.

However, our concern is that this approach causes Power BI to hit the database every time the record is selected, which may impact performance.
If we switch to import mode to reduce database hits, the challenge is that the updated data won't be reflected on the dashboard until the next refresh, as it is not real time.
Our Question:
is there a way to configure Power BI and Power Apps in such a way that:

• We avoid hitting the database every time a record is selected or viewed.
• We still achieve an instant refresh or near-real-time view of updated records on the dashboard without requiring a manual refresh.

We're open to alternative configurations or suggestions for improving our setup to optimize performance while ensuring updated data is immediately visible.
Any guidance would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks in advance.

[Anonymous · Accepted solution]

Hi @Sanjay_Prasanna 

Maybe you can try to use the Real-time streaming, Power BI with real-time streaming helps you stream data and update dashboards in real time. Any visual or dashboard created in Power BI can display and update real-time data and visuals. The devices and sources of streaming data can be factory sensors, social media sources, service usage metrics, or many other time-sensitive data collectors or transmitters.

Real-time streaming in Power BI - Power BI | Microsoft Learn

Create a Power BI streaming dataset for real-time dashboards - YouTube

Or you can try to configure the incremental refresh with the option Get the latest data in real time with DirectQuery (Premium only) which enables fetching the latest changes from the selected table at the data source beyond the incremental refresh period by using DirectQuery. All rows with a date/time later than the incremental refresh period are included in a DirectQuery partition and fetched from the data source with every model query.

Incremental refresh for semantic models in Power BI - Power BI | Microsoft Learn

Configure incremental refresh and real-time data for Power BI semantic models - Power BI | Microsoft...

And you can also switch to Import mode but set up more frequent scheduled refreshes. This way, you reduce the number of direct database hits but still get relatively up-to-date data.
You could also combine this with a button in Power BI that allows users to manually trigger a refresh when they need the most current data.

Each of these methods comes with its own set of trade-offs and complexities. You'll need to evaluate which one aligns best with your requirements.

Best Regards

Zhengdong Xu
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