What is going on with Custom Visuals for Power BI Desktop ?

[TinHau]

Today I wanted to get some custom visuals for Power BI Desktop. Searching for them I end up on this blog post:
 
https://powerbi.microsoft.com/en-us/documentation/powerbi-custom-visuals-office-store/
 
If I follow the link in this article I end up on AppSource. The website looks nice, but the usability is a nightmare, I can't search for recently updated custom visuals, I'm not able to select (in an efficient way) the visuals that are from MSFT or a thirdparty provider.
When I choose a visual I'm required an email address. What for ? I want to download the custom visual and use it. I get the feeling that this is aiming to Power BI in the cloud and not the desktop version. But then my question is where did the visuals for Power BI Desktop go ? Getting access to the custom visuals is getting worse and worse.
 
btw. also this article points to the previous article
https://powerbi.microsoft.com/en-us/documentation/powerbi-custom-visuals-use/

[tzvikei]

Hi TinHau,

We are working to improve the experience of custom visuals in AppSource. this includes categories for visualizations, markers for certified visuals and R visuals, and more.

AppSource in general requires to be logged in to be able to download/install apps, including custom visuals. remember that getting to the store from the Desktop also requires to be logged in.

Thanks,

Tzvi Keisar
Senior Program Manager
Power BI Custom Visuals

[v-caliao-msft]

@TinHau,

When I choose a visual I'm required an email address. What for ? I want to download the custom visual and use it. I get the feeling that this is aiming to Power BI in the cloud and not the desktop version. But then my question is where did the visuals for Power BI Desktop go ? Getting access to the custom visuals is getting worse and worse.

Thank you for your criticism and suggestion. Office store is the place to find apps (add-in) for your Office 365 software. The Office store connects millions of users of Office 365 to solutions that help them get work done more efficiently, more insightfully or more beautifully than before. You could submit this to Office team. You suggestion will help them to improve this store site.

Regards,

Charlie Liao

[TinHau]

Hello Charlie,

thank you very much for your response. Is Power BI Desktop an Office 365 software ? I assumed it is a software that belongs to the Microsoft BI stack and I'm referring to the software I'm downloading and not a cloud software.

The custom visuals are an important part of this product and before they have been made accessible on a dedicated website. I would expect that the Power BI Desktop team would be able to address this question. The availability of the custom visuals is an important part of their product experiance.

best regards

TinHau