Stop Building Multiple Apps – Master Power BI App Audiences Instead!

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Introduction

Power BI Apps empower organizations to share actionable insights seamlessly, but their true potential shines through the App Audiences feature. This powerful feature allows you to deliver customized, role-specific content to diverse user groups within a single App. By tailoring experiences based on team, role, or function, App Audiences ensures that every stakeholder, from executives to frontline teams, gets the right insights at the right time, all while maintaining simplicity and security.

This blog will focus on how the App Audience feature enhances developer productivity and improves resource management. If you don’t know how to create Apps, check this Microsoft documentation.

When to Use App Audiences in Power BI

• Clean and focused navigation: When you have too many reports or dashboards in a workspace, there is a high probability that users will have difficulty finding the required reports. Therefore, introducing Apps won’t get overwhelmed with irrelevant content. Each audience sees only the reports and dashboards tailored to their role, making the experience smoother and focused.
• Different reports for different groups: The CEO may need only high-level KPIs, managers need regional or departmental breakdowns, and the sales force may need only individual performance. App Audiences let you deliver all of these within a single app.

• Reduce Similar Apps: Instead of publishing multiple apps like Executive App, Sales App, and Finance App, you can manage one app with multiple audiences, cutting down duplication and maintenance.

• Combine with Row-Level Security (RLS) – Use RLS to secure data rows and App Audiences to control which reports or dashboards are visible, giving you layered security and personalization.

• Pilot or preview reports – Create a special audience for power users or testers to validate new dashboards before rolling them out to the wider organization.

• Scale for large organizations – App Audiences support up to 25 different groups and 10,000 users or security groups, making them ideal for enterprises with layered access needs.

Walkthrough

Step 01: Go to the App

In the Power BI Service, open your workspace and click “Update app” to edit an existing app.
Note: If you see “Create app,” create the app first (one app per workspace).

Step 02: Add contents

Ensure your app includes at least two reports or dashboards for testing audiences. In the “Content” tab, click “Add content” to include items like a “Field Force Performance Report” and another report (e.g., “AdventureWorks Report”).

Step 03: Create Audience

Now, come to the main part, the Audience. In the “Audience” tab, click “+ New Audience” and name it (e.g., “Sales Force”). Hide irrelevant content (e.g., toggle the visibility icon to hide the “AdventureWorks Report” from the Sales Force audience).

Step 04: Assign Users

Add users or security groups to the audience by entering names, email addresses, or group identifiers. For example, add sales team members to the “Sales Force” audience.

 

Step 05: Publish the App

Click “Update app.” A pop-up will confirm the update, which may take 5–10 minutes to reflect in the app.

Step 4: Manage Permissions

Go to “Apps,” locate your app, click the three-dot menu, and select “Manage permissions.” In the “Direct access” tab, find your users or groups, assign them to the “Sales Force” audience, and click “Grant access.”

 

Step 4: Verifications

Now, let's open the same app with two different users (user 1 who has full access, and user 2 member of Field Force.

User 1 View: Sees all reports (e.g., Field Force Performance and AdventureWorks Report) because we keep the “Practice” audience group as the default.

User 2 View: Sees only the Field Force Performance Report, with other content hidden.

 

Tips: Make sure that audience users or groups do not have direct access to the workspace. If they do, the audience settings won’t apply, and they will be able to see all content, including the items you intended to hide. To ensure App Audiences work correctly, only grant users access through the App, not the workspace.

Who Benefits from Power BI Apps and Audiences?

Power BI Apps and their audience feature cater to a wide range of users within an organization:

• Business Analysts: Analysts can create and share tailored reports without needing to manage multiple apps or workspaces.
• Decision-Makers: Executives and managers gain quick access to high-level insights curated for their needs.
• IT Administrators: IT teams benefit from centralized app management and robust security controls.
• End Users: Teams like sales, marketing, or finance receive focused, role-specific insights, improving decision-making efficiency.