1. What Is the Stream Control in Power Apps?
The Stream control in Power Apps allows you to play Microsoft Stream videos directly inside a Canvas app without opening another browser window. Instead of redirecting users to SharePoint or Microsoft Stream, videos can be viewed within the application, creating a seamless learning or training experience.
In this solution, videos are stored in a SharePoint document library, while the Power Apps Stream control loads and plays the selected video using its StreamURL property. This approach is ideal for building internal training portals, knowledge bases, and video libraries where users can browse and watch content from a single interface.
2. Setting Up a SharePoint Video Library
The first step is to create a SharePoint document library to store your video files. Once the videos are uploaded, connect the library to your Canvas app as a data source.
To make browsing easier, add a Gallery control and bind it to the SharePoint library. SharePoint automatically generates video thumbnails, which can be displayed using the ThisItem.Thumbnail.Large property. Along with the thumbnail, you can also display the video’s Title and other metadata.
For better organization and filtering, create additional columns in the library such as:
- Title – Displays the video name.
- Category – Groups videos into different topics.
- Unique ID – Stores the Stream video ID required by the Stream control.
These metadata columns make it easier to organize, search, and play videos within the app.
3. Playing Videos with the Stream Control
The Stream control requires a Stream URL that contains the video’s Unique ID. This ID is obtained from the video’s Embed link in Microsoft Stream or SharePoint and is used to identify which video should be played.
Instead of hardcoding a single video, the StreamURL property can be built dynamically by combining the fixed embed URL with the Unique ID of the selected gallery item. Whenever a user selects a video from the gallery, the Stream control automatically loads and plays that video inside the app.
This dynamic approach creates an interactive video library where users can browse thumbnails, select a video, and watch it immediately without leaving the Power Apps interface. The built-in Stream player also provides standard playback controls and a familiar viewing experience.
4. Automatically Populate the Stream Unique ID with Power Automate
Manually copying the Stream Unique ID for every uploaded video can quickly become time-consuming, especially when managing a large video library. To automate this process, you can create a Power Automate cloud flow.
The flow starts with the When a file is created trigger for the SharePoint document library. It then uses the Send an HTTP Request to SharePoint action to retrieve the video’s Stream information, extracts the Unique ID, and updates the corresponding Unique ID column in the SharePoint library using the Update file properties action.
With this automation in place, every new video automatically receives its Stream Unique ID, eliminating manual work and ensuring the Power Apps Stream control always has the information it needs.
5. Enhance the Video Portal with Metadata and Filters
To improve the user experience, add metadata such as Title and Category to each video in the SharePoint library. These fields make it easier for users to browse and find the content they need.
Inside Power Apps, you can use this metadata to build filters or search functionality. For example, users can filter videos by category or search for a specific title, while the gallery updates automatically to display matching videos. Selecting any video from the filtered gallery loads it into the Stream control for playback.
Since the videos are hosted in SharePoint and Microsoft Stream, make sure users have the appropriate permissions to access and play the content on both web and mobile devices.
6. Create a Dynamic Video Streaming Experience
By combining SharePoint, Power Apps, and Power Automate, you can build a complete video streaming solution without writing complex code. SharePoint stores the videos and their metadata, Power Automate automatically captures the Stream Unique ID, and Power Apps displays the videos in an interactive gallery.
When a user selects a video, the Stream control dynamically loads the correct video using the stored Unique ID, allowing it to play directly inside the app. This approach creates a scalable and easy-to-maintain solution that works well for employee training portals, learning management systems, product demonstrations, and internal knowledge-sharing applications.
