Comparison

Power Apps Mobile Preview vs Orca IDE

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Power Apps Mobile Preview

Features
Read full description

Test your in-development Power Apps mobile experiences on a real device — no rebuild, no resign, no store submission. Power Apps Mobile Preview app is a developer companion app for the new React Native–based Power Apps mobile runtime: scan a QR code from your local Metro bundler (or paste a dev URL) and your app loads instantly on your phone or tablet, exactly the way it will run in production. Think of it as the Power Apps equivalent of a dev sandbox. Built for makers and engineers iterating on the next generation of Power Apps mobile. WHAT'S INSIDE Power Apps Mobile Preview is a thin host that loads your in-progress app bundles over the wire so you can see code, layout, and data changes in seconds. • Scan-to-load: Point the in-app scanner at the QR code printed by your local Metro / Expo dev server and the JS bundle streams onto the device. • Manual URL entry: Type or paste any reachable dev-server URL (e.g., http://192.168.1.20:8081) when QR scanning isn't an option — tunnels, remote machines, restricted networks. • Fast Refresh: Save a file in your editor and watch the change appear on device, with component state preserved where possible. • Native module parity: Bundled with the same native modules the production Power Apps client ships — auth, connectors, file system, camera, location, secure storage, telemetry — so what you test is what your users will get. • Sign-in with your work or school account: Authenticate once with Microsoft Entra and your dev apps can call Dataverse, Microsoft Graph, and custom connectors with real tokens. • Recent connections list: Quickly re-open previously loaded dev URLs without re-scanning. • Diagnostic overlay: Surface bundle URL, runtime version, JS errors, and red-box stacks for fast triage. WHO IT'S FOR • Makers previewing custom React Native components and pages before publishing. • ISVs and partners building native extensions against the Power Apps mobile runtime. • Engineers on the Power Apps platform team validating SDK and connector changes end-to-end on real hardware. TIPS • Make sure your phone and dev machine are on the same Wi-Fi network — if they aren't, use a tunnel (e.g., expo start --tunnel) and paste the public URL. • Shake the device (or use the menu) to reload the bundle, toggle the element inspector, or open the dev menu. • Long-press a recent connection to remove it from the list. • Mobile Preview app is for development only. You will need to package and distribute your own production apps to App Store or enterprise distribution channel. DISCLAIMER This is a developer only release intended for development and evaluation. APIs, behaviors, and supported native modules may change before general availability. Do not rely on Mobile Preview app for production workloads. Accessibility: https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=2121429

About

Orca IDE

This app mirrors your desktop terminal sessions, including AI agent interactions, directly to your iPhone. It provides full keyboard input and multi-terminal support for seamless remote coding management. All processing remains on your desktop, ensuring your data stays secure.

Highlights
  • Live desktop terminal mirror
  • AI agent session management
  • Full keyboard input
  • Multi-worktree, multi-terminal support
  • Phone-fit zoom and smart keyboard
  • Background command execution
  • End-to-end encrypted pairing
Features
Read full description

Orca Mobile is the companion app for Orca, the open-source agentic coding workspace for macOS, Linux, and Windows. Pair your iPhone to your desktop in seconds and pick up a terminal session from the couch, the kitchen, or across the office. WHAT IT DOES • Live mirror of your desktop terminal, including running AI agent sessions (Claude Code, Codex, custom CLIs). • Full keyboard input — type, tab-complete, Ctrl-C, scroll back, all from the phone. • Multi-worktree, multi-terminal: jump between projects with a tap. • Phone-fit zoom and a smart on-screen keyboard with quick Ctrl/Alt accessory keys and shortcuts. • Background long-running commands and get a notification when a TUI goes idle (e.g. when Claude finishes thinking). HOW IT WORKS Orca Mobile is a thin client. Nothing runs on your phone except the viewer. Your code, your shells, your AI agents — all of that stays on your desktop. The phone shows you what's happening and forwards your keystrokes back over an encrypted local-network connection. Pairing is end-to-end encrypted. Your desktop generates a one-time keypair and shows a QR code; you scan it from the app. After that, all traffic between phone and desktop is sealed with that pair's keys. PRIVACY • No analytics SDK, no crash reporter, no third-party SDKs of any kind in the iOS app. • Pairing tokens and your preference list live in the app's own sandbox. The app's traffic to your desktop is end-to-end encrypted on your local network only. • The Orca desktop app collects anonymized usage metrics per the policy at https://www.onorca.dev/privacy. The mobile app itself does not. • Open source: every line is auditable at https://github.com/stablyai/orca. REQUIREMENTS • An iPhone (iOS 16+) on the same Wi-Fi as your desktop. • The Orca desktop app, free, from https://www.onorca.dev/ or https://github.com/stablyai/orca/releases.

Screenshots

Power Apps Mobile Preview4 screens
Orca IDE4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Orca IDE at every 3 days against Power Apps Mobile Preview's monthly. Orca IDE also leads on chart position (#17 vs #131). On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Power Apps Mobile Preview ships an update monthly, Orca IDE every 3 days. Both last shipped on October 24, 2026.

Scorecard2 real differences · 9 level
Power Apps Mobile Preview versus Orca IDE: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPower Apps Mobile PreviewOrca IDE
PriceFreeFree
Rating—4.6 (48 ratings) — better
Positive reviews—86.5% of reviews
Number of ratings—48 — better
Update frequencyMonthlyEvery 3 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
Monetization—Free
Best chart rank#131#17 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.115.1
Further details — not scored
Size57 MB41 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMicrosoft CorporationLovecast LLC

In-app purchases

None

Power Apps Mobile Preview

No in-app purchases

None

Orca IDE

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Power Apps Mobile Preview free?
Power Apps Mobile Preview is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Orca IDE free?
Orca IDE is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Power Apps Mobile Preview or Orca IDE have ads?
Neither Power Apps Mobile Preview nor Orca IDE shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Power Apps Mobile Preview or Orca IDE?
Power Apps Mobile Preview ships an update monthly, and Orca IDE every 3 days. Most recently, Power Apps Mobile Preview was updated on October 24, 2026 and Orca IDE on October 24, 2026.
Which is more popular, Power Apps Mobile Preview or Orca IDE?
Power Apps Mobile Preview currently peaks at #131 in the App Store charts, and Orca IDE at #17. Chart position reflects recent download velocity rather than total install base.

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