Spring'21 is Here!

Spring’21 is here! I have collated few of my favorite features, key dates which might help in planning things better in advance. Check it out!

Version: (Spring’21) 51.0

Release dates: Sandboxes – January 8/9 | Production – February 12

Sandbox cut-off date: January 8

Logo: “Codey the bear” with caring heart

Release notes

Auto-enforced critical updates for Spring’21 – Due on Jan 10th. Need attention!!

Go to setup - release updates - critical updates - Need attention.

Mobile - Use Dynamic Actions with Custom Objects on Mobile

Previously this feature was available for desktop only. Dynamic actions for custom objects are now generally available on mobile devices. Assign actions in the Lightning App Builder instead of the page layout, and apply filters to control when and where actions appear for users.

Mobile - Get Ready for Changes to Apple’s Privacy Policy

In the most recent version of iOS, Apple placed additional tracking restrictions on third-party applications. This affects the Spring 2021 version of the Salesforce mobile app, which goes live on February 15, 2021. These new restrictions can prevent your custom web content from appearing in the Salesforce mobile app for iPhone and iPad. Test the Spring 2021 beta version of the Salesforce app before it goes out to your users.

Mobile - Improve Lightning Page Performance on Mobile

When you design a Lightning record page, Guidance for App Builder now offers specialized tips for Lightning pages on phones. New tabs in the Page Analysis docked prompt give you insight into how your page performs on a phone.

Mobile Publisher - Managed Public Distribution No Longer Supported for Android

Mobile Publisher no longer supports Managed Public Distribution of customer branded apps for Android.

Flow builder - Avoid Callout Errors in Screen Flows Automatically

If you build flows that make callouts, also known as external API calls, you probably know this error: System.CalloutException: You have uncommitted work pending. You can now configure your screen flows to automatically avoid the callout error. Previously, we recommended adding a local action or a screen element between your callout and any data operations, but that’s no longer necessary.

Flow builder - Debug Failed Flows More Easily

No more scrolling through a long flow error email to figure out what went wrong during the run. Now you can simply click a link in the error email to open Flow Builder and see the failed flow interview’s path on the canvas. The detailed error information appears next to the canvas.

Flow builder - Check for Null Record Variables or Null Values of Lookup Relationship Fields in Process and Flow Formulas (Update, Enforced)

This update enables process and flow formulas to return null values when the calculations involve a null record variable or null lookup relationship field. This update, released in Spring ’19, was scheduled for enforcement in Spring ’20, but was postponed to and is enforced in Spring ’21. This update was enabled in Salesforce orgs that received Summer '20 before July 10, 2020. If this is true for your org and you disabled the update, you must enable it in Spring ’21.

Experience cloud - View All, Modify All, Edit, and Delete Object Permissions Removed for Guest Users

Salesforce is removing the View All, Modify All, edit, and delete object permissions on all objects for guest users in new and existing orgs. These permissions are removed for custom objects and standard objects. Guest users can only have read and create object permissions.

Experience cloud - Users with Standard External Profiles Can No Longer Log In To Experience Cloud Sites

Users with standard external profiles can no longer log in to Experience Cloud sites such as communities and portals.

Analytics - Get Report Details Emailed in .xlsx Format

Get report exports in the format you want. When exporting a report, you can select .xlsx, .xls, or .csv as the format. Previously only .xls and .csv were supported.

If security is a concern, you can hide the .xls option by selecting Hide the option to export a report in XLS format in Lightning Experience in Reports and Dashboards Settings.

Analytics - Streamline Report Creation with Multi-Field Selection

Spend less time creating reports and more on translating results into next steps. Multi-select allows you to drag multiple fields to your reports with a single action. Plus, you can now add or remove fields and columns and preview the results without delay.

Health Cloud – FHIR R4 Support for Better Interoperability

Interoperability in Health Cloud is even better now with its new FHIR R4-aligned data model. This new data model is built entirely on core and offers 32 new standard objects for all your electronic health record (EHR) needs.

Health Cloud – Einstein Vision and Language Are HIPAA Compliant

Einstein Vision and Language are now Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) compliant. Einstein Vision and Language now meet the strict HIPAA standards for processing customers’ protected health information (PHI). HIPAA compliance positions Einstein Vision and Language services to provide capabilities that can be used in the highly regulated healthcare sector.

In-App Guidance – Add Images, Snooze, Position floating prompts, Add walkthrough steps and much more

Now your users can have a snooze option, add image, walkthrough steps and many more contents on all in-app guidance. This will be game changer for new user trainings.

Platform - Catch Potential Duplicates Before Saving

On Dynamic Forms-enabled pages, Salesforce checks to see if you’re working on a potential duplicate and warns you before you save.

Platform - Quickly Find Portal Users When Changing Record Owners

When you want to give a portal user ownership of a record, you now can filter for customer portal users and partner users in the change owner window so you can efficiently find who you’re looking for.

Platform - Account as campaign member (Beta)

Allows users to add account as campaign member.

Profile and Permission - The Read Only Profile Is No Longer Available in New Salesforce Orgs

Salesforce orgs created in Spring ’21 and later don’t have the Read Only standard profile. If you want to assign users read-only permissions, we recommend that you start with the Minimum Access standard profile as a least-privilege profile base. Then you can assign custom permission sets to grant users the read access required for your business needs.

Profile and Permission - Use Integration Permission Sets to Exchange Data with Integration Partners

Integration permission sets define the scope of data access by Salesforce integration-related features and services. Depending on the integration features, Salesforce can predefine the integration permission sets so that they aren’t editable in your Salesforce org. Or, an integration permission set can have no initial permissions so that you have full control for your org. An integration permission set can also come with on-premises permissions that you can modify for your org.

Sharing - Create More Roles

In Salesforce orgs created in Spring ’21 or later, you can create up to 5,000 roles.

Custom Metadata Type - Access Custom Metadata Type Records Using Static Methods

Use the Apex getAll(), getInstance(recordId), getInstance(qualifiedApiName), and getInstance(developerName) methods to retrieve information from custom metadata type records faster. These methods don’t rely on the SOQL engine and return the sObject details directly from the call.

Domains - Manage My Domain with Ease

Easily rename and manage your Salesforce org’s My Domain. Improved Setup pages show your current My Domain login URL and any requested change to it, allowing you to quickly identify your org’s current state. You can cancel a requested My Domain change or the provisioning process. And for customers with more than one domain suffix option, you can choose your My Domain suffix and deploy the change.

Apex - Use with sharing for @AuraEnabled Apex Controllers with Implicit Sharing (Update, Enforced)

This update changes the behavior of @AuraEnabled Apex controllers that don’t specify with sharing or without sharing to default to with sharing. This update applies only to orgs created after Spring ’18 or orgs that activated the retired Use without sharing for @AuraEnabled Apex Controllers with Implicit Sharing update that had the opposite effect and set the default to without sharing. Orgs created before Spring ’18 already default to with sharing. Those orgs don't see the update unless they enabled the now retired without sharing update.

Apex - Query Cursors Optimized for Improved Performance

Apex optimized the way it uses query cursors. In cases such as SOQL queries that use a for loop, Apex no longer generates or uses query cursors internally. Instead, records are buffered in memory for improved performance and reduced query cursor contention. This optimization doesn’t apply to Batch Apex queries.

Apex - Transaction Finalizers (Beta)

The Transaction Finalizers feature enables you to attach actions, using the System.Finalizer interface, to asynchronous Apex jobs that use the Queueable framework. A specific use case is to design recovery actions when a queueable job fails.

Apex - Configure the User and Batch Size for Your Platform Event Trigger

You can override the default running user and batch size of a platform event Apex trigger. By default, the trigger runs as the Automated Process system user with a batch size of 2,000 event messages. Configuring the user and batch size enables you to bypass some limitations that sometimes arise from using the defaults. For example, record system and OwnerId fields are populated as the specified user. And setting a batch size smaller than 2,000 can help avoid hitting Apex governor limits.

Apex - SOQL

Salesforce Object Query Language (SOQL) now makes it easy to include pre-defined groupings of fields within a query statement using the new FIELDS() function.

Use FIELDS(ALL), FIELDS(STANDARD), or FIELDS(CUSTOM) in your SELECT statements.

Development - Create a Lightning Web Component Action (Pilot)

Create a Lightning web component (LWC) and use it as a quick action. Lightning web component actions work side by side on your pages along with Lightning component and Visualforce actions. LWC actions offer advantages such as the ability to easily customize headers and footers, and to create actions that have no UI representation.

Prior value of the record in the Record-Triggered Flows

This feature could help us get the prior value of records getting updated. Can do operations on the fly, no need of writing triggers for smaller tasks. Major advancement from Salesforce towards “NoCode, LowCode”!!

Use formulas in entry criteria in before-save Flows  

“NoCode, LowCode”!!

Time-Dependent action in the Record-Triggered Flow –

This feature is really great add to current pack, we can have multiple possible solutions with this like, we can delete log entries after n days (could save us valuable data space), send email after/before n days, create task after n days

Multi-Column Screens in Flow Builder (Beta) –

Till now, we had only 1 column layout for custom flow screens, with this update we can get up-to 3 columns in a screen flow. Less scrolling for users.

New core action to send email from flows –

We can use this feature to notify internal/external users via email whenever any action happens on a record. E.g. custom welcome email for a community user

Page load time estimation –

Lightning pages become unresponsive some time, this feature could help us track and target load time in permissible limit. It also recommends steps for reducing the page load time.

Manual Record sharing in lightning –

This feature was present in classic UI, now sharing button is available in lightning UI as well. Users can explicitly share their records with other team members via manual sharing.

Localize labels in different languages –

Show component labels in local language

In-app guidance center –

This guidance center can be customized as per need. This can help us train new users as step-by-step in-app guidance.

Community cloud is now Experience cloud –

Community setup address is changed to “digital experiences”