GUIDE ON WHERE TO LEARN XAMARIN FOR FREE
The beginner’s guide to learn C#-based native iOS & Android development!
When we were learning Xamarin a few years ago, “Xamarin University” was a great resource to learn and understand the fast-growing Xamarin framework (now MAUI). It was the official way of gaining Xamarin Certification and ramping up on a recognized skill. There’s a void that Xamarin University filled, it was a structured path to learn and become a confident Xamarin professional, so we partnered with Luis Pujols to dive into what beginners can do.
A Xamarin University existed?
For 6 years, anyone who was interested in getting into C#-based Native Mobile Development, could simply follow through the well-taught courses on “XamarinUniversity.com” for as little…
You don’t need to open an IDE, start building apps in the terminal
There have been numerous questions on different forums, of developers asking how to build Xamarin Apps using the terminal/CLI. The primary software/program used for Xamarin cross platform development is Microsoft’s Visual Studio. Visual Studio is classified as an Integrated Development Environment (IDE) that is used to build Xamarin apps. So, it has all the functionality you would need to build, debug and publish apps. This naturally makes Visual Studio bulky & slower than just building using CLI.
For decades now, software developers have preferred the use of lightweight text editors when possible because they are nifty and quick with changes…
Executing ViewModel methods from Xamarin Forms Pages is easy, but how can Page methods be called inside ViewModels?
In Xamarin Forms, if you bind ViewModel Commands to Page Buttons, all of the logic from the button click action takes place in the ViewModel. The problem is that the ViewModel doesn’t have access to the Xamarin Forms controls, and so it’s difficult to access functions of Views from your ViewModel. Delegates are not commonly used, so I hope this article adds another tool in your arsenal that you can use to solve your coding challenges. Note that Action delegates can be used for all UI frameworks that use C#.
Example use case: Focus on an Entry
Let’s look at a scenario where we have a Password…
REJOICE MOBILE DEVELOPERS, THE TIME HAS COME
No more cables on your tables
Wireless build and debug for Android is a feature mobile developers have been waiting for years, especially since iOS enabled wireless debugging years ago. From Android 11, the process has been simplified and you can finally get rid of wired build and debugging!
There’s a few steps involved, but luckily you just have to do it once per wireless connection, and you’re good across all your apps. If you are already using Android SDK 30, you should be fine. Or else you need to install SDK 30 on your computer .
Steps to Wireless Debugging with Xamarin Android
- On your Android 11 device, go to your Settings…
Check the custom fonts used in your apps to avoid lawsuits
While working on the feature development, maintenance & white-labeling with our biggest client, we received an email from Monotype stating that the apps were using their fonts without a license. They didn’t provide details about which app or which font in the 16 apps (8 titles) violated the policy. Until we were brought in, the fleet of apps were designed, created and maintained for 6 years by Microsoft’s leading consulting partner. We found most of the fonts were used without licenses, but that’s alright, no one’s perfect.
Seeing how it’s easily overlooked, we decided to write this article, where we…
DEVELOPING APPS NATIVELY PAYS OFF GREATLY
Apple has simplified PIP implementation in iOS 14
Picture In Picture (PIP) was introduced years ago in iOS 9, but it was only available for iPads. It was brought to iPhones recently in iOS 14, so I wanted to implement it in my app. The iOS 9 documents showed that several steps were involved to implement this, and I was having a hard time integrating that with Xamarin Forms. However, while I was experimenting I realized, Apple made changes to simplify PIP implementation greatly, so those steps are not needed anymore. …
NEW EXPERIENCES IN 6 SHORT STEPS
Improve User Experience by allowing more user personalizations
WORKS FOR ALL APPS, INCLUDING CROSS PLATFORM & HYBRIDS
A quick solution that doesn’t require the new Silicon Mac
Apple announced that the new Mac computers with the ARM 64 processor will be able to install compatible iOS & iPad apps. Just like you, I was super curious to know if my apps would be “compatible” too. I tried to search multiple articles and blogs to understand what the requirements are, especially for apps created with cross-platform frameworks, but I couldn’t find anything. Aside from compatibility though, there is a way to “opt-out” through the Apple Developer portal, so your app is not available for Macs. While clicking around, I figured this out and thought I would share.
Here’s how to find out
While…
SENIOR MOBILE DEVELOPERS ALREADY USE THIS TO SAVE TIME
Stop manually deleting the bin & obj folders from today
If you have done a weeks’ worth of Xamarin mobile development, you know the need to frequently delete the bin & obj folders in each sub-directory of your solution. This tedious process essentially clears the cache and deletes any improperly built code, so that you can recompile your code, and this magically solves half the problems you face.
How does this work?
To achieve this we are going to take advantage of how projects with git version controlling setup correctly, will only “track” the necessary files that are not “auto-generated”. So in order to make this work, you need a file named .gitignore file…
SIMPLE TRICKS TO STEP UP YOUR PRESENTATION GAME
Adding device frames to screenshots is now a single command!
Have you have ever needed to share your app screenshots with other team members, but skipped adding the frame just to save time? Taking a screenshot is as simple as a click, but designing & dealing with image editing tools is definitely not a developer’s forte. Well, adding a device frame is now a simple keyboard tap!
While lurking in the iOSProgramming subreddit, I saw an answer to a question taking me to Fastlane’s page teaching how to take screenshots using automated UI Tests. And there, I stumbled upon the frameit command.
Getting Started
The First Prototype
Developers building things, on here to share knowledge. Featured blog for PlanetXamarin.com github.com/saamerm linkedin.com/in/saamer
