MAUI: Creating Your First .NET MAUI App

Mobile application development has come a long way in the past decade, with numerous frameworks and platforms to choose from. One of the most promising and exciting developments in recent years is .NET MAUI (Multi-platform App UI). .NET MAUI is a framework that enables you to build native cross-platform apps for iOS, Android, and Windows from a single codebase using C#. In this article, we’ll walk you through creating your first .NET MAUI app, showing you just how accessible and powerful this framework can be.

What is .NET MAUI?

.NET MAUI is an evolution of Xamarin.Forms, designed to provide a unified and native user experience across multiple platforms while allowing developers to share most of their codebase. Whether you want to build a mobile app for iOS, Android, or Windows, .NET MAUI offers a single project structure that targets all these platforms.

Here are some key features and benefits of .NET MAUI:

1. Cross-Platform Development: .NET MAUI allows you to create apps that run natively on iOS, Android, and Windows with a single codebase.
2. Unified UI: With .NET MAUI, you can create a consistent user interface across platforms while taking full advantage of platform-specific capabilities.
3. XAML Support: XAML is the language of choice for defining the user interface in .NET MAUI, making it easy for developers familiar with XAML from previous Xamarin.Forms projects.
4. .NET Ecosystem: .NET MAUI leverages the power of the .NET ecosystem, which includes libraries, tools, and a vibrant community.
5. Hot Reload: The framework offers a hot reload feature that allows you to see changes in your app instantly without rebuilding or restarting the app.
6. .NET 6: .NET MAUI is built on .NET 6, the latest version of the .NET framework, bringing performance improvements and the latest language features.

Now that you have an idea of what .NET MAUI is and why it’s exciting, let’s get our hands dirty and create a simple .NET MAUI app.

Prerequisites

Before we dive into app creation, you’ll need to set up your development environment:

1. Visual Studio 2022: Install Visual Studio 2022 with the .NET MAUI workload. Make sure you select “Mobile development with .NET” during the installation.
2. .NET 6: Ensure that you have .NET 6 SDK installed. You can download it from the official .NET website.

Creating Your First .NET MAUI App

Follow these steps to create your first .NET MAUI app:

Step 1: Create a New Project

1. Open Visual Studio 2022.
2. Click on “Create a new project.”
3. In the “Create a new project” dialog, search for “MAUI” and select “MAUI App” as your project template.
4. Click “Next.”
5. Configure the project settings like the project name and solution name. You can choose whether you want to target iOS, Android, or Windows platforms.
6. Click “Create” to generate the project.

Step 2: Design the User Interface

1. Once the project is created, you’ll see the MainPage.xaml file in your solution explorer. This is where you define the user interface of your app using XAML.
2. You can design your app’s UI by adding controls, setting properties, and arranging them in the XAML file.
3. You can use the XAML previewer to see how your UI will look on different platforms.

Step 3: Write the Code

1. In the MainPage.xaml.cs file, you can write the code that will control your app’s behavior.
2. You can use C# to handle user interactions, perform calculations, or access device-specific features.

Step 4: Build and Run

1. Click the “Start Debugging” button in Visual Studio, and your app will be built and launched on your selected platform (iOS, Android, or Windows).
2. You can use the hot reload feature to make changes to your XAML or code, and the app will instantly reflect those changes without needing a full rebuild.

Conclusion

.NET MAUI is a powerful framework that simplifies mobile app development by allowing you to create cross-platform applications with a single codebase. In this article, we’ve walked you through the process of creating your first .NET MAUI app, from setting up your development environment to designing the user interface and writing code. As you continue to explore .NET MAUI, you’ll discover its extensive capabilities and its ability to create high-quality native apps for multiple platforms efficiently. Happy coding!