The first project with .NET MAUI

The first project with .NET MAUI

14 June 2021

.NET MAUI/Xamarin

Buy Me A Coffee

Hello!

Today we will migrate an existing Xamarin.Forms Application to .NET MAUI! As a victim I chose my KanbanBoard app.

Installation

First of all, we need to verify if we have prepared the development environment. One of the tools for that is MAUI Check. Run the next commands in PowerShell:

dotnet tool install -g Redth.Net.Maui.Check
maui-check

It will automatically attempt to fix any issues, but I highly recommend using the Visual Studio installer.

Solution Configuration

  1. Edit solution file
  • Remove Platform-specific projects;
  • Remove unused Solution Configuration Platforms

The base solution configuration is done.

It's project time

.NET MAUI introduces the Single project concept, SDK-project style, and much more. Let's first migrate our platforms to the “Shared” project.

  1. Create the “Platforms” folder in the “Shared” project. Then for each platform create a folder in the “Platforms” project:
  • Android
  • iOS
  • MacCatalyst
  • Windows
  • Tizen

1.1. Android

  • Copy AndroidManifest.xml, MainActivity.cs, MainApplication.cs, all your services, Resources folder to the Android folder.

1.2. iOS, macOS

  • Copy Main.cs, Info.plist, Entitlements.plist, AppDelegate.cs, and all your services to the iOS/MacCatalyst folder.

1.3. Windows

  • Copy Package.appxmanifest, App.xaml, App.xaml.cs, app.manifest to the Windows folder.

1.4. Tizen

  • Copy Main.cs, tizen-manifest.xml to the Tizen folder.
  1. Delete Old platforms project folders.

  2. Now we need to modify and change these files

  • From AndroidManifest.xml remove the package name, version code, and version name. We will set these settings later in csproj file.
  • Replace MainActivity.cs content with:
namespace YourNamespace;

using Android.App;
using Android.Content.PM;

[Activity(Theme = "@style/Maui.SplashTheme",
		MainLauncher = true,
		Label = "YOUR_APP_TITLE")]
public class MainActivity : MauiAppCompatActivity
{
}
  • Replace MainApplication.cs content with:
namespace YourNamespace;
using Android.App;
using Android.Runtime;

[Application]
public class MainApplication : MauiApplication
{
    public MainApplication(IntPtr handle, JniHandleOwnership ownership)
        : base(handle, ownership)
    {
    }

    protected override MauiApp CreateMauiApp() => MauiProgram.CreateMauiApp();
}
  • Replace AppDelegate.cs content with:
using Foundation;

namespace YourNamespace;

[Register(nameof(AppDelegate))]
public class AppDelegate : MauiUIApplicationDelegate
{
    protected override MauiApp CreateMauiApp()
    {
        return MauiProgram.CreateMauiApp();
    }
}
  • Replace App.xaml from Windows folder with:
<maui:MauiWinUIApplication
    x:Class="YourNamespace.WinUI.App"
    xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
    xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
    xmlns:maui="using:Microsoft.Maui"
    xmlns:local="YourNamespace.WinUI">

</maui:MauiWinUIApplication>
  • Replace App.xaml.cs from Windows folder with:
namespace YourNamespace.WinUI;

public partial class App : MauiWinUIApplication
{
	public App()
	{
		this.InitializeComponent();
	}

	protected override MauiApp CreateMauiApp() => MauiProgram.CreateMauiApp();
}
  • Replace Package.appxmanifest content with the next:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<Package
  xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/appx/manifest/foundation/windows10"
  xmlns:uap="http://schemas.microsoft.com/appx/manifest/uap/windows10"
  xmlns:rescap="http://schemas.microsoft.com/appx/manifest/foundation/windows10/restrictedcapabilities"
  IgnorableNamespaces="uap rescap">

  <Identity Name="maui-package-name-placeholder" Publisher="CN=Your Publisher Name" Version="0.0.0.0" />

  <Properties>
    <PublisherDisplayName>Your Publisher Name</PublisherDisplayName>
    <DisplayName>$placeholder$</DisplayName>
    <Logo>$placeholder$.png</Logo>
  </Properties>

  <Dependencies>
    <TargetDeviceFamily Name="Windows.Universal" MinVersion="10.0.17763.0" MaxVersionTested="10.0.19041.0" />
    <TargetDeviceFamily Name="Windows.Desktop" MinVersion="10.0.17763.0" MaxVersionTested="10.0.19041.0" />
  </Dependencies>

  <Resources>
    <Resource Language="x-generate" />
  </Resources>

  <Applications>
    <Application Id="App" Executable="$targetnametoken$.exe" EntryPoint="$targetentrypoint$">
      <uap:VisualElements
        DisplayName="$placeholder$"
        Description="$placeholder$"
        Square150x150Logo="$placeholder$.png"
        Square44x44Logo="$placeholder$.png"
        BackgroundColor="transparent">
        <uap:DefaultTile Square71x71Logo="$placeholder$.png" Wide310x150Logo="$placeholder$.png" Square310x310Logo="$placeholder$.png" />
        <uap:SplashScreen Image="$placeholder$.png" />
      </uap:VisualElements>
    </Application>
  </Applications>

  <Capabilities>
    <rescap:Capability Name="runFullTrust" />
  </Capabilities>

</Package>
  • Replace Main.cs from Tizen folder with:
namespace YourNamespace;

class Program : MauiApplication
{
	protected override MauiApp CreateMauiApp() => MauiProgram.CreateMauiApp();

	static void Main(string[] args)
	{
		var app = new Program();
		app.Run(args);
	}
}
  1. Replace all Xamarin.Forms with Microsoft.Maui (somewhere you may need to add Microsoft.Maui.Controls
  2. Replace App.xaml.cs file content in the root folder with the next code:
namespace YourNamespace;

public partial class App : Application
{
    public App()
    {
        InitializeComponent();
        MainPage = new MainPage();
    }
}
  1. Create MauiProgram.cs with content:
namespace YourNamespace;

public static class MauiProgram
{
	public static MauiApp CreateMauiApp()
	{
		var builder = MauiApp.CreateBuilder();
		builder
			.UseMauiApp<App>()
			.ConfigureFonts(fonts =>
			{
				fonts.AddFont("fasolid.otf", "FASolid"); // move you fonts from AssemblyInfo here
			});
		builder.Services.AddTransient<IPath, DbPath>(); // here you register all your services for DI
		return builder.Build();
	}
}
  1. Replace xmlns="http://xamarin.com/schemas/2014/forms" with xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/dotnet/2021/maui"
  2. Finally update csproj file with:
<Project Sdk="Microsoft.NET.Sdk">

	<PropertyGroup>
		<TargetFrameworks>net6.0-android;net6.0-ios;net6.0-maccatalyst</TargetFrameworks>
		<TargetFrameworks Condition="$([MSBuild]::IsOSPlatform('windows'))">$(TargetFrameworks);net6.0-windows10.0.19041.0</TargetFrameworks>
		<TargetFrameworks>$(TargetFrameworks);net6.0-tizen</TargetFrameworks>
		<OutputType>Exe</OutputType>
		<RootNamespace>YourNamespace</RootNamespace>
		<UseMaui>true</UseMaui>
		<SingleProject>true</SingleProject>
		<ImplicitUsings>enable</ImplicitUsings>

		<!-- Display name -->
		<ApplicationTitle>YourTitle</ApplicationTitle>

		<!-- App Identifier -->
		<ApplicationId>com.vladislavantonyuk.yournamespace</ApplicationId>
		<ApplicationIdGuid>F46BB7C8-E6A5-4D9E-AAFE-8173B0819787</ApplicationIdGuid>

		<!-- Versions -->
		<ApplicationDisplayVersion>1.0</ApplicationDisplayVersion>
		<ApplicationVersion>1</ApplicationVersion>

		<SupportedOSPlatformVersion Condition="$([MSBuild]::GetTargetPlatformIdentifier('$(TargetFramework)')) == 'ios'">14.2</SupportedOSPlatformVersion>
		<SupportedOSPlatformVersion Condition="$([MSBuild]::GetTargetPlatformIdentifier('$(TargetFramework)')) == 'maccatalyst'">14.0</SupportedOSPlatformVersion>
		<SupportedOSPlatformVersion Condition="$([MSBuild]::GetTargetPlatformIdentifier('$(TargetFramework)')) == 'android'">21.0</SupportedOSPlatformVersion>
		<SupportedOSPlatformVersion Condition="$([MSBuild]::GetTargetPlatformIdentifier('$(TargetFramework)')) == 'windows'">10.0.17763.0</SupportedOSPlatformVersion>
		<TargetPlatformMinVersion Condition="$([MSBuild]::GetTargetPlatformIdentifier('$(TargetFramework)')) == 'windows'">10.0.17763.0</TargetPlatformMinVersion>
		<SupportedOSPlatformVersion Condition="$([MSBuild]::GetTargetPlatformIdentifier('$(TargetFramework)')) == 'tizen'">6.5</SupportedOSPlatformVersion>
	</PropertyGroup>

	<ItemGroup>
		<!-- App Icon -->
		<MauiIcon Include="Resources\appicon.svg" ForegroundFile="Resources\appiconfg.svg" Color="#512BD4" />

		<!-- Splash Screen -->
		<MauiSplashScreen Include="Resources\appiconfg.svg" Color="#512BD4" BaseSize="128,128" />

		<!-- Images -->
		<MauiImage Include="Resources\Images\*" />

		<!-- Custom Fonts -->
		<MauiFont Include="Resources\Fonts\*" />

		<!-- Raw Assets (also remove the "Resources\Raw" prefix) -->
		<MauiAsset Include="Resources\Raw\**" LogicalName="%(RecursiveDir)%(Filename)%(Extension)" />
	</ItemGroup>
</Project>

Pay attention to the last ItemGroup. .NET MAUI is integrated with Resizetizer NT, so MauiImage and MauiFont will automatically prepare resources for all your applications.

Build and Run

# For Android
dotnet build KanbanBoard.csproj -t:Run -f net6.0-android
# For iOS
dotnet build KanbanBoard.csproj -t:Run -f net6.0-ios
# For macOS
dotnet build KanbanBoard.csproj -t:Run -f net6.0-maccatalyst
# For Windows
dotnet build KanbanBoard.csproj -t:Run -f net6.0-windows10.0.19041.0

Issues

1. Android deployment (Solved)

I was not able to deploy the application to the device until specified the RuntimeIdentifiers for Android. Add this line to the PropertyGroup in your csproj file:

<RuntimeIdentifiers Condition="$(TargetFramework.Contains('-android'))">android-arm;android-arm64;android-x86;android-x64</RuntimeIdentifiers>

2. iOS Device deployment (Solved)

I was not able to deploy the application to the device until specified the RuntimeIdentifiers. Add this line to the csproj file:

<PropertyGroup Condition="$([MSBuild]::GetTargetPlatformIdentifier('$(TargetFramework)')) == 'ios' and $(Configuration) == 'Release'">
	<RuntimeIdentifier>ios-arm64</RuntimeIdentifier>
	<CodesignEntitlement>Entitlements.plist</CodesignEntitlement>
	<ArchiveOnBuild>true</ArchiveOnBuild>
</PropertyGroup>

<PropertyGroup Condition="$([MSBuild]::GetTargetPlatformIdentifier('$(TargetFramework)')) == 'ios' and $(Configuration) == 'Debug'">
	<RuntimeIdentifier>ios-arm64</RuntimeIdentifier>
	<RuntimeIdentifier>iossimulator-x64</RuntimeIdentifier>
</PropertyGroup>

3. Windows release (Solved)

To generate the Appx file add the next code to the csproj file:

<PropertyGroup Condition="$(TargetFramework.Contains('-windows')) and '$(Configuration)' == 'Release'">
	<GenerateAppxPackageOnBuild>true</GenerateAppxPackageOnBuild>
	<AppxPackageSigningEnabled>False</AppxPackageSigningEnabled>
</PropertyGroup>

The final result: Kanban MAUI

You can find the code changes on GitHub

Buy Me A Coffee

Related:

Migrate the deprecated OnBackPressed function in .NET MAUI Android application

This article is devoted to the new API added in Android 13, that adds support to predictive back gestures.

Creating a card stack layout using .NET MAUI

The article describes how to create a custom control for stacking cards.

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