Is Xamarin Dead?

#xamarin #microsoft #ios #android

The short answer is No, it's not dead. The long explanation starts here.

A couple of days ago, I had a quite heated conversation on Twitter:

At the beginning of my career building mobile apps, I was also confused about what was Xamarin? Was it a multi-platform solution or was it a single-platform solution? The answer was both.

With Xamarin at the present time, you can build apps for:

Android only AKA Xamarin.Android,
iOS only AKA Xamarin.iOS.

Xamarin.Forms was the cross-platform solution that was replaced by MAUI.NET (more about it later).

In my case, I started to build straightaway Android apps only since I didn't own a Mac (I still don't), and that's how I easily understood the difference between the 3 solutions. However, I noticed that this confusion still persists in 2024, and that's why I wanted to bring you this short explanation:

Xamarin.Android is a platform for building native Android apps with C# that only works on Android. These are some important points about it:

The code can be compared with using Kotlin or Java.
Kotlin or Java code can be reconverted to C#.
You can reuse the typical XMLs to create your activities or views.
It generates only .apk or .abb.
It can be used to bind Android libraries from Gradle.
The final app will be more optimal and smaller since it works only on Android.
Most code might not be compatible with Xamarin.iOS.

You can read more at:

Its official GitHub repository is:
xamarin/xamarin-android

Its official documentation:
Xamarin.Android - Xamarin

Xamarin.iOS is a platform for building native iOS apps with C# that only works on iOS. These are some important points about it:

The code can be compared with using Swift or Objective C.
Swift or Objective C code can be reconverted to C#.
You can reuse Storyboards to create your views.
It generates only .ipa.
It can be used to bind iOS libraries.
The final app will be more optimal and smaller since it works only on iOS.
You must own a Mac either physically or in a cloud to compile your code.
Most code might not be compatible with Xamarin.Android.

You can read more at:

Its official GitHub repository is:
xamarin/xamarin-macios

Its official documentation:
Xamarin.iOS - Xamarin

Furthermore, there is a variation for building macOS apps only that is called Xamarin.Mac:
Xamarin.Mac - Xamarin

Credits: Microsoft

.NET MAUI is a platform for building native multiplatform apps for Android, iOS, Windows, etc. from one source code. It is the official Xamarin.Forms' evolution. These are some important points about it:

It can be compared with React Native, Flutter, or NativeScript.
Some Android, Windows, and/or iOS code/libs might be compatible but they should be readapted per platform.
It generates .akp, .abb, .exe .ipa, .app, etc.
The UI might be less flexible since it must work on all devices.
The final app will be less optimized and bigger since it works on multiple platforms.
You must also own a Mac either physically or in a cloud to compile your code for iOS and/or macOS.

You can read more at:

Its official GitHub repository is:
dotnet/maui: .NET MAUI

Its official documentation:
.NET MAUI

Hopefully, this short explanation can support you in your adventure as a mobile developer and avoid confusion. The better you know which tech you must choose, the better performance you will get and the better your results will be.