Xamarin.Forms is already packed with tons of awesome and recently had a major overhaul with Xamarin.Forms 2.0, but the fun didn’t stop there as there have been amazing new features introduced. Join James as he gives you a full break down of all the spectacular features that have been recently released and a peek into the future of Xamarin.Forms.

1. What’s new in Xamarin.Forms?
James Montemagno
@JamesMontemagno

2. Who’s this guy?
James
Montemagno
Developer Evangelist, Xamarin
james@xamarin.com motzcod.es @JamesMontemagno

3. Xamarin’s Unique Approach
Shared C# codebase • 100% native API access • High performance
iOS C# UI Windows C# UIAndroid C# UI
Shared C# Logic

4. Windows APIs
Microsoft.Phone Microsoft.Networking Windows.Storage Windows.Foundation Microsoft.Devices
System.Data System.Windows System.Numerics System.Core System.ServiceModel
System.Net System System.IO System.Linq System.Xml

5. iOS – 100% API Coverage
MapKit UIKit iBeacon CoreGraphics CoreMotion
System.Data System.Windows System.Numerics System.Core System.ServiceModel
System.Net System System.IO System.Linq System.Xml

6. Android – 100% API Coverage
Text-to-speech ActionBar Printing Framework Renderscript NFC
System.Data System.Windows System.Numerics System.Core System.ServiceModel
System.Net System System.IO System.Linq System.Xml

7. Native Performance
Xamarin.iOS does full Ahead Of Time
(AOT) compilation to produce an ARM
binary for Apple’s App Store.
Xamarin.Android takes advantage of Just
In Time (JIT) compilation on the Android
device.

8. Write Everything in C#
C# Now Runs on 2.6+ Billion Devices

9. ✓Always Up-to-Date
Same-day support:
• iOS 5
• iOS 6
• iOS 7
• iOS 7.1
• iOS 8
• iOS 9
Full support for:
• Apple Watch
• Google Glass
• Android Wear
• Amazon Fire TV
• and much more

10. Visual Studio Xamarin Studio

11. Anything you can do in Objective-C, Swift, or Java
can be done in C# and Visual Studio with Xamarin.

12. Xamarin Platform
is included
with Visual Studio!

13. Xamarin Platform
is Open Source!
open.xamarin.com

14. Meet Xamarin.Forms
Build native UIs for iOS, Android, and Windows
from a single, shared C# codebase.

15. Xamarin + Xamarin.Forms
Traditional Xamarin Approach With Xamarin.Forms:
More code-sharing, all native
iOS C# UI Windows C# UIAndroid C# UI
Shared C# Logic
Xamarin.Forms
Shared C# Logic

16. What’s included
✓ 40+ Pages, layouts, and controls
(Build from code behind or XAML)
✓ Two-way data binding
✓ Navigation
✓ Animation API
✓ Dependency Service
✓ Messaging Center
Shared C# Logic
Shared UI Code

17. Layouts - Pages
Stack Absolute Relative Grid ContentView ScrollView Frame
Content MasterDetail Navigation Tabbed Carousel

18. ActivityIndicator BoxView Button DatePicker Editor
Entry Image Label ListView Map
OpenGLView Picker ProgressBar SearchBar Slider
Stepper TableView TimePicker WebView EntryCell
ImageCell SwitchCell TextCell ViewCell
Controls

19. Xamarin.Forms Ecosystem

20. Native UI from shared code
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<TabbedPage xmlns="http://xamarin.com/schemas/2014/forms"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2009/xaml"
x:Class="MyApp.MainPage">
<TabbedPage.Children>
<ContentPage Title="Profile" Icon="Profile.png">
<StackLayout Spacing="20" Padding="20"
VerticalOptions="Center">
<Entry Placeholder="Username"
Text="{Binding Username}"/>
<Entry Placeholder="Password"
Text="{Binding Password}"
IsPassword="true"/>
<Button Text="Login" TextColor="White"
BackgroundColor="#77D065"
Command="{Binding LoginCommand}"/>
</StackLayout>
</ContentPage>
<ContentPage Title="Settings" Icon="Settings.png">
<!-- Settings -->
</ContentPage>
</TabbedPage.Children>

21. Xamarin.Forms 2.0
✓ XAML compilation
✓ Android AppCompat
✓ ListViewCachingStrategy
✓ PanGestureRecognizer
joins Tap and Pinch J
✓ Windows 10 (UWP) Preview in addition to WinRT

22. XAML Compilation
✓ Surface mark up errors at compile time
✓ Improves performance
✓ Opt-in (may change)
[assembly:XamlCompilation (XamlCompilationOptions.Compile)]

23. AppCompat.Forms
• Same theme
• Same attributes
• New Activity Base
• FormsAppCompatActivity
• 2 new resources
• Tabs & Toolbar

24. https://developer.xamarin.com/guides/xamarin-forms/platform-features/android/appcompat/
Android AppCompat

25. ListViewCachingStrategy
✓ Improves scrolling performance
✓ Old behavior is currently the default (but likely to change)

26. Windows Support
✓ WinRT APIs for Windows Phone 8.1
✓ WinRT APIs for Windows 8.1
✓ Universal Windows Platform for Windows 10
X Windows Phone 8 (Silverlight) will be deprecated

27. 2.0! Go!

28. Xamarin.Forms 2.1
✓ Control Templates
✓ DataTemplateSelector
✓ Effects
X BindableProperty.Create<TDeclarer,TPropertyType>
has been deprecated

29. Control Templates I

30. Control Templates II

31. Data Templates

32. Data Templates

33. Effects I
✓ Custom renderer “lite”
✓ Change properties on the native control
✓ Optional
✓ “stringly-typed”
X No methods or events
X No replacing the control

34. Effects II
entry.Effects.Add (Effect.Resolve("Xamarin.BorderEffect"));

35. 2.1! Go!

36. Xamarin.Forms 2.2
✓ Maintenance Release
✓ Google Play Services / Support Libraries
✓ Margins
✓ UWP Maps
✓ 2D ScrollView Support
✓ CarouselView

38. XAML Previewer

39. URL Navigation

40. DataPages
https://developer.xamarin.com/guides/xamarin-forms/datapages/

41. Themes
https://developer.xamarin.com/guides/xamarin-forms/themes/

42. Native Embedding

43. 2.3! Go!

44. Resources
• Xamarin.Forms Documentation
• https://developer.xamarin.com/guides/xamarin-forms/
• Xamarin.Forms Book by Charles Petzold
• http://bit.ly/xamarin-forms-book
• Evolve 2016 App
• http://github.com/XamarinHQ/app-evolve

45. James
Montemagno
Developer Evangelist, Xamarin
james@xamarin.com motzcod.es @JamesMontemagno
Thank you!