Xamarin is a cross-platform technology that makes it possible to build native applications for Android and iOS using a single, shared codebase. Like other technologies such as React Native and NativeScript, it allows development teams to spend less time writing code for both platforms.
- How Do You Build Native Mac Apps For Beginners
- How Do You Build Native Mac Apps Free
- How Do You Build Native Mac Apps Download
- How Do You Build Native Mac Apps Without
Xamarin is open-source (and free). Under the hood, it uses Mono (a version of the Microsoft .NET runtime), so Xamarin apps are usually written in C#. You can build Xamarin apps on Windows using Visual Studio, or Mac using Visual Studio for Mac. Even though Xamarin apps are not written in Swift (or Java), they still look and feel like real, native apps on the device.
C# (pronounced 'c-sharp') is a great coding language that works across Mac and PC. Programmers use it to build a variety of software applications, especially in the Windows environment. Creating an app may sound like a difficult process and if you were truly coding an app yourself, I might agree - but with Fluid all you need to know is the URL for the site you want to turn into. Seriously native. Xojo apps look native because they are. Using the many built in controls you can build your user interface. Plus, you can access almost any iOS feature you need using declares. Xojo also has iOS-specific features, like device rotation, easy access to the camera, sharing panel support, and more. Xojo will save you time. While building and testing your app seems easy, you still need a Mac to build the app file for iOS devices. An easy fix for this can be from buying a Mac, borrowing a friend’s Mac, running a virtual machine on your current computer, or looking at services like MacinCloud which gives you the ability to rent a Mac and running it through your browser.
In this tutorial, I’ll show you how to use Xamarin to build a basic app for both iOS and Android, even if you’ve never done any app development before!
Set Up Xamarin on Windows
Skip to the next section if you have a Mac!
If you don’t have Visual Studio installed, download the free Community Edition from Microsoft.
When you install Visual Studio, be sure to pick the Mobile development with .NET workload, which installs the Xamarin tools you need:
If Visual Studio is already installed, open the Visual Studio Installer to make sure you have the above workload selected.
Once you have these tools installed, you’re ready to create a Xamarin project! Skip the next section.
Set Up Xamarin on Mac
If you have a Mac, you’ll need to install Visual Studio for Mac. Follow the official instructions to install the free Community Edition.
Once the application is installed, you’re ready to create a Xamarin project!
Xamarin and Xamarin Forms
The base Xamarin SDK contains API bindings for each mobile platform, so you can call Android or iOS APIs from C# code. This allows you to build native apps using shared C# code, but you still need to design the UI separately for each platform.
Xamarin.Forms is an additional library that makes it possible to build your UI once (in XAML, a markup language for describing UI layouts). Xamarin.Forms then does the hard work of translating your XAML layout into the appropriate UI elements on the target platform. You can drop down to the “lower” Xamarin SDK level and interact with the platform APIs whenever you need to.
Deciding whether to use Xamarin.Forms in your project depends on how complex your app is. If you’re building an app that needs UI ultra-tailored for each platform or includes a lot of complex user interactions (such as a game), you’re better off with base Xamarin.
However, if you’re building a straightforward app that doesn’t need much platform-specific functionality or custom UI, using Xamarin.Forms means you can write even less code. Data-entry apps, productivity tools, and prototypes are great candidates. Since the goal of this tutorial is building a simple demo app, you’ll use Xamarin.Forms here!
Create a New Xamarin.Forms Project
In Visual Studio, choose File - New Project, pick the Cross-Platform category, and choose the Cross-Platform App (Xamarin.Forms) template. Name the project HelloWorldApp.
Then, pick the Blank App template and the platforms you want to build the app for. Choose Xamarin.Forms as the UI Technology, and .NET Standard as the Code Sharing Strategy:
In Visual Studio for Mac, choose File - New Solution, pick the Multiplatform - App category, and choose the Blank Forms App template:
Creating the new project may take a few minutes. The Blank App template creates a solution with a few sub-projects:
- HelloWorldApp: Contains the XAML and shared code for each platform-specific project.
- HelloWorldApp.Android (or Droid): Android-specific code. For a simple project, you won’t have to change much here.
- HelloWorldApp.iOS: iOS-specific code. You won’t have to change much here, either.
If you picked Windows (UWP) as a platform, your solution will contain an additional project targeting Windows devices.
In this tutorial, you’ll only need to modify the shared code project: HelloWorldApp.
Add a Page
UI views are called “pages” in Xamarin.Forms lingo, and your app already contains one called
MainPage
(or HelloWorldAppPage
in Visual Studio for Mac). Double-click the XAML file in the Solution Explorer, and replace everything within the <ContentPage>
tags with this markup:This XAML markup creates a basic layout containing Label, Entry (text box), and Button elements. The element names (specified with
x:Name
) will be used to refer to these elements later in code. These XAML elements are generic and aren’t yet tied to a specific platform. Xamarin.Forms will automatically translate the elements in proper UIButton
or EditText
views when your app runs on iOS or Android.The
Clicked
attribute on the Button element wires up the button click event to a handler called SayHelloButtonClicked
, which doesn’t exist yet. You’ll write that next.Add Code to the Page
Each XAML file is paired with a C# code file, sometimes called a “code-behind”. Open up the code for the
MainPage.xaml
(or HelloWorldAppPage.xaml
) file by expanding it in the Solution Explorer and selecting the MainPage.xaml.cs
file.Below the
public MainPage()
method, add the new SayHelloButtonClicked
method:You may need to add the following declaration at the top of the file:
Because it’s referenced in the
Clicked
attribute, this method will run when the button is pressed or tapped on the XAML page. First, the value of the textbox is assigned to the name
variable, and then the DisplayAlert
method is called to display a modal alert on the device.That’s it! Your new Xamarin app is ready to go. To test it, you can use a simulator, or you can use Xamarin Live Player to test it on a live device.
Test Your Xamarin App on Your Own Device
The quickest (and coolest) way to test a Xamarin project is with Xamarin Live Player, a small app you can download onto your own phone or device. After downloading the app, pair it with Visual Studio. Then, pick Live Player as the device target.
Start debugging by pressing the play icon, or choose Run - Start Debugging on the Mac. You’ll be asked to scan a QR code to pair Visual Studio with your device, and Live Player will connect to your computer. (If it hangs, make sure your computer and your device are on the same wi-fi network).
After Live Player connects, you’ll be able to immediately start using your app on your device! You can even make changes to the code in Visual Studio and Live Player will refresh the app on your device automatically. Super cool.
Test Your Xamarin App on Android
If you have the Visual Studio Android Emulator installed, testing the Android version of your Xamarin app is simple. In the Visual Studio toolbar, pick the HelloWorldApp.Android project and choose an Android device to emulate. Then, click the play button to start the emulator.
The Android emulator can be slow to load, so give it some time. If everything builds properly, you’ll see your app running on Android:
Test Your Xamarin App on iOS
Testing your Xamarin app on iOS is a little trickier, because it requires a Mac to provide the simulator. (Unless you’re already on a Mac and using Visual Studio for Mac, in which case, you’re good to go!)
If you’re on Windows and have a Mac handy, follow the official instructions to set up the Mac agent and connect it to Visual Studio. Then, pick the HelloWorld.iOS project, and switch the architecture to iPhone Simulator. Choose a device version and click play.
After the project builds, the simulator will launch on the Mac:
Next Steps
This tutorial only scratches the surface. There’s a ton more you can do with Xamarin!
Here’s some further reading:
- Xamarin.Forms samples apps and code on GitHub
- How to combine 2 photos on mac photos app. Developing Enterprise Apps using Xamarin.Forms and the accompanying free eBook
Do you want to learn more about Xamarin? What about other cross-platform app stacks like React Native, NativeScript, or Flutter? Let me know in the comments below!
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This guide shows how to set up your SDK development environment todeploy Cordova apps for iOS devices such as iPhone and iPad,and how to optionally use iOS-centered command-line tools in yourdevelopment workflow. You need to install the SDK tools regardless ofwhether you want to use these platform-centered shell toolsor cross-platform Cordova CLI for development. For a comparison of the twodevelopment paths, see the Overview.For details on the CLI, see Cordova CLI Reference.
Requirements and Support
Apple® tools required to build iOS applications only run on the OS Xoperating system on Intel-based Macs. Xcode® 8.0 (the minimum requiredversion) runs only on OS X version 10.11.5 (El Capitan) or greater, andincludes the iOS 10 SDK (Software Development Kit). To submit apps tothe Apple App Store℠ requires the latest versions of the Apple tools.
You can test many of the Cordova features using the iOS simulatorinstalled with the iOS SDK and Xcode, but you need an actual device tofully test all of the app's device features before submitting to theApp Store. The device must have at least iOS 9 installed, theminimum iOS version supported since the release of cordova-ios v4.4.0.
Installing the Requirements
Xcode
There are two ways to download Xcode:
- from the App Store,available by searching for 'Xcode' in the App Store application.
- from Apple Developer Downloads,which requires registration as an Apple Developer.
Once Xcode is installed, several command-line tools need to be enabledfor Cordova to run. From the command line, run:
Deployment Tools
The ios-deploy tools allow youto launch iOS apps on an iOS Device from the command-line.
To install it, run the following from command-line terminal:
Project Configuration
How Do You Build Native Mac Apps For Beginners
Installing Xcode will mostly set everything needed to get started with the native side of things.You should now be able to create and build a cordova project.For more details on installing and using the CLI, refer to Create your first app guide.
Deploying to Simulator
To preview the app in the iOS simulator:
- Open the workspace file (
platforms/ios/HelloWorld.xcworkspace
) from Xcode, or from the command line: - Make sure the
HelloWorld
project is selected in the left panel (1).
- Select the intended device from the toolbar's Scheme menu, suchas the iPhone XR Simulator as highlighted in (2)
- Press the Run button (3) in the same toolbar to theleft of the Scheme. That builds, deploys, and runs theapplication in the simulator. A separate simulator application opensto display the app:
Only one simulator may run at a time, so if you want to test the app in a different simulator, you need to quit the simulator application and run a different target within Xcode.
Xcode comes bundled with simulators for the latest versions of iPhoneand iPad. Older versions may be available from the Xcode →Preferences.. → Components panel.
Deploying to Device
For details about various requirements to deploy to a device, referto the Launch Your App On Devices section ofApple'sAbout App Distribution Workflows.Briefly, you need to do the following before deploying:
- Create a Provisioning Profile within theiOS Provisioning Portal.You can use its Development Provisioning Assistant to create andinstall the profile and certificate Xcode requires.
- Verify that the Code Signing Identity setting within the Code Signing sectionwithin the build settings is set to your provisioning profilename.
To deploy to the device:
- Use the USB cable to plug the device into your Mac.
- Select the name of the project in the Xcode window's Schemedrop-down list.
- Select your device from the Device drop-down list. If it isplugged in via USB but still does not appear, press theOrganizer button to resolve any errors.
- Press the Run button to build, deploy and run the applicationon your device.
Signing an App
First, you should read through the Code Signing Support Pageand the App Distribution Workflows.
Using Flags
To sign an app, you need the following parameters:
Parameter | Flag | Description |
---|---|---|
Code Sign Identity | --codeSignIdentity | Code signing identity to use for signing. It can be created with Xcode and added to your keychain. Starting with Xcode 8 you should use --codeSignIdentity='iPhone Developer' both for debug and release . |
Development Team | --developmentTeam | The development team (Team ID) to use for code signing. You would use this setting and a simplified Code Sign Identity (i.e. just 'iPhone Developer') to sign your apps, you do not need to provide a Provisioning Profile. |
Packaging Type | --packageType | This will determine what type of build is generated by Xcode. Valid options are development (the default), enterprise , ad-hoc , and app-store . |
Provisioning Profile | --provisioningProfile | (Optional) GUID of the provisioning profile to be used for manual signing. It is copied here on your Mac: ~/Library/MobileDevice/Provisioning Profiles/ . Opening it in a text editor, you can find the GUID which needs to be specified here if using manual signing. |
Code Sign Resource Rules | --codesignResourceRules | (Optional) Used to control which files in a bundle should be sealed by a code signature. For more details, read The OS X Code Signing In Depth article |
Automatic Provisioning | --automaticProvisioning | (Optional) Enable to allow Xcode to automatically manage provisioning profiles. Valid options are false (the default) and true . |
Using build.json
Alternatively, you could specify them in a build configuration file (
build.json
)using the --buildConfig
argument to the same commands. Here's a sample of abuild configuration file:How Do You Build Native Mac Apps Free
For automatic signing, where provisioning profiles are managed automatically by Xcode (recommended):
For manual signing, specifying the provisioning profiles by UUID:
Xcode Build Flags
If you have a custom situation where you need to pass additional build flags to Xcode you would use one or more
--buildFlag
options to pass these flags to xcodebuild
. If you use an xcodebuild
built-in flag, it will show a warning.You can also specify a
buildFlag
option in build.json
above (the value for the buildFlag
key is a string or an array of strings).Debugging
For details on the debugging tools that come with Xcode, see this articleand this video.
Open a Project within Xcode
Cordova for iOS projects can be opened in Xcode. This can be useful ifyou wish to use Xcode built in debugging/profiling tools or if you aredeveloping iOS plugins. Please note that when opening your project in Xcode,it is recommended that you do NOT edit your code in the IDE. This will edit the codein the
platforms
folder of your project (not www
), and changes are liable to be overwritten.Instead, edit the www
folder and copy over your changes by running cordova build
.Plugin developers wishing to edit their native code in the IDE should use the
--link
flag when adding theirplugin to the project via cordova plugin add. This will link the files so that changes to the plugin files in theplatforms folder are reflected in your plugin's source folder (and vice versa).Once the ios platform is added to your project and built using
cordova build
, you can open it fromwithin Xcode. Double-click to open the ${PROJECT_NAME}/platforms/ios/${PROJECT_NAME}.xcworkspace
file or open Xcode from your terminal:The screen should look like this:
Platform Centered Workflow
cordova-ios includes a number of scripts that allow the platform to be usedwithout the full Cordova CLI. This development path may offer you a greaterrange of development options in certain situations than the cross-platform cordova CLI.For example, you need to use shell tools when deploying a customCordova WebView alongside native components. Before using thisdevelopment path, you must still configure the SDK environmentas described in Requirements and Supportabove.
For each of the scripts discussed below, refer to Cordova CLI Reference for more information on theirarguments and usage. Each script has a name that matches the corresponding CLIcommand. For example,
cordova-ios/bin/create
is equivalent tocordova create
.To get started, either download the cordova-ios package fromnpm orGithub.
To create a project using this package, run the
create
script in the bin
folder:To run the app, use the
run
script in the bin
folder:The created project will have a folder named
cordova
inside that containsscripts for the project-specific Cordova commands (e.g. run
, build
, etc.).To install plugins in this project, use the Cordova Plugman Utility.
How Do You Build Native Mac Apps Download
Upgrading
How Do You Build Native Mac Apps Without
Refer to this article for instructions to upgrade your
cordova-ios
version.(Mac®, OS X®, Apple®, Xcode®, App Store℠, iPad®, iPhone®, iPod® and Finder® are Trademarks of Apple Inc.)