.NET MAUI Docs

Overview

.NET Multi-platform App UI (MAUI) is Microsoft’s cross‑platform framework for building native mobile, desktop, and wearable apps with a single shared codebase.

MAUI extends Xamarin.Forms, providing a unified project structure, modern tooling, and native performance on Android, iOS, macOS, and Windows.

dotnet new maui -n MyMauiApp
cd MyMauiApp
dotnet build
dotnet run

Getting Started

1. Install the .NET 8 SDK and Visual Studio 2022 (or later) with the MAUI workload.
2. Create a new MAUI project using the CLI or the VS template.
3. Explore MainPage.xaml – the entry point UI.
4. Run on a simulator/emulator or a connected device.

Example MainPage.xaml:

<ContentPage xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/dotnet/2021/maui"
             xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2009/xaml"
             x:Class="MyMauiApp.MainPage">
    <VerticalStackLayout Spacing="25" Padding="30">
        <Label Text="Welcome to .NET MAUI!"
               FontSize="32"
               HorizontalOptions="Center" />
        <Button Text="Click me"
                Clicked="OnButtonClicked"
                HorizontalOptions="Center" />
    </VerticalStackLayout>
</ContentPage>

Architecture

MAUI follows a layered architecture:

• Presentation Layer – XAML UI and code‑behind.
• Business Logic – ViewModels (MVVM) using INotifyPropertyChanged.
• Platform Services – Dependency injection for native APIs.
• Core – .NET Standard libraries shared across platforms.

Dependency Injection example:

builder.Services.AddSingleton<IDataService, DataService>();

Controls

MAUI provides a rich set of cross‑platform controls. Below are a few frequently used ones.

Sample CollectionView:

<CollectionView ItemsSource="{Binding Items}">
    <CollectionView.ItemTemplate>
        <DataTemplate>
            <StackLayout Padding="10">
                <Label Text="{Binding Title}" FontAttributes="Bold"/>
                <Label Text="{Binding Description}" FontSize="Small"/>
            </StackLayout>
        </DataTemplate>
    </CollectionView.ItemTemplate>
</CollectionView>

Data Binding

MAUI uses XAML data binding to connect UI elements to ViewModels.

public class MainViewModel : INotifyPropertyChanged
{
    private string _greeting = "Hello, MAUI!";
    public string Greeting
    {
        get => _greeting;
        set { _greeting = value; OnPropertyChanged(); }
    }

    public ICommand ClickCommand => new Command(() => Greeting = "Button clicked!");
    public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged;
    protected void OnPropertyChanged([CallerMemberName] string name = null) =>
        PropertyChanged?.Invoke(this, new PropertyChangedEventArgs(name));
}

Binding in XAML:

<Label Text="{Binding Greeting}" FontSize="24" HorizontalOptions="Center"/>
<Button Text="Tap me" Command="{Binding ClickCommand}" />

Deployment

MAUI apps can be packaged for each platform using the same command line:

# Android
dotnet build -t:Run -f net8.0-android

# iOS (macOS host)
dotnet build -t:Run -f net8.0-ios

# macOS
dotnet build -t:Run -f net8.0-maccatalyst

# Windows
dotnet run -f net8.0-windows

Publishing to app stores requires platform‑specific signing certificates and store metadata. Refer to the official deployment guide for detailed steps.