Hello developers!

Another blog, another Android event! While Google I/O seems like it happened in the distant past, Microsoft Build 2022 is here to help developers expand their skillset by exploring new and emerging technologies. Microsoft Build features the best of what technology has to offer, and you can gain insights from developers and creators located around the world.

We’re thrilled to see discussions centered on so many Android and cross-platform topics across Microsoft. Here are some highlights from this week!

Skilling up with Android UI Test

Android testing across different device configurations can be daunting when first jumping in. By leveraging the helper classes and test kits, you can focus on functionality while developing UI tests, instead of worrying about complex implementations and tons of boilerplate.

As part of Microsoft Build 2022, the Surface Duo Developer Experience team created a skilling session that runs through different Android testing tools including resources available for creating tests for Jetpack Compose and creating fold aware tests with Test Kit. If you’re interested in learning more, you can check out the session here:

For more information about foldable and dual-screen app development, visit the Surface Duo developer documentation.

Surface Laptop Studio behind the scenes

The Surface Laptop Studio is an amazing device for developers on-the-go, and our friends on the Surface team shared some details about how they created this new form factor:

Android developers will appreciate the large touch screen and, through both pen and touch support in the Surface Duo emulator, the ability to build and fully test dual-screen apps.

.NET MAUI release

Another exciting announcement for cross-platform developers is the launch of .NET MAUI – Multi-platform App UI. The .NET MAUI platform is an evolution of Xamarin.Forms and enables developers to use C# and .NET 6 to build apps that run on Android, iOS, macOS, and Windows.

Check out these sessions for an overview of .NET MAUI’s features and where to get started:

• .NET MAUI – Updates and Roadmap
• Build native apps for any device with .NET and Visual Studio
• Community discussion on .NET mobile development choices

Xamarin.Forms has dual-screen support via the TwoPaneView layout control, and we’re hard at work bring that to .NET MAUI in a future preview.

Resources and feedback

Visit https://mybuild.microsoft.com/ to review all the great content from this year’s conference.

If you have any questions or would like to tell us about your dual-screen applications, use the feedback forum or message us on Twitter @surfaceduodev. 

Finally, please join us every Friday on Twitch at 11am Pacific time to chat about Surface Duo developer topics!