Xamarin Blog

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Android - Xamarin Blog

Android’s D8 dexer and R8 shrinker

January 28, 2019 Jan 28, 2019 01/28/19
Jonathan Peppers
Learn more about Xamarin.Android’s D8 and R8 integration and deep dive on how R8 is being developed for Xamarin.Android and D8 as the next-generation DEX compiler to speed up and shrink Android apps.

Android Build Performance and Reliability

November 21, 2018 Nov 21, 2018 11/21/18
Jon Douglas
As a Xamarin developer working on Android apps, you may be well-aware of two issues that slow down your everyday development build times and the correctness of the build. If you aren't sure what the latter is, think back to the last time you had to manually remove your bin/obj folders within your project in order to fix a failure.

Using the Android Designer Split View

September 24, 2018 Sep 24, 2018 09/24/18
Bret Johnson
The ability to see the design view and layout XML at the same time, side by side, was one of our most requested features for the Android Designer. With Split View, new in the Visual Studio 2017 version 15.8 release, you can switch back & forth freely between both modes of working. Edit the layout XML to see the changes immediately previewed in the designer or make changes in the designer and see the XML update.

Announcing Xamarin.Android 9.0 (P) Preview

July 27, 2018 Jul 27, 2018 07/27/18
Jon Douglas
Android 9.0 (P) introduces many features such as Wi-Fi RTT(Round-Trip-Time), Display cutout support, Notification enhancements, Multi-camera support, and much more. We're excited to announce Xamarin.Android support for Android 9.0 (P) in our latest preview release of Xamarin.Android for both Visual Studio 2017 and Visual Studio for Mac.

Getting Android Apps Ready for Google Play’s Target API Level Requirements

June 21, 2018 Jun 21, 2018 06/21/18
James Montemagno
Starting this year, Google Play will roll out a new policy that impacts all Android developers submitting new apps and app updates. This blog post will ensure that your application is fully ready for these changes, which will require the targetSdkVersion to be set to Android 8.0 API level 26 or higher, when it goes into effect for new apps on August 1, 2018 and for app updates on November 1, 2018.

More Cross-Platform APIs with Xamarin.Essentials Latest Preview

June 14, 2018 Jun 14, 2018 06/14/18
James Montemagno
We announced Xamarin.Essentials, a core set of cross-platform APIs to help developers build native apps, at Microsoft Build 2018. Xamarin.Essentials gives developers access to over thirty platform-specific APIs that can be accessed from their shared code, including geolocation, secure storage, sensors, device information, and many more. Best of all, Xamarin.Essentials can be used in any iOS, Android, UWP, or Xamarin.Forms app, regardless of how you create the user interface. Feedback on the first preview from developers has been fantastic, with praise of a simple and straightforward way to access these native features.