{"id":47823,"date":"2020-08-19T11:30:00","date_gmt":"2020-08-19T18:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/xamarin\/?p=47823"},"modified":"2020-09-28T09:54:47","modified_gmt":"2020-09-28T16:54:47","slug":"first-run-xamarin-essentials","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/xamarin\/first-run-xamarin-essentials\/","title":{"rendered":"App First Run Detection with Xamarin.Essentials"},"content":{"rendered":"

One common scenario that developers often need to integrate into an app, is showing a prompt when an app is launched for the first time. This could be to display a disclaimer or to walk users through the functionality of the app. This can be done on first launch of the app. Even after install or for a specific version. Using Xamarin.Essentials<\/a> helps integrate this functionality with a just few lines of code.<\/p>\n

First Run Preferences<\/h2>\n

A way to determine the first run is to leverage the built-in preferences API<\/a>. This stores a boolean value that can be checked at runtime. For example, create a Settings<\/code> class with a FirstRun<\/code> property set the default value to true<\/code>:<\/p>\n

public static class Settings\n{\n  public static bool FirstRun\n  {\n      get => Preferences.Get(nameof(FirstRun), true);\n      set => Preferences.Set(nameof(FirstRun), value);\n  }\n}\n<\/code><\/pre>\n
Next, check the value at startup to confirm if the value is true<\/code>. Then perform an action and set the value to false<\/code>:<\/p>\n
if(Settings.FirstRun)\n{\n   \/\/ Perform an action such as a \"Pop-Up\".\n   Settings.FirstRun = false;\n}\n<\/code><\/pre>\n
This is a great approach. That preference will persist for as long as the app continues to install. The downside is the “one-and-done” approach and would be difficult to check for specific versions. There are many things that you can do with preferences! Be sure to checkout the full documentation<\/a> and short video on it:<\/p>\n
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