VS 2022 for Mac. Which template to select to create a Mac OS and IOS App

Question

I am just learning VS 2022 for MAC and wish to create a project whose app can run on an IPAD or possibly a MAC as well. It's not obvious which template I should select: (1) Web and Console or (2) Multiplatform or some other platform. Also, I wish to create forms, not sure if this would be .NET XAMARIN or .NET MAUI. Thank you.

Answer 1

Hello @Giacomo Raucci ,

If you choose Web and Console template, it's for .NET desktop, it couldn't build an app for the iPad or a Mac, see https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/core/tutorials/with-visual-studio-mac

Xamarin.Forms is an open-source UI framework, you said " I wish to create forms ". If so, you need to choose Multiplatform ->App-> Xamarin.Forms ->Blank/Flyout/Tabbed App, you will create a new project whose target platforms are Android and iOS. Then add a macOS project to Xamarin.Forms, and you can run on an iPad(iOS) or a Mac(MacOS), refer to https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/xamarin/xamarin-forms/platform/other/mac

.NET MAUI is open-source and is the evolution of Xamarin.Forms, .NET MAUI apps can be written for macOS 11 or higher, using Mac Catalyst. If you choose Multiplatform ->App-> .NET MAUI App(Preview), you will create a new project whose target platforms are Android, iOS, MacCatalyst, Tizen and Windows, refer to https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/maui/supported-platforms
Try to check the docs: What is .NET MAUI and What is Xamarin, some MAUI tools are still under preview and some file templates are not ready yet. For Xamarin support, please check https://dotnet.microsoft.com/en-us/platform/support/policy/xamarin

Best Regards,
Wenyan Zhang

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