Xamarin end of support: What this means for App developers

Introduction

Xamarin may have officially reached the end of its Microsoft supported life, but that doesn’t mean it has vanished overnight. Despite support ending in May 2024, plenty of developers and organisations still use Xamarin to power their mobile apps across Android, iOS and even Windows. And why not? It’s stable, familiar and still gets the job done in many cases.

In its heyday, Xamarin helped developers write mobile apps with a shared C# codebase that ran across multiple platforms - saving clients time, money and stress. Whilst .NET MAUI is now touted as the shiny new successor, Xamarin is still perfectly usable for maintaining existing applications or even starting new ones providing the use case makes sense.

Typical Xamarin development process

Project setup - 

Create a new Xamarin project in either Visual Studio or Visual Studio for Mac, choosing the appropriate project template based on the relevant target platforms - iOS, Android or both.

UI design - 

Design the user interface using Xamarin forms or Xamarin native depending on the required level of cross platform code sharing and considering the customisation required for each specific platform.

Coding -

Write the application logic using C# whilst incorporating the Xamarin APIs. Xamarin.Forms should then be used for shared UI features across platforms or Xamarin.Native for platform-specific UI elements.

Testing -

Perform individual unit testing, UI testing as well as device specific testing to ensure the application is functioning as desired on all of the devices and platforms it may be used on.

Debugging -

When bugs are identified during the testing phase the application should be debugged using the debugging tools available in Xamarin and the IDE (integrated development environment).

Optimisation -

The code and UI should then be optimised to allow for peak performance taking into account platform specific considerations.

Deployment -

The application is now ready for deployment and should be packaged to the respective app stores - Apple App Store, Google Play Store or both.

CI/CD (Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment):

Implement CI/CD pipelines to automate the build, testing and deployment workflows.

Monitoring and Updates:

Monitor the applications performance and user feedback and release updates when required to address issues, debug or add new features.

Support for Xamarin

Like all Microsoft products Xamarin had a lifecycle. Official Microsoft support ended on 1 May 2024 but the technology still works and is still widely used - even for new apps.

Xamarin & Xamarin.Forms end of support

Xamarin.Android, Xamarin.iOS and Xamarin.Mac are now integrated into .NET as Android, iOS and Mac for .NET. Xamarin.Forms has evolved into .NET MAUI (Multi platform App UI). While Microsoft recommends migrating to .NET SDK style projects and MAUI, there is no obligation to move immediately. Many organisations continue to run Xamarin solutions successfully today.

Keeping your Xamarin projects on the final supported SDK versions - Android API 34 and Xcode 15 SDKs - should ensure compatibility for the foreseeable future.

.NET MAUI (Multi platform App UI)

.NET MAUI has been heralded as the evolution of Xamarin.Forms. It brings more up to date architecture, improved tooling and native support for macOS and Windows. This is ideal if you plan to add desktop apps alongside mobile.

Migrating to MAUI is encouraged if you need the peace of mind of long term support and new features but Xamarin remains a valid choice for teams focused on stability and maintaining their existing apps.

Open source/community driven development

Xamarin remains open source at its core. Xamarin.Forms, Xamarin Community Toolkit and the Mono runtime are all available on GitHub. The community continues to contribute bug fixes, improvements and extensions making Xamarin viable for ongoing development.

Key Differences between Xamarin and .NET MAUI

To Finish

Xamarin is far from obsolete. It continues to run reliably, support production apps and deliver value for organisations worldwide. If your app is built on Xamarin there is no rush to move away unless you have a clear reason to migrate (we can help you determine this). For some teams a gradual transition to .NET MAUI makes sense. For others simply maintaining and optimising their Xamarin app is the most practical and cost effective choice. The key is to evaluate your goals, budget and roadmap before making changes. Xamarin still has plenty of life in it and with careful planning you can decide exactly when the right time for migration will be.