core/release-notes/10.0/preview/preview7/dotnetmaui.md

.NET MAUI in .NET 10 Preview 7 - Release Notes

Here's a summary of what's new in .NET MAUI in this preview release:

• .NET MAUI
  • XAML Source Generator
  • MediaPicker EXIF Support
  • SafeArea Enhancements
  • Secondary Toolbar Items
  • New Control APIs
  • Deprecated API Removals
• .NET for Android
• .NET for iOS, Mac Catalyst, macOS, tvOS

.NET MAUI updates in .NET 10:

• What's new in .NET MAUI in .NET 10 documentation.

XAML Source Generator

.NET MAUI now includes a source generator for XAML that improves build performance and enables better tooling support. This generator creates strongly-typed code for your XAML files at compile time, reducing runtime overhead and providing better IntelliSense support.

The source generator decorates generated types with the [Generated] attribute for better tooling integration and debugging support.

To enable XAML source generation, opt-in to preview features and then decorate your C# with the XamlProcessing directive.

<PropertyGroup>
  <EnablePreviewFeatures>true</EnablePreviewFeatures>
</PropertyGroup>

[assembly: XamlProcessing(XamlInflator.SourceGen)]
namespace MyApp;

MediaPicker EXIF Support

The MediaPicker now automatically handles EXIF information when working with images:

• Auto-rotate images: Images are automatically rotated based on their EXIF orientation data
• Preserve EXIF information: Original EXIF metadata is preserved when using MediaPicker

This ensures that images appear correctly oriented regardless of how they were captured or stored on the device.

SafeArea Enhancements

This release introduces significant improvements to SafeArea management:

• Enhanced SafeAreaEdges control: Improved SafeAreaEdges property with refined SafeAreaRegions enum for precise safe area behavior control
• iOS SafeArea fixes: Resolved issues with SafeArea management on iOS, including extra bottom space in ScrollView when using SafeAreaEdges
• Improved defaults: Fixed safe area defaults to provide more consistent behavior across platforms

The SafeAreaEdges property is available on these controls:

• Layout: Base layout class (inherited by Grid, StackLayout, AbsoluteLayout, FlexLayout, etc.)
• ContentView: Content view container
• ContentPage: Main page type
• Border: Border control
• ScrollView: Scrollable content container

The SafeAreaRegions enum provides granular control over safe area behavior:

public enum SafeAreaRegions
{
    None = 0,          // Edge-to-edge content (no safe area padding)
    SoftInput = 1,     // Always pad for keyboard/soft input
    Container = 2,     // Flow under keyboard, stay out of bars/notch  
    Default = 4,       // Platform default behavior
    All = int.MaxValue // Obey all safe area insets
}

// Usage examples
<ContentPage SafeAreaEdges="Container">
    <!-- Content flows under keyboard but respects bars/notch -->
</ContentPage>

<ScrollView SafeAreaEdges="None">
    <!-- Edge-to-edge scrolling content -->
</ScrollView>

<Grid SafeAreaEdges="SoftInput">
    <!-- Grid respects keyboard but not other safe areas -->
</Grid>

Secondary Toolbar Items

iOS and macOS now support secondary toolbar items, providing better alignment with platform conventions:

• Modern iOS pattern: Uses iOS 13+ APIs with pull-down menu design following iOS Human Interface Guidelines
• Automatic detection: Toolbar items with Order="Secondary" are automatically grouped into a secondary menu
• Priority ordering: Items are ordered within the secondary menu based on their Priority property
• Platform positioning: Menu appears on the far right (or left when RTL is enabled)
• Customizable icon: Developers can override the default ellipsis icon through a protected virtual method

<ContentPage.ToolbarItems>
    <!-- Primary toolbar items appear directly in the toolbar -->
    <ToolbarItem Text="Save" Order="Primary" Priority="0" />
    <ToolbarItem Text="Edit" Order="Primary" Priority="1" />
    
    <!-- Secondary toolbar items appear in the overflow menu -->
    <ToolbarItem Text="Share" Order="Secondary" Priority="0" />
    <ToolbarItem Text="Delete" Order="Secondary" Priority="1" />
    <ToolbarItem Text="Settings" Order="Secondary" Priority="2" />
</ContentPage.ToolbarItems>

The secondary items are grouped into a pull-down menu with the system ellipsis icon (UIImage.GetSystemImage("ellipsis.circle")) by default. When the menu is opened and an item's properties change, the menu automatically rebuilds and closes to reflect the updates.

New Control APIs

Several new APIs have been added to improve control functionality:

• Picker controls: New "Open/Close" API for programmatically controlling picker state
• SearchHandler: Added API to hide or show the soft keyboard when using SearchHandler
• Vibration and HapticFeedback: New IsSupported API to check platform support
• Windows: Added API to enable/disable minimize and maximize buttons on Windows
• Shell navigation: Added Shell.SetNavBarVisibilityAnimationEnabled property for controlling navigation bar visibility animations
• TabbedPageManager: Made TabbedPageManager public for advanced customization scenarios
• StackNavigationManager: Exposed public APIs for StackNavigationManager on Android

Deprecated API Removals

As part of .NET 10, several deprecated APIs have been removed:

• Accelerator class: Removed from Microsoft.Maui.Controls
• ClickGestureRecognizer: Removed in favor of TapGestureRecognizer
• Page.IsBusy: Marked as obsolete
• Compatibility.Layout: removed dependency

Control and Layout Improvements

This release includes numerous fixes and improvements across controls and layouts.

.NET for Android

This release includes continued integration with multiple .NET runtimes, and several bug fixes:

• Add $(EnableDiagnostics) cross-platform MSBuild property, to align with iOS and WASM.
• Fixe an issue with = symbol in Android environment variables.
• Fixed an issue where certain Java libraries were not redistributed in NuGet packages.
• Add support for API 36 in various Visual Studio dropdowns & menus.
• Changes to the "Java GC Bridge" to support multiple runtimes.

A detailed list can be found on the dotnet/android GitHub releases.

.NET for iOS, Mac Catalyst, macOS, tvOS

This release includes Xcode 26 Beta 4 support for targeting .NET 9. We will include builds for .NET 10 in a subsequent release. To use these new bindings, target net9.0-ios26 and/or net9.0-maccatalyst26 and include <NoWarn>$(NoWarn);XCODE_26_0_PREVIEW</NoWarn> in your project file.

<Project Sdk="Microsoft.NET.Sdk">
  <PropertyGroup>
    <TargetFramework>net9.0-ios26</TargetFramework>
    <NoWarn>$(NoWarn);XCODE_26_0_PREVIEW</NoWarn>
    <!-- rest of your configuration -->
  </PropertyGroup>
</Project>

Note

A current issues exists with Shell that prevents it from rendering on iOS 26. Other page types work.

Also in this release are significant improvements to binding generation, runtime performance, and API coverage:

• New Binding Generator (RGen):

  • Enhanced source generator for better binding performance and maintainability
  • Added support for nested classes, categories, and constructors
  • Improved async method generation with proper Task-based patterns
  • Better memory management and semantic model usage
  • Support for strong dictionary properties and weak delegate patterns

• Runtime and Interop Improvements:

  • Reworked NSObject data storage to fix a crash
  • Enhanced P/Invoke handling and native library integration

• API and Framework Updates:

  • Fixed CoreLocation availability for macOS monitoring features
  • Enhanced CoreText font manager constants generation
  • Updated StoreKit by unmarking AppStore class as experimental
  • Fixed CoreMedia format description extensions and related APIs
  • Improved Network framework P/Invoke calls

• Build and Tooling Enhancements:

  • Better xcframework processing with improved diagnostics
  • Enhanced resource duplication detection
  • Better xml documentation generation for interfaces and protocols

• Platform-Specific Fixes:

  • Fixed CVOpenGLESTexture and CVOpenGLESTextureCache build integration
  • Resolved AVFoundation enum value locations
  • Enhanced CoreImage format convenience enum generation

A detailed list can be found on the dotnet/macios GitHub releases including a list of Known issues.

Contributors

Thank you contributors! ❤️

@Aguilex, @Ahamed-Ali, @albyrock87, @anandhan-rajagopal, @bhavanesh2001, @Copilot, @csigs, @dotnet-bot, @dotnet-maestro, @emaf, @framinosona, @github-actions, @grendello, @HarishKumarSF4517, @jfversluis, @jonathanpeppers, @jonpryor, @jsuarezruiz, @kubaflo, @LogishaSelvarajSF4525, @mandel-macaque, @mattleibow, @MichalStrehovsky, @morning4coffe-dev, @NafeelaNazhir, @NanthiniMahalingam, @NirmalKumarYuvaraj, @nivetha-nagalingam, @pictos, @praveenkumarkarunanithi, @PureWeen, @rmarinho, @rolfbjarne, @sheiksyedm, @simonrozsival, @StephaneDelcroix, @SyedAbdulAzeemSF4852, @Tamilarasan-Paranthaman, @TamilarasanSF4853, @Vignesh-SF3580, @VitalyKnyazev, @vs-mobiletools-engineering-service2