Microsoft has recently announced the first Release Candidate version of the .NET Multi-platform App UI (MAUI) framework in the .NET 8 roadmap. As reported, this first release candidate version is focused on code quality, various UI improvements, and performance optimizations alongside Xcode 15 beta support for Apple SDKs.
The original announcement post starts with a very promising statement from David Ortinau, principal product manager on .NET MAUI, which states the following:
.NET MAUI in .NET 8 release candidate 1 which comes with a go live license so you can confidently use this release for your production applications.
Regarding the quality part, in the recent development, significant improvements have been made to address memory leak issues in various user interface controls. As reported, these fixes aim to enhance memory management and boost application stability across the iOS platform. Specifically, memory leak issues have been resolved in key UI components such as the Editor, Entry, MauiDoneAccessoryView, RefreshView, SwipeView, TimePicker, Picker, and GraphicsView.
Additionally, several UI controls, including CheckBox, RefreshView, SwipeItem, Label, and Button, have undergone enhancements to improve overall app interaction, making it smoother for app users.
Platform-specific issues on iOS, Android, Windows, and macOS have also been addressed. These fixes ensure a consistent user experience by resolving issues related to border clipping, window glitches, and image-loading problems across various platforms.
Furthermore, performance optimizations have been implemented to reduce memory usage and improve resource generation. Notable improvements include better memory management in CollectionView, refined resource control, and the resolution of Android timer issues. These optimizations result in improved app performance and responsiveness.
In addition to quality improvements available with RC1, developers can now use Xcode 15 beta with Visual Studio for app development and simulator management. This compatibility will be part of the next Visual Studio release. Additionally, .NET 8 will introduce new APIs for Apple SDKs like iOS 17. This integration has been verified with Xcode 15 Beta 6, and it's expected to work well with more recent releases.
Also, the comments section is active as usual, and it is based on multiple comments with disagreement around the quality and production readiness of .NET MAUI. The author of the announcement post and principal product manager on .NET MAUI, David Ortinau, was a part of the communication with community members. So it is recommended that developers take a look into the conversations to gain more insights and look for community feedback.
To get started, developers can follow official recommendations and guidelines from the announcement post, which states the following:
Through the retirement of Visual Studio for Mac you can continue developing using Visual Studio for Mac after enabling the preview feature for .NET 8 in Preferences.
On Windows, update or install Visual Studio 2022 17.8 preview 2 to get .NET 8 RC1 with .NET MAUI. This version will ship soon, and we recommend waiting for this release on Windows if you are using Visual Studio 2022.
Lastly, in addition to an original release blog post, and as part of the development process, the development team calls on developers to test the new release and share feedback through the official GitHub issue tracker. The community members are also invited to visit the official GitHub project repository and learn more about this project and its future roadmap.