Book Image

Xamarin 4.x Cross-Platform Application Development - Third Edition

By : Peppers
Book Image

Xamarin 4.x Cross-Platform Application Development - Third Edition

By: Peppers

Overview of this book

Xamarin is a leading cross-platform application development tool used by top companies such as Coca-Cola, Honeywell, and Alaska Airlines to build apps. Version 4 features significant updates to the platform including the release of Xamarin.Forms 2.0 and improvements have been made to the iOS and Android designers. Xamarin was acquired by Microsoft so it is now a part of the Visual Studio family. This book will show you how to build applications for iOS, Android, and Windows. You will be walked through the process of creating an application that comes complete with a back-end web service and native features such as GPS location, camera, push notifications, and other core features. Additionally, you’ll learn how to use external libraries with Xamarin and Xamarin.Forms to create user interfaces. This book also provides instructions for Visual Studio and Windows. This edition has been updated with new screenshots and detailed steps to provide you with a holistic overview of the new features in Xamarin 4.
Table of Contents (13 chapters)

Starting our sample application concept

The concept is simple: a simple clone of the popular chat application, Snapchat. There are several popular applications like this in the Apple App Store, probably due to the cost of text messaging and support for devices such as the iPod Touch or iPad. This should be a neat real-world example that could be useful for users, and will cover specific topics in developing applications for iOS and Android.

Before starting with the development, let's list the set of screens that we'll need:

  • Login / sign up: This screen will include a standard login and sign-up process for the user.
  • List of conversations: This screen will include a button to start a new conversation.
  • List of friends: This screen will provide a way to add new friends when we start a new conversation.
  • Conversation: This screen will have a list of messages between you and another user, and an option to reply.
  • Camera: In addition to text messages, Snapchat has the ability to send photos...