XAML Hot Reload Comes to Xamarin!

The main obstacle we face as Xamarin developers is the time required to build and deploy. We have to do it again and again for very simple changes in the XAML to actually see them in an emulator or devices. If a newbie developer wants to get into the world of Xamarin, the excessive compilation time for every change they make is detrimental to their initial experience. Experienced developers would also like to spend time in actual application development rather than waiting for the compiler to finish its time consuming task every time.

In other platforms like Flutter and React Native, there is a feature called hot reload. This lets you make changes and see them then and there without deploying the application again. As a Xamarin developer, I was envious of this feature since it was not available on my platform. Though there is a feature called Xamarin.Forms previewer, it cannot be used for real-time data or navigation.

Microsoft has heard our feedback, and in the recent Xamarin Developer Summit, they announced XAML hot reload for Xamarin.Forms! The support for this feature is available for both Windows and macOS. You can deploy the application normally and by simply saving after making changes in the XAML file, the changes will be reflected on the device or emulator. You will see the actual application and not just a preview. All the complex designs, real-time data, and navigation are all supported in this feature.

Does it support Syncfusion controls?

All the Xamarin.Forms framework controls are guaranteed to work with XAML hot reload. What about Syncfusion controls for Xamarin.Forms? Yes. XAML hot reload supports the Syncfusion controls and you can fully customize them without having to compile and run the application again. You can do any type of customization like interaction features, navigation, real-time data binding, and more.

Let me show you the XAML hot reload feature in action with the Syncfusion Xamarin Charts package.

XAML Hot Reload in Syncfusion Xamarin Charts

Availability in Visual Studio

If you would like hands-on experience with XAML hot reload, you can find more details about the public preview version on the Microsoft Xamarin blog. We can expect the release of a stable version very soon.

Conclusion

The XAML hot reload feature in Xamarin is much needed. Its support for third parties like Syncfusion is definitely a major boost for Xamarin developers. Currently, there are certain limitations in the hot reload feature, like the absence of C# code reload, but we can definitely expect these limitations to be erased in the near term. The future looks promising. We believe Microsoft will add more features to make it an excellent productivity booster.

If you are new to Xamarin and Syncfusion, this could be the right time for you to get started with our feature-rich components.

Feel free to explore our samples on Google Play and Microsoft Store. You can download our free evaluation to see all of our controls in action. If you have any questions or require clarifications regarding any of our components, you can contact us through our support forum, Direct-Trac, or feedback portal. As always, we are happy to assist you!