Xamarin.Forms User Interface Views

  • 3 minutes to read
  • Contributors
    • David Britch
    • Craig Dunn
    • Charles Petzold

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How to use the views provided by Xamarin.Forms

Animation

Xamarin.Forms includes its own animation infrastructure that's straightforward for creating simple animations, while also being versatile enough to create complex animations.

BoxView

The BoxView is just a simple colored rectangle, but it can be used for decorative items, rudimentary graphics, and for obtaining interative touch input.

Button

The Button responds to a tap or click that directs an application to carry out a particular task.

CollectionView

The CollectionView is a flexible and performant view for presenting lists of data using different layout specifications.

Colors

Defining and using colors across platforms can be tricky when each platform has its own standards and defaults.

Controls Reference

This document is a quick reference to the UI views that make up the Xamarin.Forms framework, such as Pages, Layouts, Views and Cells.

DataPages

DataPages provide an API to quickly and easily bind a data source to pre-built views. List items and detail pages will automatically render the data, and be customized using themes.

DatePicker

The DatePicker allows a user to select a date within a specified range. It is implemented using the date picker supported by the particular platform that the application is run on.

Display Pop-Ups

Xamarin.Forms provides two pop-up-like user interface elements: an alert and an action sheet. These interface elements can be used to display dialog boxes that ask users simple questions and guide users through tasks.

Graphics with SkiaSharp

How to incorporate graphics into a Xamarin.Forms application using SkiaSharp.

Images

Images can be shared across platforms with Xamarin.Forms, they can be loaded specifically for each platform, or they can be downloaded for display.

ImageButton

The ImageButton displays an image and responds to a tap or click that directs an application to carry out a particular task.

Layouts

Xamarin.Forms has several layouts for organizing on-screen content. StackLayout, Grid, FlexLayout, AbsoluteLayout, ScrollView, and RelativeLayout can each be used to create beautiful, responsive user interfaces.

ListView

Xamarin.Forms provides a list view control to display scrolling rows of data. The control includes contextual actions, HasUnevenRows automatic sizing, separator customization, pull-to-refresh, and headers and footers.

Maps

Adding maps requires an additional NuGet package download and some platform-specific configuration. Maps and pin markers can be added in just a few lines of code once the configuration is done.

Picker

The Picker view is a control for selecting a text item from a list of data.

Slider

The Slider allows a user to select a numeric value from a continuous range.

Stepper

The Stepper allows a user to select a numeric value from a range of values. It consists of two buttons labeled with minus and plus signs. Manipulating the two buttons changes the selected value incrementally.

Styles

Font, color, and other attributes can be grouped into styles which can be shared across controls, layouts, or the entire application using ResourceDictionaries.

TableView

The table view is similar to a list view, but rather than being designed for long lists of data it is intended for data-entry-style screens of scrolling controls or simple scrolling menus.

Text

Xamarin.Forms has several views for presenting and receiving text. Text views can be formatted and customized for platforms. Specific font settings can enable compatibility with accessibility features.

Themes

Xamarin.Forms Themes define a specific visual appearance for the standard controls. Once you add a theme to the application's resource dictionary, the appearance of the standard controls will change.

TimePicker

The TimePicker allows a user to select a time. It is implemented using the time picker supported by the particular platform that the application is run on.

Visual

Xamarin.Forms Material Visual can be used to create Xamarin.Forms applications that look identical, or largely identical, on iOS and Android.

Visual State Manager

The Visual State Manager provides a structured way to trigger changes in the user interface from code, including layout that adapts to changes in device orientation or size.

WebView

Xamarin.Forms uses the native web browser control on each platform, and can display websites, local resources, and generated Html strings.