August 12th: Microsoft Rolled Out.NET MAUI Preview 7

• Focuses on compile-time XAML processing, richer media metadata support, safer UI layouts, and refined toolbar APIs.

MAUI Overview

• Stands for Multiplatform Application UI. An evolution of Xamarin and Xamarin Forms frameworks, unifying target libraries and projects into one for multiple devices.
• Currently supports Android 5+, iOS 12.2+, macOS 12+ (Mac Catalyst), Samsung Tizen, Windows 10 version 1809+, or Windows 11. No changes in supported minimum platforms from last year's version 9.

Build-Time XAML Compilation

• XAML markup is now compiled at build time instead of runtime, reducing app startup latency, surfacing errors earlier, and enabling code inspection.
• Developers need to add EnablePreviewFeatures property and decorate root namespace with XamlProcessing attribute.

MediaPicker and EXIF Metadata

• MAUI can handle embedded EXIF metadata when selecting images via MediaPicker control.
• New update preserves existing EXIF metadata when the image is picked.

Safe Area Improvements

• Adds several new features for the Safe Area to prevent content from being rendered outside the device-specific screen space.
• Layout logic around notches, rounded corners, and display cutouts is smarter, giving developers more control.

Toolbar Enhancements

• Toolbars can now include secondary items rendered as device-specific secondary menu items.
• ToolbarItem markup needs to include Order property set to Primary or Secondary.

New APIs and Deprecated Ones

• Added several new APIs to controls like controlling pickers' states and exposing TabbedPageManager class.
• Deprecated APIs like Accelerator class from Microsoft.Maui.Controls and ClickGestureRecognizer removed in favor of TapGestureRecognizer.

Developer Feedback

• Generally positive. Stuart Ballard asked if Xaml source generator is limited to MAUI or can be general-purpose.
• A post on windowsforum.com stated that Preview 7 is a consolidation pass focusing on quality improvements.

Complete Release Notes

• Readers can refer to GitHub official MAUI repository for detailed release notes.