Customizing a Xamarin Forms Application, Part 2

Url: https://visualstudiomagazine.com/articles/2016/11/01/xamarin-forms-application-part-2.aspx
In an earlier column on Xamarin Forms app customizing, I looked at how realistic it is to create a Xamarin Forms (XF) application and how close it can tie to the platform. How close does an XF application look in comparison to an iOS and Android application? Now that my startup has been using the application, we found a few items that were "wanting":

• Saving log-in information. When an app is loaded, no one wants to continually type in a name and password. Users want to just load the application and go with it.
• Network requests. When a network request is ongoing, such as an upload, what kind of information is communicated back to the user? Is it just the activity indicator or is more possible?
• Network availability. Is there some mechanism to check for a 3G/4G/Wi-Fi network? If there is no network, the application should communicate this to the user or at least not crash.

I'll look at these nagging features and how to improve the UX of the application.

Android 7 with Xamarin

Url: https://visualstudiomagazine.com/articles/2016/12/01/multiwindow-mode-via-xamarin.aspx
Xamarin has updated Xamarin.Android to support the latest version of Android -- version 7, aka. Nougat -- that was made available in mid-August. My Nexus 6p and Nexus 7 have both been updated to Android 7 since then, and developers have all of the sweet, gooey goodness necessary to build applications for it.
While Android 7 doesn't appear to be a major update, there are some new items in it that are rather interesting:

• Multi-Window API: Users can open two apps on the screen at once, assuming that the screen on the device is large enough to support more than one app.
• Notification Enhancements: The notifications system was redesigned to include a direct reply feature. Users can reply directly to messages from the notification UI.
• Data Save: The Data Saver is a new system service that helps to reduce cellular data use by applications. It does this by giving users control over how applications use cellular data.

Other features of interest to developers include network security configuration, doze on the go, key attestation, new Quick Settings APIs, multi-locale support, ICU4J APIs, WebView improvements, Java 8 language features, directory access, custom pointer API, platform virtual reality (VR) support, virtual files and background processing optimizations.

App-to-Market: Locking In Technology Options for Your Startup

Url: https://visualstudiomagazine.com/articles/2016/12/02/startups-does-technology-matter.aspx

How crucial is the technology you choose to run it and build apps? It almost doesn't matter, as long as your chosen path provides enough options to deliver to customers the solutions they need. We look at the Microsoft stack as an example.
You've been working in a company that has its own data center with servers sitting in racks. You got training on how to use and deploy solutions on them using a combination of Visual Studio, .NET, servers, Cisco, and a bunch of other enterprise-grade technologies.
You have ideas for some apps and you've been getting ready to venture out on your own. To get a feel for what it might be like, you attend several startup competitions. No one at those competitions are using any technology related to .NET. Some of the attendees you talked with say that knowledge of the Microsoft technology stack isn't useful in a startup. They've even got you second-guessing your choices.
Now you're wondering, "I've got all of this .NET knowledge, but they say that .NET isn't startup friendly; what am I going to do now?"
Note: Since this is Visual Studio Magazine, this article will have a .NET slant to it. Don't worry; I recognize the bias; even then, you can really take a language- and platform-agnostic approach to tool choice for your startup. Just about every stack has something for every facet of building apps.