Version 5.5 Update
This version provides support for using Simple Mvvm Toolkit for developing iOS and Android apps using C# with Xamarin. You should install Xamarin for Mac if you want to develop iOS apps, and Xamarin for Windows if you wish to develop Android apps. Visual Studio integration helps with using templates for these app types, but it requires a "Business" level license (or trial). However, you can also use Xamarin Studio, with the NuGet plugin, which is free. Xamarin apps depend on the MvvmCross Core NuGet package for data binding support.There is also support for adding models and view models to a Portable Class Library, which can be referenced by projects across all the UI platforms - WPF, Silverlight, Windows Store, Windows Phone, iOS and Android. It depends on the "Portable Simple Mvvm Toolkit" NuGet package.
Release Notes
There are two main enhancements for this release:1. Support for iOS and Android platforms with Xamarin and Mvvm Cross
- Simple Mvvm can now be used to develop applications deployed to both
iOS and Android platforms by using the Xamarin tool chain and the
Mvvm Cross Core NuGet package.
- The capabilities are on a par with Windows Store apps with support for
INotifyPropertyChanges and INotifyDataErrorInfo
> MessageBus, ModelBase, ViewModelBase, ViewModelDetailBase are linked
from the Silverlight project (just like WPF)
- However, there is no support for IsInDesignMode.
- Also missing is support for transparent thread marshalling.
With PCL and C# async/await supported by Xamarin, there is really no need
for this feature in iOS and Android projects.
- Both the Simple Mvvm iOS and Android projects contain ReadMe files with
detailed instructions for replicating the sample.
> You should install Xamarin Studio for both Mac and Windows
> At this time, the MvvmCross NuGet package v3.1.1. is in beta, so you
may want to update the package to the latest version.
> The iOS project uses storyboards for GUI designer support with the version
of Xamarin Studio available on the Alpha channel
2. Support for creating portable models, view models, service agents and locators
in a Portable Class Library that can be referenced by multiple platform projects,
including WPF 4.5 or higher, Silverlight 5, Windows Store 8 or higher,
Windows Phone 8, iOS (MonoTouch) and Android (MonoDriod)
- There is a Simple Mvvm Portable library project template that creates a Portable
Class Library Project with the Portable Simple Mvvm Toolkit NuGet package.
- In addition, there is also a Simple Mvvm Multiplatform template that includes
the Simple Mvvm Portable Library, as well as project templates for each target
platform.
- There is no UIDispatcher, because UI-thread dispatching is not portable
> Instead you can use the Task class with C# async/await keywords
- Validation with INotifyDataErrorInfo is supported
> But the portable version of Simple Mvvm uses the Windows Phone implementation,
which is portable across all platforms, because it does not reference
System.ComponentModel.DataAnnotations
- Use of the MessageBus for inter-ViewModel communication is fully supported,
as are other features of Simple Mvvm, such as IEditableObject, which resides in
SimpleMvvmToolkit-Common and is portable across platforms
3. Other changes are listed below:
- With this released I've dropped the dependency on the Microsoft.Composition
NuGet package for Windows Store applications. There are better IOC containers
out there than MEF, which has undergone some changes that make it less desireable
for this purpose.
- Item Templates are now included for for Windows Store projects, as well as for
iOS and Android projects
> The Injected ViewModel Locator item template has now been deprecated
- Both .NET 4.5 and 4.51 are supported by the toolkit and NuGet packages
4. Known issues:
- For some reason XAML parsing errors may appear in the Windows Store and Windows Phone
sample projects, but the applications build and deploy normally.
> This may be remedied by uninstalling and reinstalling the Windows Store and Phone
SDK's after installing Xamarin for Windows
- The Visual Studio support for Xamarin is based on a "Business" level license,
which may be out of reach financially for some developers.
> Instead use the free Xamarin Studio for Windows and Mac
> XS for Windows can be used for Android development only
> Without the biz license and VS integration, you will need to use XS for Mac
in order to develop iOS applications.