Skip to main content

Developers cheer as Microsoft takes Xamarin cross-platform development free, open-source

Xamarin, which allows C# and .NET developers to built native Android and iOS apps, is now bundled with all versions of Visual Studio. Yes, that includes the free Community Edition — and Microsoft announced a Community Edition will be available on OS X, too.

The move, announced at Microsoft’s Build developer’s conference in San Francisco, happens just one month after Microsoft bought Xamarin. It means developers can in theory build Windows, Android, and iOS apps using the same codebase.

Recommended Videos

This announcement also shores up an apparent hole in Microsoft’s development plan that appeared since last BUILD. In 2015, the company announced plans for an Android development bridge (code named “Project Astoria”), but it never materialized.

Xamarin, before the Microsoft buyout, offered a free version of its software, but the free version was limited to small executables. Most developers needed to buy an expensive license to seriously use the software, meaning Microsoft’s announcement today is a big deal for developers. The company is even open sourcing the entire Xamarin SDK in the coming months, with code available on GitHub for the runtime, libraries, and build tools.

That’s not to say that everything is free: some enterprise features will require a Visual Studio Enterprise subscription.

Visual Studio is a developer environment beloved by Windows developers that, until recently, was almost entirely for developing Windows applications. The inclusion of Xamarin by default means Visual Studio can be used to develop Windows, Android, and iOS apps all in one place (though publishing iOS apps will still require access to a computer running OS X).

What does this mean for users? Probably not much in the short term, but in the long term it could be a very valuable tool for independent developers who prefer doing their work in Visual Studio. Xamarin’s software makes developing simultaneous Android, iOS, and Windows apps a lot easier, but was too expensive for most developers to afford.

Users can look forward to more apps releasing on Windows, Android, and iOS at the same time, meaning they’ll waste less time being jealous of that cool app a friend has that’s not available. At least, we hope so — stay tuned.

Justin Pot
Justin's always had a passion for trying out new software, asking questions, and explaining things – tech journalism is the…
A coding blunder just ruined a moment of joy for lottery winners
Eurojackpot lottery slips.

Imagine the joy of being notified of a huge lottery win. What would be the first thing you’d do? Get the champagne in? Book a fancy vacation? Call your boss and tell him where to go?

And then imagine being informed that the notification had, in fact, been sent in error. Well, you can always send the booze back and cancel the holiday, but trying to convince your boss that you were just joking ... well, that may be a bigger challenge.

Read more
This TP-Link Wi-Fi 6 router is 45% off in early Prime Day deal
The TP-Link AX1800 Archer AX21 Wi-FI 6 Router on a white background.

If you're planning to buy a new router to improve your home's Wi-Fi network, the good news is that you don't have to wait for Prime Day 2025 to take advantage of huge discounts on router deals from Amazon. Here's an excellent offer — the TP-Link Archer AX21 with an eye-catching 45% discount, which drops its price from $100 to just $55. The $45 in savings will only be available for a limited time though, so you better act fast and proceed with your purchase immediately as this early Prime Day deal may disappear at any moment.

Buy Now

Read more
Watch these AI humanoid robots play soccer like Mbappé … sort of
Humanoid robots playing soccer.

Watching these humanoid robots battle it out on the soccer field, you quickly realize that Kylian Mbappé and his fellow professionals really have little to worry about. At least, for now.

The footage (top) was captured last week in Beijing at the RoBoLeague World Robot Soccer League, China's first-ever three-on-three humanoid robot soccer league.

Read more