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Platform features

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Each platform that .NET Multi-platform App UI (.NET MAUI) supports offers unique operating system and platform APIs that you can access from C#. .NET MAUI provides cross-platform APIs to access much of this platform functionality, which includes access to sensors, accessing information about the device an app is running on, checking network connectivity, storing data securely, and initiating browser-based authentication flows.

.NET MAUI separates these cross-platform APIs into different areas of functionality.

Application model

.NET MAUI provides the following functionality in the Microsoft.Maui.ApplicationModel namespace:

Functionality Description
App actions The AppActions class enables you to create and respond to app shortcuts, which provide additional ways of starting your app. For more information, see App actions.
App information The AppInfo class provides access to basic app information, which includes the app name and version, and the current active theme for the device. For more information, see App information.
Browser The Browser class enables an app to open a web link in an in-app browser, or the system browser. For more information, see Browser.
Launcher The Launcher class enables an app to open a URI, and is often used when deep linking into another app's custom URI schemes. For more information, see Launcher.
Main thread The MainThread class enables you to run code on the UI thread. For more information, see Main thread.
Maps The Map class enables an app to open the system map app to a specific location or place mark. For more information, see Maps.
Permissions The Permissions class enables you to check and request permissions at run-time. For more information, see Permissions.
Version tracking The VersionTracking class enables you to check the app's version and build numbers, and determine if it's the first time the app has been launched. For more information, see Version tracking.

Communication

.NET MAUI provides the following functionality in the Microsoft.Maui.ApplicationModel.Communication namespace:

Functionality Description
Contacts The Contacts class enables an app to select a contact and read information about it. For more information, see Contacts.
Email The Email class can be used to open the default email app, and can create a new email with the specified recipients, subject, and body. For more information, see Email.
Networking The Connectivity class, in the Microsoft.Maui.Networking namespace, enables you to inspect the network accessibility of the device your app is running on. For more information, see Connectivity.
Phone dialer The PhoneDialer class enables an app to open a phone number in the dialer. For more information, see Phone dialer.
SMS (messaging) The Sms class can be used to open the default SMS app and preload it with a recipient and message. For more information, see SMS.
Web authenticator The WebAuthenticator class, in the Microsoft.Maui.Authentication namespace, enables you to start a browser-based authentication flow, which listens for a callback to a specific URL registered to the app. For more information, see Web authenticator.

Device features

.NET MAUI provides the following functionality in the Microsoft.Maui.Devices namespace:

Functionality Description
Battery The Battery class enables an app to check the device's battery information, and monitor the battery for changes. For more information, see Battery.
Device display The DeviceDisplay class enables an app to read information about the device's screen metrics. For more information, see Device display.
Device information The DeviceInfo class enables an app to read information about the device the app is running on. For more information, see Device information.
Device sensors Types in the Microsoft.Maui.Devices.Sensors namespace provide access to the device's accelerometer, barometer, compass, gyroscope, magnetometer, and orientation sensor. For more information, see Device sensors.
Flashlight The FlashLight class can toggle the device's camera flash on and off, to emulate a flashlight. For more information, see Flashlight.
Geocoding The Geocoding class, in the Microsoft.Maui.Devices.Sensors namespace, provides APIs to geocode a place mark to a positional coordinate, and reverse geocode a coordinate to a place mark. For more information, see Geocoding.
Geolocation The Geolocation class, in the Microsoft.Maui.Devices.Sensors namespace, provides APIs to retrieve the device's current geolocation coordinates. For more information, see Geolocation.
Haptic feedback The HapticFeedback class control's haptic feedback on a device, which is generally manifested as a gentle vibration sensation to give a response to the user. For more information, see Haptic feedback.
Vibration The Vibration class enables you to start and stop the vibrate functionality for a desired amount of time. For more information, see Vibration.

Media

.NET MAUI provides the following functionality in the Microsoft.Maui.Media namespace:

Functionality Description
Media picker The MediaPicker class enables you to prompt the user to pick or take a photo or video on the device. For more information, see Media picker.
Screenshot The Screenshot class enables you to capture the current displayed screen of the app. For more information, see Screenshot.
Text-to-speech The TextToSpeech class enables an app to utilize the built-in text-to-speech engines to speak text from the device. For more information, see Text-to-Speech.
Unit converters The UnitConverters class provides unit converters to help you convert from one unit of measurement to another. For more information, see Unit converters.

Sharing

.NET MAUI provides the following functionality in the Microsoft.Maui.ApplicationModel.DataTransfer namespace:

Functionality Description
Clipboard The Clipboard class enables an app copy and paste text to and from the system clipboard. For more information, see Clipboard.
Share files and text The Share class provides an API to send data, such as text or web links, to the device's share function. For more information, see Share.

Storage

.NET MAUI provides the following functionality in the Microsoft.Maui.Storage namespace:

Functionality Description
File picker The FilePicker class enables you to prompt the user to pick one or more files from the device. For more information, see File picker.
File system helpers The FileSystem class provides helper methods that access the app's cache and data folders, and helps access files that are stored in the app package. For more information, see File system helpers.
Preferences The Preferences class helps to store app preferences in a key/value store. For more information, see Preferences.
Secure storage The SecureStorage class helps to securely store simple key/value pairs. For more information, see Secure storage.

Access platform APIs

.NET MAUI platform-specifics allow you to consume specific functionality that's only available on a specific platform. For more information, see Android platform-specifics, iOS platform-specifics, and Windows platform-specifics.

In situations where .NET MAUI doesn't provide any APIs for accessing specific platform APIs, you can write your own code to access the required platform APIs. For more information, see Invoke platform code.