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Visual Studio 2015 Xamarin Forms Install And Config

Follow the steps, mentioned below to setup your Visual Studio 2015 (Update 3) to work with Xamarin Forms.

  1. Open Visual Studio 2015 setup from Windows Control Panel and install all the features of Cross Platform Mobile Development. Restart the machine, install all the updates from Windows Update as necessary.

  2. Download and install Visual Studio 2015 Xamarin plugin from Xamarin.com.

  3. There are three types of Applications in Xamarin- Android, Apple iOS and Windows Phone. With Android, you can simulate, using on Windows; with iOS, you can simulate on Windows but you need a Mac plugged in your network. Forget about Windows Phone. For now, let’s focus just on Android.

  4. After all installation and updates takes place, open your Visual Studio 2015, go to Tools/ Android/ Android SDK Manager. Android SDK Manager download and installer will popup.

  5. Click on Deselect All link button.

  6. Open Android 6.0 (API 23) treeview and check all the options.

  7. Open Extras treeview and check those options.

    1. Android Support Repository.
    2. Google Play Services.
    3. Android Auto API Simulators.
    4. Google USB Driver.
    5. Intel x86 Emulator Accelerator.

  8. Open Tools treview and check those options.

    1. Android SDK Tools.
    2. Android SDL Platform-tools (all rev.).
    3. Android SDK Build-tools (all rev.).

  9. Click button to Install the packages. It will download and install those packages. it will take a lot of time. Go to drink a coffee or something. Restart your machine after all installation.

    The main rule here is just install Android 6.0 (API 23). Sometimes, you will need to install API 22 or 21. For now, don’t install API 24 or above.

  10. After all installation takes place, open Visual Studio 2015 and go to Tools/ Options/ Xamarin/ Android Settings. All three options like Java Development, Android SDK and Android NDK must be green.

  11. In Visual Studio, create a new project: File / New / Project. Select Templates / Visual C# / Cross-Plataform and for now, select Blank Xaml app (Xamarin Forms Portable) template. Choose short names (for example use MyFirstApp) for the project name. Cancel any popup for Windows phone and don’t worry about any errors at this point.

  12. Right mouse button in your solution/ Properties/ Configuration Properties and check just the options, as shown below.

    1. MyFirstApp (build)
    2. MyFirstApp.Droid (build and deploy)

  13. Set MyFirstApp.Droid for start up project, using right button placed at mouse.

  14. Right mouse button in MyFirstApp.Droid project and choose Properties. In Application tab option, check and configure the options, as shown below.

    1. Compile using Use latest platform (Android 6.0).
    2. Minimium Android Android 4.0.3.
    3. Target Android Android 6.0 Level 23.

  15. Click Android Options tab and click Advance tab. Write 1G in Java Max Heap Size textbox. OK Save and close that window.

  16. Now you need to update Xamarin Forms libraries for all three projects (Portable, Droid and iOS). To do that, just access manage nugget packages for each one and update Xamarin Forms to version 2.3.0.107.

  17. After those three installations, clean your project and rebuild it. If you get any errors, close and open your Visual Studio and try to rebuild.

  18. If the compilation is successful, try to debug, using Android Simulator.