Why this migration now
Xamarin support ended migrate to MAUI or risks increased operating cost. When your mobile portfolio generates revenue, or engages customers, or makes the field productive, it is expensive to do nothing instead of doing something Xamarin.Forms to MAUI migration provides a maintained, unified, and future-facing direction on the newest .NET, contemporary tooling, and single-project framework that extends across iOS, Android, macOS and Windows. To C-suites who plan ahead 3-5 years, it is not an aspect of developer preference, it is a matter of business continuity, speed and experience.
Xamarin vs .NET MAUI
Dimension
|
Xamarin.Forms
|
.NET MAUI
|
Support lifecycle
|
Ended; security risk compounds over time
|
Active, evolving with .NET releases and LTS
|
Target platforms
|
iOS, Android (UWP via forks)
|
iOS, Android, Windows, macOS with one project
|
Architecture
|
Multiple platform projects
|
Single project; shared assets and resources
|
Performance
|
Good, variable startup
|
Faster with AOT, trimming, and handler architecture
|
Tooling
|
Older pipelines
|
Modern tooling, .NET Upgrade Assistant Xamarin to MAUI, CI/CD friendly
|
Desktop reach
|
Limited
|
First-class desktop support for shared UI
|
For leaders compering Xamarin vs .NET MAUI, the platform delta is clear: MAUI consolidates, accelerates, and de-risks.
1) Strategic platform alignment
Microsoft is investing in MAUI. With an older stack, there are more security issues, retaining talent becomes harder, and maintenance also becomes expensive. Xamarin.Forms to MAUI migration maintains your operation on a supported .NET platform, with predictable releases, compliance patches, and enhanced cloud integration. Migration secures your mobile P&L, eliminating end-of-life risks, and provides the team with a new generation of ideas to build upon.
2) Performance that users feel
The users observe the quicker start up, easier navigation and reduced consumption of memory. This is made possible by MAUI new design, trimming and AOT options. With fewer tricks, you can get a native feel; this keeps users and turns them into customers; all needed in consumer apps and customer portals. New features can be added without performance hitches.
3) A single codebase, increased surface area
Android, iOS, Windows and macOS can be targeted in one project. This brings you beyond a mobile application to a product that can be used on multiple screens. Cross-platform (cross platform) UI patterns and common themes minimise bugs and shorten delivery time. Auditing is simplified when there are fewer variants.
4) Contemporary tools and developer speed
The Xamarin to MAUI upgrade assistant by the .NET Upgrade Assistant immediately takes you into a new Clean MAUI and converts packages where feasible. Hot reload, enhanced IntelliSense, shorter build time, and integrated MAUI Controls aid the team in shipping faster. The typical DevOps pipelines are less complex, and the single project of MAUI is compatible with containerized CI agents and modern testing suites.
5) Lower TCO and clearer ROI
Reduced number of platform silos translate to a reduction in bugs, mergers, and delicate conditionals, reducing maintenance hours. Libraries and dependencies are consolidated and more recent, reducing the third-party risk and licensing expenses. Migration is a short term investment that is repaid by reduced run costs and accelerated delivery of features within multiple release cycles.
Executive-ready migration steps
If you need a high-level plan for how to migrate Xamarin.Forms app to MAUI without drama, here’s the pragmatic sequence your PMO can track.
Sort apps by revenue sensitivity, regulatory sensitivity, and codebase health. Choose what to migrate, retire or rebuild. Not all screens are worth buying a ticket.
Migrate Xamarin to .NET MAUI baseline project and demonstrate a representative workflow. Authenticate, authenticate libraries, validation, analytics, push, storage, and offline sync.
Scaffold the target structure by running the .NET Upgrade Assistant to Xamarin to MAUI. Map renderers to handlers; examine custom renderers and effects early.
One step fixing changes, one at a time - navigation, dependency injection, resources, fonts, platform specifics. Finding alternatives that can replace degraded packages with MAUI alternatives.
Include automated UI tests; rechecks on accessibility and performance budgets. Pilot release to controlled group; proceed with feature flags.
This sequence covers the steps to migrate Xamarin Android/iOS to MAUI without freezing your roadmap.
Converting Xamarin.Forms to MAUI Best practices that pay off
- Platform parity budgets: Track alignment in iOS, Android and desktop. Eliminate “almost done” traps.
- Keep the diff small: Do not rearchitecture everything as part of migration. Keep feature tickets apart.
- Measure continuously: Monitor performance, cold start, bundle size, and crash free sessions. Turn them into mandatory release gates.
- Dependency hygiene: Use supported MAUI packages; abandon weak dependencies early.
- Security First: Build state that authenticates flows, pinning certificates and key storage and transport security when in transit.
- Documentation and ADRs: Document architecture choices to ensure that knowledge is not lost when employees leave the company.
Cost, timeline, and risk framing
- Timeline: An average mid-size customer application (60-120 screens) can be transitioned in 816 weeks with a dedicated team. Complex enterprise applications are slower, but have multiple module work streams.
- Cost drivers: Custom renderers, biassed platform-specific code, and stale third-party libraries. Surprises are minimised by early discovery.
- Risk mitigations: Run critical journeys in parallel, maintain rollback paths, and deal with platform-specific behaviour using feature flags.
When to pause or rebuild
- Assuming that UX debt is detrimental to conversions, a targeted redesign of MAUI may be less expensive than pixel-by-pixel porting.
- When your application consists predominantly of native bindings and bespoke OpenGL/Metal layers, consider whether a thin native shell or a hybrid approach is smarter.
- When low adoption is observed, sunset rather than migrate.
What executives ask most
- Migration of Xamarin.Forms to MAUI over waiting: Waiting brings only security and staffing risk, with no advantage. Migration is an offence (expanded platform reach) and a defence (supportability).
- Xamarin.Forms migration guide in a single sentence: Evaluate, scaffold using the Upgrade Assistant, phase-by-phase port UI and dependencies, test and pilot, and scale.
- Why migrate from Xamarin to MAUI: to restore developer velocity, add desktop access and support the future of Microsoft, reduce total cost of ownership and risk.
How Rushkar Technology helps
The services provided by Rushkar Technology relate to the Xamarin.Forms to .NET MAUI migration services. We chart our course in such a manner that we have visible outcomes in the beginning with definite steps and definite milestones. Our dedicated app developers India can minimise risk and accelerate outcomes.
- Architecture and Discovery: We categorise your projects, plan risks, and develop a MAUI architecture that fits your compliance regulations and cloud infrastructure.
- Guided migration: We transform your code, map handlers, tune performance, and re-create your CI/CD processes directly.
- Quality and compliance: We verify accessibility, conduct security audits, and develop documentation that is audit-ready.
- Flexible engagement: Hire .net developers in India to work on some aspects, or full time App Developers India who report directly to your project manager.
When you need to migrate fast without halting feature releases, we align teams, tools and release schedules to allow business to continue.
Next steps checklist
- Quickly do a readiness assessment that takes 10-15 days to decrease the scope risk.
- Install a MAUI pilot with your most utilised workflow and test its performance.
- Form a migration team and a product line schedule.
- Establish success criteria such as startup time, crash-free use, release frequency and feature parity.
- Decide what to port and what to refactor, and prevent UI changes during migration.