Preview Xamarin Form Pages

Question

Is there any way to preview a Xamarin forms page without first deploying to device/emulator?

Or is there any way to live edit the page and see changes somewhere (a bit like Snoopy for WPF). I tried both Xamarin Studio + Visual Studio and do not see a designer.

Answer 1

Xamarin.Forms Previewer is now available in VS. All you need to do is to update your Xamarin version: Tools > Options > Xamarin > Other > Check Now to update your Xamarin to the latest.

Then open it via View > Other Windows > Xamarin.Forms Previewer

UPDATE: But it looks like that it does not show anything from my XAML!

Answer 2

Xamarin Studio does include a XAML previewer, I've been using it for awhile now.

https://developer.xamarin.com/guides/xamarin-forms/xaml/xaml-previewer/

Answer 3

Update 30 Sept 2016:

Using the latest version of Xamarin you can use the following steps:

Use the View > Other Windows > Xamarin.Forms Previewer menu in Visual Studio to open the preview window. Use the Window > New Vertical Tab Group menu to position it side-by-side like the image below:

Note that:

The previewer requires that the project be built before rendering a page. If the error 'Invalid XAML' appears at the top of the preview pane, re-build the application and try again.

Source

Old Answer for reference to other solutions:

The Xamarin.Forms Previewer is currently only available in Xamarin Studio in the Alpha channel. Follow these instructions to change the update channel.

Currently there is no official Xamarin Forms UI previewer for visual studio. However in the last Xamarin Evolve 2016, Xamarin announced that they are working on a designer that will be released. It is to be announced.

Xamarin recently released a Xamarin Previewer, for Xamarin Studio only (Visual Studio to come later) that lets you preview XAML on iOS and Android. This is currently in preview and available via the Alpha channel (29th April 2016). I will try to remember to update this once it comes out for Visual Studio.

As an unofficial alternatives, you can try:

Gorilla Player

Answer 4

I left here my impressions after my own research on the topic, having tried:

1. Xamarin's Previewer
2. Xamarin Forms Player
3. Gorilla Player

Bottom line:

I decided to go with Gorilla Player. The only one that really worked with me - although it has the limitation of working with XAML only - meaning you are forced to code your UI using XAML.

Answer 5

The Xamarin.Forms Previewer is available in the stable channel as a Preview.

Projects require the latest Xamarin.Forms NuGet package for the XAML Previewer to work.

Open Android SDK Manager and update SDK Tools and Platform-Tools

Rebuild solution and create new xaml page.

In Visual Studio: Use the View > Other Windows > Xamarin.Forms Previewer menu to open the preview window. Et voilà

https://developer.xamarin.com/guides/xamarin-forms/xaml/xaml-previewer/