{"id":3058,"date":"2025-12-15T18:24:05","date_gmt":"2025-12-15T18:24:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rssfeedtelegrambot.bnaya.co.il\/index.php\/2025\/12\/15\/how-to-build-ios-widgets-with-net-maui\/"},"modified":"2025-12-15T18:24:05","modified_gmt":"2025-12-15T18:24:05","slug":"how-to-build-ios-widgets-with-net-maui","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rssfeedtelegrambot.bnaya.co.il\/index.php\/2025\/12\/15\/how-to-build-ios-widgets-with-net-maui\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Build iOS Widgets with .NET MAUI"},"content":{"rendered":"
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This is a guest blog from Toine de Boer<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

I\u2019m a .NET developer primarily focused on .NET MAUI to ASP.NET backend services. Because I recently have worked a lot with Widgets and encountered many obstacles and very limited documentation in the initial phase, I decided to write this article to show that it is absolutely possible to build complete Widgets with .NET MAUI. And to do so in a professional way comparable to using the native development environment, without having to fear that everything might break with every new build or update.<\/p>\n

This isn\u2019t a hands-on tutorial; instead, these are the biggest and most important parts in order of how to tackle the biggest obstacles when building an iOS widget. It\u2019s advisable to have some experience with .NET MAUI or Xamarin, and access to macOS is required, as creating an iOS Widget without macOS unfortunately isn\u2019t possible. You can cherry\u2011pick what you think you need, but I recommend reading from start to finish or you may miss small details that keep the Widget from working. The text starts with creating a simple static widget, and ends with a basic system for a fully interactive widget.<\/p>\n

To help you get started quickly, I have created a fully functional interactive widget, which is available on
\ngithub > Maui.WidgetExample<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Screenshot<\/p>\n\n

\n

<\/i>Note<\/strong><\/p>\n

iOS Widgets are standalone apps that are linked to a host app. For simplicity I mostly refer to the .NET MAUI app as the \u2018app\u2019 and the Widget app as the \u2018Widget\u2019.<\/p><\/div>\n

Prerequisites<\/h2>\n

Before we begin we need a few things from Apple\u2019s developer console. Besides the Bundle ID of your existing app you also need a Bundle ID for your Widget. If your app uses com.enbyin.WidgetExample<\/code> then conventionally you append something for a Widget such as com.enbyin.WidgetExample.WidgetExtension<\/code>. Additionally, both Bundle IDs need the App Groups capability with a dedicated group. Create a Group ID by prefixing the app Bundle ID with group<\/code>, for example group.enbyin.WidgetExample<\/code>.<\/p>\n

For demo purposes I created a default .NET MAUI app targeting only iOS and Android. I set the iOS target to the newly created Bundle ID com.enbyin.WidgetExample<\/code>. I also added a very noticeable app icon so we can easily observe if the correct icon has been used on the Widget screens.<\/p>\n

Creating the Widget project<\/h2>\n

Let\u2019s begin with the biggest step for me as a .NET developer: working on Xcode and Swift. After creating the projects in Xcode, I can recommend to switch to VS Code and pair with Copilot to iterate quickly. You can have a solid small app set up quickly while following Apple\u2019s conventions.<\/p>\n

I begin in Xcode by creating an app project using the App template using Swift coding. This serves as the base project to which I attach the actual Widget extension, and optionally, I can use it for some light testing. I give it the same Bundle ID as the .NET MAUI app has; reusing a Bundle ID is not a problem because this almost empty Xcode app will never ship.<\/p>\n

\"Creating<\/p>\n

With the app project in place, create the Widget extension next. In Xcode go to File > New > Target and choose the Widget Extension<\/code> template. Pick a name that already uses the correct Bundle ID for the widget so you avoid later edits. To simplify generating sample data select the Include Configuration App Intent<\/code> option; this gives a working widget immediately.<\/p>\n

\"Creating<\/p>\n

When all projects are created I always align the desired iOS version, make sure it is the same for all Xcode targets. To check this just tap the solution name to open the solution settings in the main window, then set for all targets on tab \u2018General\u2019 under \u2018Minimum Deployments iOS version\u2019. Now give it a trial run on a device using Product > Build in XCode.<\/p>\n

Objects and flows inside the Widget<\/h3>\n

Creating the Widget project in XCode generates many objects. Understandably it is overwhelming at first, especially because almost everything is placed into one file. Therefore I always start by refactoring: moving every object into its own file and add some folder structure. You can do this without penalty because Swift does not really use namespaces; everything inside this project effectively falls under the same namespace regardless of folder structure.<\/p>\n

After refactoring the flow is actually straightforward. Here are the main objects, functions and their roles:<\/p>\n