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Introduction

Mobile application development has been revolutionized with cross-platform development frameworks such as Xamarin and Uno Platform. Xamarin Forms Shell Navigation and Uno Platform Extensions Navigation are two of the most popular navigation frameworks for building cross-platform mobile applications. Both of these frameworks provide powerful navigation features, but there are some key differences between them that make them better suited for different types of applications. In this blog post, we will compare Xamarin Forms Shell Navigation and Uno Platform Extensions Navigation and see how they differ.

Xamarin Forms Shell Navigation

Xamarin Forms Shell Navigation is a navigation framework introduced in Xamarin Forms 4.0. It provides a new way to structure and navigate your Xamarin Forms applications. Xamarin Forms Shell Navigation offers several benefits, such as reducing boilerplate code, providing a consistent UI, and making it easier to navigate between pages.

Xamarin Forms Shell Navigation is based on the concept of a Shell, which is a container that holds all of the pages in your application. The Shell provides several built-in features, such as a flyout menu, a bottom tab bar, and a top tab bar. To use Xamarin Forms Shell Navigation, you simply define your pages in XAML and use the Shell.Current.GoToAsync method to navigate between pages.

The following code example shows how to use Xamarin Forms Shell Navigation to navigate between pages in a Xamarin Forms application.

Uno Platform Extensions Navigation

Uno Platform Extensions Navigation is a navigation framework for the Uno Platform. It provides a consistent way to navigate between pages in an Uno Platform application. Unlike Xamarin Forms Shell Navigation, Uno Platform Extensions Navigation is not built into the framework and must be added as a NuGet package.

Uno Platform Extensions Navigation provides several features, such as a navigation stack, navigation parameters, and a navigation service. The navigation stack is used to keep track of all of the pages that have been visited, and navigation parameters are used to pass data between pages. The navigation service provides an API for navigating between pages and is responsible for managing the navigation stack.

The following code example shows how to use Uno Platform Extensions Navigation to navigate between pages in an Uno Platform application.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Xamarin Forms Shell Navigation and Uno Platform Extensions Navigation are great navigation frameworks for building cross-platform mobile applications. Xamarin Forms Shell Navigation provides a built-in navigation framework that reduces boilerplate code and provides a consistent UI. Uno Platform Extensions Navigation provides a flexible navigation framework that can be customized to fit the needs of your application. Both frameworks offer features that make navigating between pages in your application easier. Ultimately, the choice between Xamarin Forms Shell Navigation and Uno Platform Extensions Navigation will depend on the specific needs of your application.