.NET 11 Preview 6 Updates MAUI CollectionView for Windows and Android Shell

Modernizing MAUI's UI Components

.NET 11 Preview 6 introduces CollectionView2 (CV2) for Windows, aligning it with existing CV2 implementations on Android, iOS, and Mac Catalyst. This new Windows handler utilizes WinUI’s ItemsRepeater, supporting features like grouping, selection, headers and footers, and incremental loading.

The update also re-implements Shell on Android using standard MAUI handlers (ShellHandler, ShellItemHandler, and ShellSectionHandler). This replaces older renderer-based classes, sharing components with FlyoutViewHandler and TabbedPage, though iOS and Mac Catalyst retain their existing Shell renderers.

Architectural and Performance Improvements

A key focus of the .NET 11 development cycle is replacing Xamarin.Forms-era infrastructure with platform handlers and source-generated code. Preview 6 continues this modernization, removing a migration package intended for Xamarin.Forms applications.

For hybrid applications, HybridWebView JavaScript interop now uses a source generator instead of reflection. This change eliminates trimming and AOT warnings, enabling the control to function in fully trimmed and Native AOT applications.

New Features and Reliability Enhancements

The release adds a MinimumDistance property to GeolocationListeningRequest, allowing applications to request location notifications only after a specified movement. Android applications also gain opt-in MediaPicker result recovery, providing APIs to retrieve, wait for, or clear media results if the application process is terminated and recreated.