.NET 11 Preview 7 Introduces Passkeys, Incremental XAML Hot Reload, and Shell Route Templates to MAUI

Passkey Authentication Integration

The .NET 11 Preview 7 release introduces a new Passkeys API within MAUI Essentials. This API enables native passkey experiences on Android 14+, iOS and Mac Catalyst 16+, and supported Windows 10 versions. Applications can use `Passkeys.CreateAsync` for credential registration and `Passkeys.AssertAsync` for authentication, with `Passkeys.IsSupported` to check platform compatibility.

Incremental XAML Hot Reload

A new incremental XAML Hot Reload feature is now available as a preview, enabled by default for Debug builds. This implementation uses a source generator with `MetadataUpdateHandler` to modify existing pages without a full rebuild. It supports changes to properties, child elements, structural reordering, attached properties, markup extensions, bindings, and `ResourceDictionary` updates, and works with `dotnet watch`.

Enhanced Shell Navigation

Shell navigation in MAUI now supports route templates, drawing inspiration from ASP.NET Core and Blazor routing concepts. Routes can include required, optional, default, constrained, catch-all, and mixed segments, such as `product/{sku}`. Parameter values are handled through existing `QueryProperty` and `IQueryAttributable` mechanisms. Currently, template routes only support absolute navigation.

AOT Compilation Improvements

The XAML source generator has expanded its Ahead-of-Time (AOT) compilation capabilities. `RelativeSource AncestorType=...` bindings can now compile into trim-safe `TypedBinding` instances when MAUI can resolve the ancestor type at compile time. This improvement helps avoid reflection-based string paths, contributing to more efficient and trim-safe applications.