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

Microsoft unveiled .NET 11 Preview 7, featuring notable enhancements to .NET MAUI. The update introduces cross-platform passkey authentication, an incremental XAML Hot Reload, Shell route templates, and additional AOT-safe bindings. Notably, the Passkeys API in MAUI Essentials facilitates native passkey experience on Android 14+, iOS, Mac Catalyst, and supported Windows 10 versions.

Applications can register credentials with Passkeys.CreateAsync, authenticate using Passkeys.AssertAsync, and verify support via Passkeys.IsSupported. The new XAML Incremental Hot Reload feature, default for Debug builds, saves development time by modifying existing XAML pages rather than rebuilding them entirely. Shell navigation now supports route templates with segment types like required, optional, default, constrained, catch-all, and mixed, streamlining navigation development.

The XAML source generator has expanded AOT capabilities, enabling trim-safe TypedBinding instances for certain bindings. Additionally, MAUI continues its migration from legacy renderers to handlers on Apple platforms, with NavigationPage and TabbedPage using handlers by default on iOS and Mac Catalyst. Platform-specific updates include Window.StatusBarTheme, direct media capture to the system gallery, and single-instance activation support on Windows.

Android developers benefit from the default FastDeploy2 strategy, while iOS and tvOS users can Hot Reload applications via dotnet watch over USB or Wi-Fi. .NET 11 Preview 7 is available for installation via the .NET 11 Preview SDK, with comprehensive feature details and migration guidance provided in Microsoft's announcement and the MAUI Preview 7 release notes.