How to Install and Run a Xamarin App on an M2 Mac (2025)
Hi everyone, I'm a Java developer and I recently changed jobs but I'm really struggling. There's a legacy mobile app in Xamarin here, and I'm getting some tasks to work on it, but I just can't get it to run on my Mac because Visual Studio no longer works. š
I recently bought this Mac (M2 chip) and didnāt expect this issue. Is there any way to get a Xamarin app running on macOS in 2025?
Any help would mean a lot š
14 Replies
Is it just the compiled app, or are we talking code you need to compile and all that jazz?
If the latter, what's the .NET version it uses?
Xamarin is Mono.
@ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ & @wasabi
Actually, I have code that needs to be compiled, thereās no APK.
I need to run it locally using the emulator to perform tests and be able to compile it as well, but itās my first time working with mobile and Iām having trouble.
It uses .net 6ā¦
Unknown Userā¢2mo ago
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@TeBeCo
I donāt need to compile for iOS, only Android thatās whatās been giving me trouble.
Unknown Userā¢2mo ago
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It just makes little sense for a Java developer (not even Android one) to work on a deprecated Xamarin.Android project (which is end of life). More expertise is required to migrate it to .NET Android/.NET MAUI. So, you are asking for a lot of help actually, which often requires several weeks of consultation (and a reasonable amount of money).
Unknown Userā¢2mo ago
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@TeBeCo Yes, I think I didnāt express myself well in the title.
But the truth is, the company I recently joined still uses these deprecated versions because itās a consulting company, and the client didnāt want to pay for the migration to .NET MAUI.
Since I was hired as a full-stack developer, these mobile-related tasks ended up falling to me ā even though Iāve never worked with mobile before and Iām really struggling with it.
Itās been confusing and frustrating.
@Lex Li About it not making sense, you're absolutely right, it really doesnāt.
I joined the company to work as a Java developer, but you know how it goes ā during the interview they sell you a dream, and once you're in, all the companyās issues start to show.
By then, itās too late to say no to the tasks they start assigning to you.
Unknown Userā¢2mo ago
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True, tks for your help guys, i appreciate that
Unknown Userā¢2mo ago
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Yeah, I might need to run a VM on the Mac, it doesnāt really make sense to switch computers just to handle a few tasks in this app, especially since there are other developers working on it too.
The codebase is quite largeā¦ it's an app thatās over 10 years old, with a lot of stuff in it. Right now, most of the work is just maintenance, fixing bugs and handling user-reported incidents.
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