Dependency injection in xamarin form using AutoFac

Brief: Here we will learn how to add constructor Dependency Injection in xamarin.form using AutoFac

What is Dependency injection?

Before getting into any definition let us look into a simple example, For xamarin form application

whenever we need to get the native functionalities ( Check internet connectivity, Location,Camera

and any device details etc) Dependency injection is the best way to get the solution.

In my previous post explained  Android Keystore based Encryption and Decryption in Xamarin Android, ReOrder the list items by drag and drop in xamarin android, Custom Image Gallery Control using Xamarin Form

In below example shown how to launch phone dialer from xamarin form project. 

Platform specific UI changes in Xamarin.Form

Brief: Walkthrough on the options available in xamarin form for changing UI element behaviour for specific platform.

Description: Xamarin form wrapper UI controls when it renders in each platform shows the native look and feel but still there are some quirks that has to be worked around to get the UI perfection.

For example if i add one label in my xamal page and on run in android and iOS shows the below output:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<ContentPage xmlns="http://xamarin.com/schemas/2014/forms" xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2009/xaml" xmlns:local="clr-namespace:CodeLog" x:Class="CodeLog.CodeLogPage">
<RelativeLayout HorizontalOptions="FillAndExpand"  >
    <Label Text="Code Log" 
          FontSize="25" 
          FontFamily="Roboto-Bold" 
          HorizontalTextAlignment="Center" 
   HorizontalOptions="FillAndExpand" />  
</RelativeLayout>
</ContentPage>

In iOS label has been overlapped with toolbar. So alone for iOS we need add To padding(Tool bar height 20px).

This kind of changes for particular platform can be achieved by using the below mentioned approaches without using the Custom renderer.

1.Using a generic class OnPlatform
2.PlatformConfiguration(https://blog.xamarin.com/bringing-platform-specific-functionality-to-xamarin-forms-apps/)
3.Bindable Native Views in Xamal page (https://blog.xamarin.com/adding-bindable-native-views-directly-to-xaml/)
4.customisation with effects(https://blog.xamarin.com/customizing-xamarin-forms-controls-with-effects/)
In this article i will be making use of the OnPlatform for different UI control properties. From Xamarin.Forms version 2.3.4, Device.OnPlatform API has been deprecated with OnPlatform and On APIs.

 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<ContentPage xmlns="http://xamarin.com/schemas/2014/forms" xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2009/xaml" xmlns:local="clr-namespace:CodeLog" x:Class="CodeLog.CodeLogPage">
<RelativeLayout HorizontalOptions="FillAndExpand"  >
  <RelativeLayout.Margin>
    <OnPlatform x:TypeArguments="Thickness">
      <On Platform="iOS" Value="0,20,0,0" />
      <On Platform="Android, WinPhone, Windows" Value="0,0,0,0" />
    </OnPlatform>
  </RelativeLayout.Margin>
    <Label Text="Code Log" FontSize="25" FontFamily="Roboto-Bold" HorizontalTextAlignment="Center" 
  HorizontalOptions="FillAndExpand" />  
</RelativeLayout>
</ContentPage> 

Platform specific Text color:

 <Label Text="Code Log" FontSize="18" FontAttributes="Bold"  FontFamily="Roboto-Bold" XAlign="Center"  HorizontalTextAlignment="Center" 
 HorizontalOptions="FillAndExpand"
 RelativeLayout.WidthConstraint="{ConstraintExpression Type=RelativeToParent, Property=Width, Factor=1}"> 
  <Label.TextColor>
    <OnPlatform x:TypeArguments="Color" iOS="Red" Android="Blue"  />
     </Label.TextColor> 
   </Label>  

Using Google Geocoding and Reverse Geocoding API in Xamarin

In brief: Normally native developers prefers native api (Geocoder in android) for Geocoding and reverse geocoding, but to target the cross-platform implementation i think google geocoding is the better option.

In my previous post written on Integration of google map v2 in xamaron android, Avoiding deprecated google map api,Best Practice and issues with ListView in Android Xamarin, How to use Google Place API with Autocomplete in Xamarin Android, Integrating Google Account in Xamarin.Android,Avoiding ImageBitmap OutOfMemoryException and Rounded corner Image in android Xamarin.

Login by google account integration for Xamarin.Android and Xamarin.iOS

Brief: 
Google Account integration to the app, helps for the user authentication using their existing Google account and fetch profile information like email id,name and profile pic etc.
UPDATE: Mar 10,2017: It seems that google has been stopped webview approach for native applications. You can refer the solution provided by the xamarin doc.