Xamarin Monkeys: December 2020

In this blog post, you will learn how to Open Play Store or App Store in XamarinApp.

Introduction

Xamarin.Forms code runs on multiple platforms - each of which has its own filesystem. This means that reading and writing files is most easily done using the native file APIs on each platform. Alternatively, embedded resources are a simpler solution to distribute data files with an app.

Prerequisites

Visual Studio 2017 or later (Windows or Mac)

Setting up a Xamarin.Forms Project

Start by creating a new Xamarin.Forms project. You wíll learn more by going through the steps yourself.

Create a new or existing Xamarin forms(.Net standard) Project. With Android and iOS Platform.

Note: Your app must be live in App store and Playstore

Android

Here, you need the Android app id Ex:com.twitter.android.

I'm using twitter for this sample.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.twitter.android

Code

	if (Device.RuntimePlatform == Device.Android)
	{
	url = "https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.twitter.android";
	await Browser.OpenAsync(url, BrowserLaunchMode.External);
	}

view raw Android.cs hosted with ❤ by GitHub

iOS

Here, you need AppName and AppId with location you will get appname and aped from apple developer connect.

https://apps.apple.com/in/app/twitter/id333903271

Code

	var location = RegionInfo.CurrentRegion.Name.ToLower();
	if (Device.RuntimePlatform == Device.iOS)
	{
	url = "https://itunes.apple.com/" + location + "/app/twitter/id333903271?mt=8";
	await Browser.OpenAsync(url, BrowserLaunchMode.External);
	}

view raw iOS.cs hosted with ❤ by GitHub

Simple UI

MainPage.xaml

	<?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:d="http://xamarin.com/schemas/2014/forms/design"
	xmlns:mc="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/markup-compatibility/2006"
	xmlns:TitleView="clr-namespace:XamarinApp.CustomView"
	mc:Ignorable="d" x:Class="XamarinApp.MainPage">

	<NavigationPage.TitleView>
	<TitleView:TitleView/>
	</NavigationPage.TitleView>

	<StackLayout Margin="0,100,0,0" VerticalOptions="StartAndExpand">
	<Image VerticalOptions="Center" Source="xamarinmonkeysbanner.png"/>

	<Button Text="Update your app" Clicked="Button_Clicked" />

	</StackLayout>
	</ContentPage>

view raw MainPage.xaml hosted with ❤ by GitHub

Full Source Code

MainPage.xaml.cs

	using System;
	using System.Collections.Generic;
	using System.ComponentModel;
	using System.Globalization;
	using System.Linq;
	using System.Text;
	using System.Threading.Tasks;
	using Xamarin.Essentials;
	using Xamarin.Forms;

	namespace XamarinApp
	{
	// Learn more about making custom code visible in the Xamarin.Forms previewer
	// by visiting https://aka.ms/xamarinforms-previewer
	[DesignTimeVisible(false)]
	public partial class MainPage : ContentPage
	{
	public MainPage()
	{
	InitializeComponent();
	}

	async void Button_Clicked(System.Object sender, System.EventArgs e)
	{

	string url = string.Empty;
	var location = RegionInfo.CurrentRegion.Name.ToLower();
	if (Device.RuntimePlatform == Device.Android)
	url = "https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.twitter.android";
	else if (Device.RuntimePlatform == Device.iOS)
	url = "https://itunes.apple.com/" + location + "/app/twitter/id333903271?mt=8";
	await Browser.OpenAsync(url, BrowserLaunchMode.External);
	}


	}
	}

view raw MainPage.xaml.cs hosted with ❤ by GitHub

Alternate way

You can use Lancher.OpenAsync also for opening App Store and Play store.

Launcher.OpenAsync(new Uri("https://itunes.apple.com/in/app/facebook/id284882215?mt=8"));

view raw Launcher.cs hosted with ❤ by GitHub

Using Dependency Service

Interface

	using System;
	namespace XamarinApp
	{
	public interface IOpenAppStore
	{

	void OpenAppStore();
	}
	}

view raw IOpenAppStore.cs hosted with ❤ by GitHub

iOS Implementation

Below sample code for open App store in App iOS.

	[assembly:Dependency(typeof(AppStoreImplementation))]
	namespace XamarinApp.iOS
	{
	public class AppStoreImplementation : IOpenAppStore
	{
	public void OpenAppStore()
	{
	Device.OpenUri(new Uri("https://itunes.apple.com/in/app/facebook/id284882215?mt=8"));
	}

	}
	}

view raw AppStoreImplementation.cs hosted with ❤ by GitHub

Android Implementation

Below sample code for open play store in App android.

	[assembly:Dependency(typeof(AppStoreImplementation))]
	namespace XamarinApp.Android
	{
	public class AppStoreImplementation : IOpenAppStore
	{
	public void OpenAppStore()
	{
	Device.OpenUri(new Uri("https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.twitter.android"));
	}

	}
	}