The App Center SDK uses a modular architecture so you can use any or all of the services.

Let's get started with setting up App Center .NET SDK in your app to use App Center Analytics and App Center Crashes. To add App Center Distribute to your app, have a look at thedocumentation for App Center Distribute.

1. Prerequisites

Before you begin, make sure that the following prerequisites are met:

• Your project is set up in Visual Studio or Visual Studio for Mac.
• You're targeting devices running iOS 11.0 or later or Android 5.0 (API level 21) or later.
• You're not using any other SDK that provides Crash Reporting functionality.

Supported platforms:

• MAUI iOS
• MAUI Android
• MAUI Windows
• .NET 6.0 macOS
• Xamarin.Android
• Xamarin.iOS
• Xamarin.Mac
• Xamarin.Forms (iOS, macOS Android, UWP and Windows Desktop applications)

1.1 MAUI

1.2 About Xamarin.Android

Create an app on the App Center portal with theAndroid as the OS andXamarin as the platform.

1.3 About Xamarin.iOS

Create an app on the App Center portal withiOS as the OS andXamarin as the platform.

1.4 About Xamarin.Mac

Create an app on the App Center portal withmacOS as the OS andXamarin as the platform.

1.5 About Xamarin.Forms (iOS, macOS, Android, UWP and Windows Desktop)

Create 5 apps on the App Center – one for each OS.

You need to selectXamarin as the platform for Android, iOS and macOS applications (UWP and Desktop applications doesn't have a Xamarin option).

For theWindows Desktop andmacOS applications you have to configure your project for compatibility with theXamarin.Forms platform.

2. Create your app in the App Center Portal to obtain the App Secret

If you've already created your app in the App Center portal, you can skip this step.

1. Head over toappcenter.ms.
2. Sign up or log in and hit the blue button on the top right corner of the portal that saysAdd new and selectAdd new app from the dropdown menu.
3. Enter a name and an optional description for your app.
4. Select the appropriate OS and platform depending on your project as described above.
5. Hit the button at the bottom right that saysAdd new app.

Once you've created an app, you can obtain itsApp Secret on theSettings page on the App Center Portal. At the top right hand corner of theSettings page, click on thetriple vertical dots and selectCopy app secret to get your App Secret.

3. Add the App Center SDK to your solution

The App Center SDK can be integrated using Visual Studio or the Package Manager Console.

Visual Studio for Mac

• Open Visual Studio.
• ClickFile >Open and choose your solution.
• In the solution navigator, right-click thePackages section, and chooseAdd NuGet packages....
• Search forApp Center, and selectApp Center Analytics andApp Center Crashes.
• ClickAdd Packages.

Visual Studio for Windows

• Open Visual Studio.
• ClickFile >Open and choose your solution.
• In the solution navigator, right-clickReferences and chooseManage NuGet Packages.
• Search forApp Center, and installMicrosoft.AppCenter.Analytics andMicrosoft.AppCenter.Crashes packages.

Package Manager Console

• Open the console inVisual Studio. To do this, chooseTools >NuGet Package Manager >Package Manager Console.
• If you're working inVisual Studio for Mac, make sure you've installedNuGet Package Management Extensions. For this, chooseVisual Studio >Extensions, search forNuGet and install, if necessary.
• Type the following command in the console:

Install-Package Microsoft.AppCenter.AnalyticsInstall-Package Microsoft.AppCenter.Crashes

Now that you've integrated the SDK in your application, it's time to start the SDK and make use of the App Center services.

4. Start the SDK

To use App Center, you must opt in to the module(s) that you want to use. By default, no modules are started and you must explicitly call each of them when starting the SDK.

4.1 Add the using statements

Add the appropriate namespaces in the following files:

• MAUI andXamarin.Forms -App.xaml.cs
• Xamarin.iOS andXamarin.Mac -AppDelegate.cs
• Xamarin.Android -MainActivity.cs

using Microsoft.AppCenter;using Microsoft.AppCenter.Analytics;using Microsoft.AppCenter.Crashes;

4.2 Add theStart() method

4.2.1 MAUI and Xamarin.Forms

You need to create different applications for each platform on the App Center portal. For each app you will have a different app secret. Open the project'sApp.xaml.cs file and add the following line in the constructor (or in theOnStart() method for Xamarin.Forms).

AppCenter.Start("ios={Your App Secret};macos={Your App Secret};android={Your App Secret};uwp={Your App Secret};windowsdesktop={Your App Secret}", typeof(Analytics), typeof(Crashes));

If you need to start App Center services separately, you should:

1. Configure or start it with the App Secret.
2. If the code can be called multiple times, check if the App Center is already configured.
3. Start the required service(s) without the App Secret.

AppCenter.Configure("ios={Your App Secret};macos={Your App Secret};android={Your App Secret};uwp={Your App Secret};windowsdesktop={Your App Secret}");if (AppCenter.Configured){    AppCenter.Start(typeof(Analytics));    AppCenter.Start(typeof(Crashes));}

4.2.2 Xamarin.Android

Open the project'sMainActivity.cs file and add theStart() call inside theOnCreate() method

AppCenter.Start("{Your App Secret}", typeof(Analytics), typeof(Crashes));

4.2.3 Xamarin.iOS and Xamarin.Mac

Open the project'sAppDelegate.cs file and add theStart() call inside theFinishedLaunching() method

AppCenter.Start("{Your App Secret}", typeof(Analytics), typeof(Crashes));

4.3 Replace the placeholder with your App Secret

Make sure to replace{Your App Secret} text with the actual value for your application. The App Secret can be found on theGetting Started page orSettings page on the App Center portal.

The Getting Started page contains the above code sample with your App Secret in it, you can copy-paste the whole sample.

The example above shows how to use theStart() method and include both App Center Analytics and App Center Crashes.

If you don't want to use one of the two services, remove the corresponding parameter from the method call above.

Unless you explicitly specify each module as parameters in the start method, you can't use that App Center service. In addition, theStart() API can be used only once in the lifecycle of your app – all other calls will log a warning to the console and only the modules included in the first call will be available.

For example - If you want to onboard to App Center Analytics, you should modify theStart() call as follows:

4.3.1 MAUI and Xamarin.Forms

AppCenter.Start("ios={Your App Secret};macos={Your App Secret};android={Your App Secret};uwp={Your App Secret};windowsdesktop={Your App Secret}", typeof(Analytics));

4.3.2 Xamarin Native

AppCenter.Start("{Your App Secret}", typeof(Analytics));

Great, you're all set to visualize Analytics and Crashes data on the portal that the SDK collects automatically.

Look at the documentation forApp Center Analytics andApp Center Crashes to learn how to customize and use more advanced functionalities of both services.

To learn how to get started with in-app updates, read the documentation ofApp Center Distribute.

5. Backup rules (Android only)

If you use auto-backup to avoid getting incorrect information about devices, follow the next steps:

5.1. For Android 11 (API level 30) or lower.

1. Createappcenter_backup_rule.xml file in theResources/xml folder.

2. Open the project’sAndroidManifest.xml file. Add theandroid:fullBackupContent attribute to the<application> element. It should point to theappcenter_backup_rule.xml resource file.

android:fullBackupContent="@xml/appcenter_backup_rule"

3. Add the following backup rules to theappcenter_backup_rule.xml file:

<full-backup-content xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools">      <exclude domain="sharedpref" path="AppCenter.xml"/>      <exclude domain="database" path="com.microsoft.appcenter.persistence"/>      <exclude domain="database" path="com.microsoft.appcenter.persistence-journal"/>      <exclude domain="file" path="error" tools:ignore="FullBackupContent"/>      <exclude domain="file" path="appcenter" tools:ignore="FullBackupContent"/>  </full-backup-content>

5.2. For Android 12 (API level 31) or higher.

1. Createappcenter_backup_rule.xml file in theResources/xml folder.

2. Open the project’sAndroidManifest.xml file. Add theandroid:dataExtractionRules attribute to the<application> element. It should point to theappcenter_backup_rule.xml resource file.

android:dataExtractionRules="@xml/appcenter_backup_rule"

3. Add the following backup rules to theappcenter_backup_rule.xml file:

<data-extraction-rules xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools">    <cloud-backup>        <exclude domain="sharedpref" path="AppCenter.xml"/>        <exclude domain="database" path="com.microsoft.appcenter.persistence"/>        <exclude domain="database" path="com.microsoft.appcenter.persistence-journal"/>        <exclude domain="file" path="error" tools:ignore="FullBackupContent"/>        <exclude domain="file" path="appcenter" tools:ignore="FullBackupContent"/>    </cloud-backup>    <device-transfer>        <exclude domain="sharedpref" path="AppCenter.xml"/>        <exclude domain="database" path="com.microsoft.appcenter.persistence"/>        <exclude domain="database" path="com.microsoft.appcenter.persistence-journal"/>        <exclude domain="file" path="error" tools:ignore="FullBackupContent"/>        <exclude domain="file" path="appcenter" tools:ignore="FullBackupContent"/>    </device-transfer></data-extraction-rules>