Getting Started for the .NET Package

We provide native binding packages for iOS and Android, and cross-platform .NET packages for core functionality and features:

• Airship Native Bindings: The native bindings contain all the functionality of the iOS/Android SDKs, but provide no cross-platform interface. They can be found under the UrbanAirship namespace for Android and the Airship namespace for iOS.
• Airship .NET Library: The Airship.Net package exposes a common subset of functionality between the iOS and Android SDKs. This library can be used within shared codebases (e.g., a .NET MAUI app).
• Airship .NET MessageCenter Library: The Airship.Net.MessageCenter package exposes a custom message view control that can be used to display Message Center messages in shared codebases.

Setup

Before you begin, set up Push and any other Airship features for Mobile. The .NET bindings, like the SDKs that they wrap, are platform-specific, so this would be a good time to familiarize yourself with the SDK APIs and features for each platform you wish to target.

Android Integration

The following packages are available for Android integration with .NET MAUI.

Android Packages

Push Provider

The Airship SDK for Android is split into modules which allow you to choose the push providers included in your application. You must install at least one push provider in your Android app. You can install more than one provider.

Add the packages directly to your .csproj file by editing it and adding the appropriate PackageReference entries. Here’s an example showing how to add the FCM push provider along with common feature modules:

<ItemGroup Condition="'$(TargetFramework)' == 'net8.0-android'">
  <PackageReference Include="Airship.Net.Android.Core" Version="19.13.6" />
  <PackageReference Include="Airship.Net.Android.Fcm" Version="19.13.6" />
  <PackageReference Include="Airship.Net.Android.Automation" Version="19.13.6" />
  <PackageReference Include="Airship.Net.Android.MessageCenter" Version="19.13.6" />
  <PackageReference Include="Airship.Net.Android.PreferenceCenter" Version="19.13.6" />
  <PackageReference Include="Airship.Net.Android.Layout" Version="19.13.6" />
</ItemGroup>

Airship Config

Airship config options are a convenient way to pass custom settings to your app without needing to edit the source code. By default, the Airship SDK loads these settings from the airshipconfig.properties file located in your application’s Assets directory for the Android platform. In the default MAUI single-project structure, this should be located at Platforms/Android/Assets. You may need to create the Assets directory, if it doesn’t already exist.

Use this file, among other things, to set the backend credentials for your app, and to toggle between development and production builds. In order for this file to be visible to the SDK during TakeOff, be sure that its Build Action is set to AndroidAsset in your app project.

developmentAppKey = Your Development App Key
developmentAppSecret = Your Development App Secret

productionAppKey = Your Production App Key
productionAppSecret = Your Production Secret

 # Toggles between the development and production app credentials
 # Before submitting your application to an app store set to true
inProduction = false

 # LogLevel is "VERBOSE", "DEBUG", "INFO", "WARN", "ERROR" or "ASSERT"
developmentLogLevel = DEBUG
productionLogLevel = ERROR

 # Notification customization
notificationIcon = ic_notification
notificationAccentColor = #ff0000

The airshipconfig.properties file should be placed in Platforms/Android/Assets/ and its Build Action should be set to AndroidAsset in the properties panel.

EU Cloud Site

If your app uses Airship’s EU cloud site, you will need to add that to airshipconfig.properties.

# EU Cloud Site
site = EU

FCM-specific instructions

Follow FCM Android Setup  and FCM Push Provider Setup to configure your application to use FCM.

For MAUI apps, ensure your google-services.json file is placed in Platforms/Android/ with Build Action set to GoogleServicesJson.

TakeOff

Create a class that extends Autopilot in Platforms/Android and register your Autopilot in the Android AssemblyInfo.cs file to generate the required metadata in the AndroidManifest.xml file. If needed, create a new AssemblyInfo.cs file in the Platforms/Android/Properties/ directory.

using UrbanAirship;

namespace ExampleApp;

[Register("com.example.SampleAutopilot")]
public class SampleAutopilot : Autopilot
{

  public override void OnAirshipReady(UAirship airship)
  {
    // perform any post takeOff airship customizations
  }

  public override AirshipConfigOptions CreateAirshipConfigOptions(Context context)
  {
    /* Optionally set your config at runtime
    AirshipConfigOptions options = new AirshipConfigOptions.Builder()
         .SetInProduction(!BuildConfig.DEBUG)
         .SetDevelopmentAppKey("Your Development App Key")
         .SetDevelopmentAppSecret("Your Development App Secret")
         .SetProductionAppKey("Your Production App Key")
         .SetProductionAppSecret("Your Production App Secret")
         .SetNotificationAccentColor(ContextCompat.getColor(this, R.color.color_accent))
         .SetNotificationIcon(R.drawable.ic_notification)
         .Build();
    return options;
    */
    return base.CreateAirshipConfigOptions(context);
  }
}

using Android.App;

[assembly: MetaData("com.urbanairship.autopilot", Value = "com.example.SampleAutopilot")]

using UrbanAirship;

namespace ExampleApp;

[Activity(Theme = "@style/Maui.SplashTheme", MainLauncher = true,
          ConfigurationChanges = ConfigChanges.ScreenSize | ConfigChanges.Orientation |
                                ConfigChanges.UiMode | ConfigChanges.ScreenLayout |
                                ConfigChanges.SmallestScreenSize | ConfigChanges.Density)]
public class MainActivity : MauiAppCompatActivity
{
    protected override void OnCreate (Bundle savedInstanceState)
    {
        Autopilot.AutomaticTakeOff(this.ApplicationContext);

        //...
    }
}

iOS Integration

The following packages are available for iOS integration with .NET MAUI.

iOS Packages

The Airship .NET component comes with full native bindings for the iOS SDK via the Airship.Net.iOS.ObjectiveC package.

Add the iOS package directly to your .csproj file by editing it and adding the appropriate PackageReference entry:

<ItemGroup Condition="'$(TargetFramework)' == 'net8.0-ios'">
  <PackageReference Include="Airship.Net.iOS.ObjectiveC" Version="19.11.5" />
</ItemGroup>

Airship Config

Provide an AirshipConfig.plist file with the application’s configuration in the Platforms/iOS folder. In order for this file to be visible to the SDK during TakeOff, be sure that its Build Action is set to BundleResource in your app project.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
  <dict>
     <key>detectProvisioningMode</key>
     <true/>
     <key>developmentAppKey</key>
     <string>Your Development App Key</string>
     <key>developmentAppSecret</key>
     <string>Your Development App Secret</string>
     <key>productionAppKey</key>
     <string>Your Production App Key</string>
     <key>productionAppSecret</key>
     <string>Your Production App Secret</string>
     <true/>
  </dict>
</plist>

The AirshipConfig.plist file should be placed in Platforms/iOS/ and its Build Action should be set to BundleResource in the properties panel.

EU Cloud Site

If your app uses Airship’s EU cloud site, you will need to add that to AirshipConfig.plist.

  <key>site</key>
  <string>EU</string>

TakeOff

The Airship SDK requires only a single entry point in the app delegate, known as takeOff. Inside your application delegate’s FinishedLaunching method, initialize a shared UAirship instance by calling takeOff. This will bootstrap the SDK and look for settings specified in the AirshipConfig.plist config file.

using Airship;

namespace ExampleApp;

[Register ("AppDelegate")]
public class AppDelegate : MauiUIApplicationDelegate
{
    protected override MauiApp CreateMauiApp() => MauiProgram.CreateMauiApp();

    public override bool FinishedLaunching (UIApplication application, NSDictionary launchOptions)
    {
        // Populate AirshipConfig.plist with your app's info from https://go.urbanairship.com
        // or set runtime properties here.
        NSError configError;
        UAConfig config = UAConfig.DefaultConfigWithError(out configError);

        if (config == null || configError != null)
        {
            throw new InvalidOperationException($"Failed to load Airship configuration: {configError?.LocalizedDescription ?? "Unknown error"}");
        }

        NSError error;
        bool success = UAirship.TakeOff(config, launchOptions as NSDictionary<NSString, NSObject>, out error);

        if (!success || error != null)
        {
            throw new InvalidOperationException($"Failed to initialize Airship: {error?.LocalizedDescription ?? "Unknown error"}");
        }

        // Configure Airship here

        return base.FinishedLaunching(application, launchOptions);
    }
}

Notification Service Extension

In order to take advantage of iOS notification attachments, such as images, animated gifs, and video, you will need to create a Notification Service Extension target in your project.

Follow the iOS Notification Service Extension Guide for setup instructions.

Notification Content Extension

The iOS SDK’s Notification Content Extension provides support for carousel UI.

Follow the iOS Notification Content Extension Guide for setup instructions.

.NET Shared Components Installation

Installing the Airship components is a quick and easy process, seamlessly integrated into Visual Studio. You have two installation options:

• Native bindings: If you are only working with one platform, or if there is no reason for you to have a shared codebase between your platform projects, this may be an appropriate option. It’s possible to make use of the native bindings

• Airship.NET + native bindings: If you are working with multiple platforms, and you have a shared codebase (e.g., a MAUI app), this may be an appropriate option. You can use the Airship .NET libraries in the shared codebase, while the native bindings can handle platform-specific calls in each platform folder or project. Platform-specific native bindings can also be called directly from cross-platform code, using conditional compilation .

All components can be installed by editing your .csproj file directly or via the NuGet package manager in Visual Studio or the dotnet CLI.

<ItemGroup Condition="'$(TargetFramework)' == 'net8.0-android'">
    <PackageReference Include="Airship.Net.Android.Core" Version="19.13.6" />
    <PackageReference Include="Airship.Net.Android.Fcm" Version="19.13.6" />
    <PackageReference Include="Airship.Net.Android.Automation" Version="19.13.6" />
    <PackageReference Include="Airship.Net.Android.MessageCenter" Version="19.13.6" />
    <PackageReference Include="Airship.Net.Android.PreferenceCenter" Version="19.13.6" />
</ItemGroup>

<ItemGroup Condition="'$(TargetFramework)' == 'net8.0-ios'">
    <PackageReference Include="Airship.Net.iOS.ObjectiveC" Version="19.11.5" />
</ItemGroup>

Cross-Platform Library

To use the cross-platform Airship .NET library, add it to your .csproj file:

<ItemGroup>
  <PackageReference Include="Airship.Net" Version="20.2.1" />
</ItemGroup>

Native Bindings

Using the native binding libraries is similar to using either the Android or iOS SDKs. Below we provide a simple comparison between setting a named user ID in the native SDK and binding library. In general, the two changes you will notice between the bindings and SDKs are:

• Method calls are generally capitalized.
• Getters/setters are generally converted into properties.

Android

// Set the named user ID
UAirship.shared().contact().identify("NamedUserID");

// Set the named user ID
UAirship.Shared().Contact.Identify("NamedUserID");

For more information on the Android SDK, please see the Android platform documentation.

iOS

// Set the named user ID
Airship.contact.identify("NamedUserID")

// Set the named user ID
UAirship.Contact.Identify("NamedUserID");

For more information on the iOS SDK, please see the iOS platform documentation.

Airship .NET Library

The Airship .NET library provides a unified interface for common SDK calls, allowing users to place common code in a shared location. This is ideal for working with MAUI – simply add the Airship.Net NuGet dependency and all of these calls should be available from your shared codebase.

The Airship .NET library is accessible through the Airship class, found in the AirshipDotNet namespace. Full documentation for the .NET library can be found here.