Xamarin.Forms UWP Application doesn't work on XBOX as native

Question

I have tried my UWP app on XBOX one which is built using xamarin.forms and it works generally fine but by default mouse mode is active. I changed it using

    RequiresPointerMode = Windows.UI.Xaml.ApplicationRequiresPointerMode.WhenRequested;

on UWP level in app.xaml.cs and it disabled mouse pointer but problem is that using game pad, i am not able to select items on the UI. I can navigate through textbox and buttons but not Toolbar (Commandbar in uwp), ListView, Masterdetail, Tabs etc.

I created a blank native UWP application and added a commandbar with AppBarButtons and NavigationView with NavigationViewItems. It perfectly works, I am able to navigate between menu items and commanbaritems using mouse pad.

Why this is not working for Xamarin.Forms? is xamarin.forms not actually native for UWP?

Answer 1

Xamarin.Forms MasterDetailPage was written before NavigationView existed and it doesn't use it at all (and especially not with NavigationViewItems, that would limit the flexibility, i don't think it will ever be used).

As SplitView has some focus bug that I can confirm it doesn't come as a surprise that it doesn't work with XBox as expected. However UWP doesn't grant that the app will work properly when you disable the mouse mode with native controls, that's why it is enabled by default. There are properties like XYFocusLeft that must be set if the app is not working properly. You probably need to make custom renderer to expose those properties and set them right. That's pretty much of work to do but it is up to you to decide...