Creating side menus in .NET MAUI can be challenging due to the limitations of the built-in FlyoutPage. While FlyoutPage is commonly used for navigation, it has some drawbacks that can make it difficult to use in more complex scenarios:
Limited Integration: FlyoutPage doesn’t integrate smoothly with other pages, which can disrupt the user experience.
Single-Side Placement: It only allows the menu to be placed on one side—either left or right—not both.
Navigation Focused: The control is primarily designed for navigation, which limits its versatility in other contexts.
These limitations became clear when we tried to implement a side menu in one of our projects. We needed a more flexible solution that could address these challenges.
Exploring alternatives
Initially, we turned to CommunityToolkit.Maui, hoping to find a solution. However, it didn’t offer the specific features we required for our side menu. Realizing this, we decided to port the SideMenuView from XamarinCommunityToolkit to .NET MAUI, creating the Com.Igniscor.Maui.SideMenuView plugin.
Benefits of Com.Igniscor.Maui.SideMenuView
1. Dual-Side Placement: Unlike FlyoutPage, this plugin allows you to place side menus on both the left and right sides simultaneously, giving you more design flexibility.
2. Better Page Integration: Com.Igniscor.Maui.SideMenuView integrates more effectively with pages, resulting in a smoother and more consistent user experience.
3. Versatile Use: While it can be used for navigation, this side menu control is also suitable for other purposes, such as displaying additional information about items in a list.
4. Cross-Platform Support: The plugin is cross-platform, ensuring consistent behavior across Android, iOS.
Setup
Just add this package from NuGet to your project. You can find our package here.
Exampl
Com.Igniscor.Maui.SideMenuView – is a cross-platform plugins that add side menu that was ported from XamarinCommunityToolKit.
See more exmples here.
Conclusion
Com.Igniscor.Maui.SideMenuView is a practical solution for developers who need a more flexible and versatile side menu control in .NET MAUI. By porting this control from XamarinCommunityToolkit, we’ve provided a tool that addresses the limitations of FlyoutPage, making it easier to create dynamic and user-friendly applications.