However, Xamarin Studio doesn't currently support building UWP apps, so for the remainder of this article I'll focus on Visual Studio. To get started building a UWP app using Xamarin.Forms (XForms), I ...

Xamarin also supports development on OS X using Xamarin Studio. This too is now available for free as a community edition for small teams, and is included in MSDN Subscriptions.

In another step for Microsoft, the Xamarin SDK will be made open source and released on Github for all to see and use, including the Xamarin Forms library for creating quick and easy user interfaces.

Using Xamarin requires a separate Xamarin license, and building software for Apple's platforms requires access to a machine running OS X to run the Apple compilers.

Xamarin today unveiled version 4 of its cross-platform development suite, featuring a new Xamarin Mac Agent that lets developers build iOS apps completely from within the Microsoft Visual Studio IDE.

Xamarin is furthering its mission to make C# the mobile-development language of choice by allowing iOS coders to use Microsoft's Visual Studio.

Xamarin 3 has a number of cross-platform code sharing features, including Shared Projects, which lets developers use code across iOS, Android and Windows while using Xamarin Studio or Visual Studio.

Microsoft this week released a third preview of the iOS Simulator for Xamarin on Visual Studio. The feature - announced at Build 2016 - allows developers to preview iOS apps on Windows.

Xamarin Studio IDE 6 for Mac OS X, for mobile development, brings its user interface and functionality closer to those of Microsoft’s own Visual Studio platform.