Adding Xamarin Components via Visual Studio

Sometimes you’ll want to use some of the components from the Xamarin component store. This can be done directly in Visual Studio. Right-click Components node within iOS or Android project and select Get More Components

Once added you’ll see the component listed in Solution Explorer under the Components node. However, the Components, like NuGet packages, are located at a solution level. This makes them easy to reference from other projects.

In this case the Xamarin.Mobile component can be referenced by our Universal, Windows Phone 8.0, iOS and Android projects. This will make performing operations such as selecting or capturing photos much easier. However, be aware that there are some APIs that aren’t supported across all platforms. For example whilst you can reference the component from the WP8.1 application, MediaPicker fails as it’s not supported.