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Visual Studio 2019 for Mac 8.5 Preview Adds ASP.NET Core Authentication
Microsoft, after shipping Visual Studio 2019 for Mac v8.4 with support for ASP.NET Core Blazor Server applications last month, is now previewing the v8.5 series, adding new authentication templates for ASP.NET Core along with other improvements.
In Preview 2, the company touted new improvements implemented in response to direct requests from users who submit feedback via the features suggestion section of the Visual Studio Developer Community web site or the IDE's Report a Problem functionality.
"One of the most requested features from our ASP.NET Core developers has been the ability to create ASP.NET Core projects with authentication," VS for Mac senior lead program manager Dominic Nahous said in an announcement post last month. "With this release of Visual Studio for Mac, you can now create ASP.NET Core projects with either No Authentication or Individual Authentication that uses an In-App store (which is the most used auth option). When you create a new ASP.NET Core project that supports one of these auth methods, you'll find an additional dropdown in the project creation flow. Whether you're a seasoned ASP.NET Core developer or developing your first app, we encourage you to try out this newly added feature."
The Xamarin side of things also got some attention in a series of mobile development improvements:
- Faster Android Startup: Generate custom profiles using startup tracing in your Android applications. This provides improved application start-up with minimal increase in app size.
- Android Apply Changes: Quickly see changes made to your Android resource files, such as layouts, drawables, etc., on an Android device or emulator without requiring the application to be restarted.
- Multi-Target Reload for XAML Hot Reload: Reload changes made to your XAML instantly on multiple targets (such as an iOS Simulator and Android emulator) at the same time for rapid UI iteration.
- XAML Document Outline: See the hierarchy of your Xamarin.Forms UI in the “Document Outline” pane.
- Improved Xcode Storyboard Designer Integration: Add the ability to set your default iOS designer in Visual Studio for Mac, enabling you to use the tools that make you most productive for authoring iOS UIs.
A separate Xamarin blog post provides more detail on the above and other improvements.
Other highlights of Visual Studio 2019 for Mac 8.5 Preview 2 include:
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An updated color palette increases visibility: We replaced the previous color palette with a new palette to fix several issues with color contrast. The difference between the old and new color palette is illustrated below:
[Click on image for larger view.] Updated Color Palette (source: Microsoft).
- Experience a more accessible user interface: We've continued to improve the overall accessibility of Visual Studio for Mac. We updated the color palette and icons, as well as warning and error status messages, have been refreshed.
- Visual Studio for Mac supports macOS High Contrast Mode: On macOS, you can increase the color contrast of the entire system by turning on High Contrast Mode via the Increase Contrast checkbox in System Preferences > Accessibility Preferences.
- Icons have been reviewed, redrawn, and adjusted for additional clarity: Visual Studio for Mac has always contained many icons in different flavors for color theme and selected states. Every icon has been individually verified for accessibility issues, converted to the new palette, duplicated, and repainted using the new high contrast palette.
- Warning and error colors have been refreshed: We also changed the colors of warning and error related messages shown by Visual Studio for Mac to enhance readability.
Other recent posts from the VS for Mac team include:
About the Author
David Ramel is an editor and writer at Converge 360.