Binding Native Libraries in MAUI (with Zendesk examples)

Alexei Fokin
7 minutes ago
5 min read

Introduction: The Challenge of Native Bindings in .NET MAUI

Building cross-platform apps with .NET MAUI offers unparalleled productivity, but when you need to integrate native libraries — like Lottie for animations, Zendesk or Intercom for chats with user support, or platform-specific SDKs — things get complicated.

This is where Binding Libraries come in. They bridge the gap between native code (Java/Kotlin for Android, Swift/Objective-C for iOS) and .NET, allowing MAUI apps to leverage platform-specific functionalities. But traditional binding approaches can be time-consuming and complex. Enter Slim Binding — a modern, efficient alternative that drastically reduces development effort.

With Slim Binding, what used to take days of manual binding now takes hours.

In this article, we’ll explore how this approach lets you harness native libraries effortlessly — while keeping your .NET MAUI codebase clean and maintainable.

What Are Binding Libraries, and Why Use Them?

Binding native libraries allow you to use native iOS and Android SDKs (typically written in Objective-C/Swift or Java/Kotlin) in your .NET MAUI project. They expose native APIs as .NET-friendly interfaces so that you can integrate features without rewriting the logic from scratch.

Some powerful SDKs — like Zendesk — only exist in native forms. If you’re building a MAUI app and need in-app chat, notifications, or customer support, you can't rely solely on .NET libraries because they simply don’t exist yet. Without bindings, you're left with painful workarounds or duplicate platform-specific code.

Traditional vs. Slim Binding Approaches

Aspect	Traditional Binding	Slim Binding
Setup Time	Days or Weeks	Hours
Maintenance	Manual & fragile	Auto-generated, robust
Developer Skillset	Deep platform + .NET knowledge	C# + basic native
Performance	Moderate overhead	Near-native speed

Benefits for MAUI Developers

Unified codebase for accessing native Android/iOS SDKs.
Less platform-specific boilerplate, reducing maintenance.
Access to high-performance, production-grade native SDKs (e.g., Lottie, Firebase, Zendesk, Intercom).
More maintainable and scalable for teams adopting cross-platform development.

Key Use Cases for Slim Binding in .NET MAUI

Slim Binding isn’t just a technical improvement — it solves real-world problems for .NET MAUI developers. Here’s where it shines:

1. Lottie Animations Binding

Need eye-catching animations? Lottie, a lightweight animation library by Airbnb, is widely used on mobile. With Slim Binding, you can bind the native iOS and Android versions directly into MAUI — saving days of integration work.

2. Zendesk Chat Support

Zendesk provides a premium in-app support chat experience. With Slim Binding, you can wrap their native SDKs and seamlessly integrate chat, login/logout, and push notifications into your cross-platform app.

3. Custom Native SDKs Without MAUI Equivalents

Many high-performance or enterprise SDKs still don’t support MAUI directly — like camera tools, Google Maps tools, barcode scanners, AR frameworks, or biometric auth libraries. Slim Binding allows you to integrate any SDK, even those without .NET versions.

Binding Native Libraries in a Real-World MAUI Project

One of our clients requested a Zendesk-powered chat in their mobile app — with authentication and notification support. Since Zendesk only provides native iOS and Android SDKs, I had to bridge both using Slim Binding.

Here’s how it worked ("initialize" method example):

Native code from Zendesk documentation:

MAUI code (shared):

MAUI code (platform):

Project Structure

To keep the integration clean and modular, I organized the solution into three dedicated projects:

Zendesk.Android.Binding — contains the Android native and binding projects.

Zendesk.iOS.Binding — contains the iOS native and binding projects.
ZendeskShared — shared C# code and platform-specific partial implementations used in the MAUI app.

Troubleshooting Real-World Issues

When working on Zendesk integration, I ran into several issues that may sound familiar to anyone dealing with Slim Binding in a .NET MAUI context:

One particularly tricky problem involved getting the native iOS framework to load correctly. At first, the app would compile fine, but native symbols just wouldn’t show up at runtime — no errors, just silent failures. It turned out I needed to set SmartLink = False and ForceLoad = True in the iOS binding project. This issue is mentioned in this GitHub discussion, and once I applied that fix, the symbols were picked up correctly.
Another challenge was mapping native callbacks — especially on Android — into .NET-friendly delegates. Slim Binding doesn’t automatically generate all the necessary glue, so I had to carefully define interfaces and ensure method signatures matched exactly. Otherwise, I'd get cryptic runtime errors or silent callback failures. This StackOverflow thread saved me a lot of time: Slim Bindings native interop pitfalls.
Also, I ran into an issue where native iOS frameworks weren’t being included properly in the final app bundle. The fix was to add both a direct ProjectReference to the iOS binding project and NativeReference entries for the .xcframeworks in the ZendeskShared.csproj:

With Slim Binding, this process was streamlined, allowing me to focus on functionality rather than plumbing.

Benefits for Your Business

🚀 Faster Time-to-Market

Problem: Manual bindings take weeks per SDK.
Solution: Slim Binding automates 80–90% of the effort.
Example: A Lottie integration shrinks from 5 days to less than 1 day.

💰 Lower Development Costs

Problem: Native SDK integration needs rare cross-skill developers.
Solution: Your .NET team can handle native bindings without deep Swift/Java knowledge.
Impact: Reduce outsourcing and contractor costs by 30–50%.

🔧 Easier Maintenance & Upgrades

Problem: SDK updates break fragile, hand-written bindings.
Solution: Regenerate bindings with a new build.
Example: Upgrading ARKit takes 1 hour, not 1 week.

⚡ Better App Performance

Problem: P/Invoke and JNI introduce 10–20% call overhead.
Solution: Slim Binding is compile-time and near-zero overhead.
Result: Apps run faster—up to 15% more efficient for native calls.

🔮 Future-Proof Architecture

Future-Proofing: Slim Binding allows instant adoption of new native APIs (e.g., Apple Vision Pro, Android Gemini AI).
No delays waiting for .NET wrappers. Just bind and go.

Real-World Impact

Metric	Before Slim Binding	After Slim Binding
Binding Development Time	2 weeks	2 days
Maintenance Cost	$10k/year	$2k/year
Native Call Performance	85% of native	98% of native

Who Should Use Slim Binding?

✅ Startups – Ship MVP features faster. ✅ Enterprise Teams – Reduce long-term maintenance costs. ✅ App Modernization – Migrate legacy native code to .NET MAUI effortlessly.

Conclusion

Binding native libraries in .NET MAUI can seem challenging, but with the right tools and approach — such as Slim Binding — you can seamlessly integrate powerful native SDKs like Zendesk into your cross-platform apps. This article demonstrated how to bridge native functionality using practical examples and outlined key steps to create stable, maintainable bindings across iOS and Android.

As MAUI continues to evolve, mastering these techniques ensures your applications stay ahead — leveraging native capabilities without compromising the benefits of a unified codebase.

At this point, you might be wondering: “How do I actually implement this in my own app?”

That’s where we come in.

🛠 Why Choose Us?

We specialize in .NET MAUI applications and have deep, hands-on experience with binding libraries across iOS and Android platforms. Whether it’s Swift, Kotlin, Objective-C, or Java—we’ve successfully delivered bindings for complex SDKs like Zendesk, Intercom, Lottie, and more.

Our team can help you:

✅ Bind any native library to your MAUI project, fast.

✅ Eliminate weeks of trial-and-error with proven, production-ready patterns.

✅ Optimize performance and maintainability with clean, modular bindings.

✅ Focus on building your app’s features — not fighting native code.

🚀 Let’s Build Something Great

If you're a business looking to speed up development, reduce costs, and gain native-level power in your MAUI app — we’re the partner you’ve been looking for.

📩 Contact us today to bring native power to your cross-platform app — with the speed and precision your users expect.