Earlier this week, Microsoft released Visual Studio 2019 version 8.9 for Mac. The new release includes support for .NET 6 Preview 1 (released last month) and testing Unity applications. It also includes enhancements such as more accessible UIs, solutions filtering, a new native XML editor, and support for the Apple M1 chip through the Rosetta 2 translation phase.
One of the most relevant features of the new release is the support for Unity testing. The new feature allows developers to find, run and discuss Unity tests. The Tools for Unity in Visual Studio for Mac have also been developed: now, when examining code on breakpoint, you will find all the content in the standard view under the Active View node . It is important to note that support for unit testing in Visual Studio for Mac currently requires that you use Unity 2020 or later and update the Visual Studio Editor package to version 2.0.7 or later. A full list of the developments in Tools for Unity can be found here.
Another interesting feature of the new release is the preview of the new Quick Actions and Replays tab, which appears when you add suggested code or reactor corrections to your code. The UI of the registry has been developed for accessibility (although the changes are marked as trials at this time). In addition to these changes, Quick Info now displays compilation alert IDs, and IntelliSense termination now includes preprocessor symbols. New activities such as interpolar string conversion and redundancy removal are also part of the improvements.
Addressing accessibility issues in the IDE was one of the established milestones for this release. The new version of Visual Studio for Mac includes several updated UI, including the Instant Window, Git Blame view, and a new native XML Editor. The new editor is built using the same common backend introduced with version 8.1 of the IDE, which means it can share code with Visual Studio for Windows for features like IntelliSense, text logic, and language services. Multi-caret and ligature editing is also supported in the new editor, and the idea / uncomment function has been improved.
Like the new version of Visual Studio 2019 for Windows (also released this week), Xamarin.Forms “changes only” XAML HOT Reload is no longer in preview. The new method allows you to update the UI of your running applications in real time and see those changes instantly – without the need to reload a page or save a file. It also supports the Live Visual Tree feature, which shows the runtime UI hierarchy for the application and makes it easier to access via XAML source code.
In preparation for the expected Apple Silicon support in .NET 6, the IDE now supports the Apple M1 chip through the Rosetta 2 translation phase. Rosetta is provided by Apple, and will allow e by users running apps that contain x86_64 instructions on Apple silicon. The translation rate is supposed to move to Apple silicon easily, but it’s not a place to create a native version of your app. It is also important to note that on the same day that the new version of Visual Studio for Mac was released, Apple Insider announced that Apple may expect to bring support for Rosetta 2 on M1 Macs away in some areas.
Other relevant new updates include support for version 30 of Android SDK API and solution filtering, a feature already available in Visual Studio 2019 for Windows that allows you to unlock a solution with only optional projects loaded . Also, Visual Studio for Mac 8.9 no longer includes the iOS designer. According to the official roadmap, Visual Studio for Mac will move to a fully native macOS UI with version 8.12.
Visual Studio 2019 v8.9 for Mac can be downloaded from the official Visual Studio for Mac site or through the internal update. The official press releases for the current version of Visual Studio for Mac can be found here.