I' m quite new in Xamarin (and mobile developement at all). I have to move an existing android(Java)-App to iOS. We decided to make a Xross-Platform-App instead of having to support two Apps (Andriod+iOS) in the future. The customers like the Android-App - so I am not allowed to make the new one worse or even different. Under iOS, I have more room to maneuver.
The existing App looks like a true TabbedPage: One of (allways) 5 Pages is activ, the 5 Tabs are visible at the top. It is ok, that the tabs are at the bottom under iOS.
I managed to solve the the problem with the invisible Tab-Icons under Xamarin.Droid by installing a Custom-Renderer (found here or at stackoverflow). But Android places the tabs in some devices as a single bar beneath the Status/Tool Bar (that is, what we want), some times includes it in the Status bar between the App-Name and the Toolbar-Items. If there is not enough space, then as a scrollable list.
The Tabs must have the following features in the Android-Part:
0.) The Tab Bar is allways a single Bar between the Status/Tool Bar and the Page-Content.
1.) The size of the Icons relative to the Tab must be fix under all Displaysizes and APIs.
2.) The Icons modify accordingly to states in the data-model. (This a can do in my Custom-Renderer, I quess.) Some times, some text must be added.
3.) The style of the tab of the active Page must be: BackgroundColor of the hole Tab (instead of only a small strip at bottom) must change.
4.) As long as a Tab is pressed, it should be enlighted with an even brighter Margin (about 1 Pixel).
5.) There should be no space at all between the Tabs. It must look like a solid block.
6.) The lightblue Stripe between the Toolbar and the TabBar is not allowed.
Can this be done with the Xamarin.Forms Tabbed Page or is it better to choose a different approach?
If Yes: How?
If Not: Which?
I know, that it is not very polite, to steel your time instead of reading allone. But I'm sure, that my problem is a small one for many people here.