Maui Collectionview

CollectionView – .NET MAUI

Use CollectionView for displaying scrollable lists and grids of data. It replaces ListView and offers better performance, flexible layouts, and no ViewCell requirement.

Essential patterns

Basic setup

• Bind ItemsSource to an ObservableCollection so the UI updates on add/remove.
• Each item template root must be a Layout or View — never use ViewCell.
• Always set x:DataType on DataTemplate for compiled bindings.

SwipeView — binding from inside DataTemplate

Commands inside a DataTemplate can't directly reach your ViewModel. Use RelativeSource AncestorType:

Pull-to-refresh

Wrap CollectionView in a RefreshView. Set IsRefreshing back to false when done:

Incremental loading (infinite scroll)

> ⚠️ Do NOT use with StackLayout-based ItemsLayout — it has no virtualization and triggers infinite threshold-reached events. Always use LinearItemsLayout or GridItemsLayout.

Performance tips

• Use MeasureFirstItem for uniform item sizes — significantly faster than the default MeasureAllItems:

```xml

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• Always use ObservableCollection, not List. Swapping a List forces a full re-render.
• Update collections on the UI thread — MainThread.BeginInvokeOnMainThread(() => Items.Add(item)).

Common gotchas

| Issue | Fix | |---|---| | UI doesn't update when items change | Use ObservableCollection, not List. | | App crashes or blank items | Never use ViewCell — use Grid, StackLayout, or any View as template root. | | Items disappear or layout breaks | Always update ItemsSource and the collection on the UI thread (MainThread.BeginInvokeOnMainThread). | | Incremental loading fires endlessly | Don't use StackLayout as layout; use LinearItemsLayout or GridItemsLayout. | | EmptyView doesn't render correctly | Wrap custom empty views in ContentView. | | Poor scroll performance | Use MeasureFirstItem sizing strategy for uniform item sizes. | | Selected state not visible | Add VisualState Name="Selected" to the item template root element. | | Binding errors in SwipeView commands | Use RelativeSource AncestorType to reach the ViewModel from inside the item template. |

Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

• Author: davidortinau
• Source: davidortinau/maui-skills
• License: MIT

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.