Android native view in xaml doesn't display in Xamarin.Forms

Question

I'm trying at add an Android native view (Android.Widgets.TextView) declared in xaml. I was following the Xamarin documentation here.

However Intelisense in the xaml file with the native view shows Android.Widget and Xamarin.Forms namespaces don't exist. When I run the app everything run's without crashing or any errors in the debug output but the Android.Widgets.TextView does not display. I tried a new page and copy and pasted the example from the link above but had the same issues.

Here is my Xaml:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<ContentPage xmlns="http://xamarin.com/schemas/2014/forms"
             xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2009/xaml"
             x:Class="CrucialExams.Xamarin.Views.FlashCardsPage"
             xmlns:controls="clr-namespace:CarouselView.FormsPlugin.Abstractions;assembly=CarouselView.FormsPlugin.Abstractions"
             xmlns:views="clr-namespace:CrucialExams.Xamarin.Views;assembly=CrucialExams.Xamarin" 
             xmlns:androidWidget="clr-namespace:Android.Widget;assembly=Mono.Android;targetPlatform=Android"
             xmlns:formsAndroid="clr-namespace:Xamarin.Forms;assembly=Xamarin.Forms.Platform.Android;targetPlatform=Android"
             Title="{Binding Title}"
             BackgroundColor="{StaticResource LightBackgroundColor}"
             Padding="0">
    <ContentPage.Content>
        <androidWidget:TextView Text="Native Text" x:Arguments="{x:Static formsAndroid:Forms.Context}" />
        <Grid Margin="3" Padding="5">
        <Grid.RowDefinitions>
            <RowDefinition Height="1*" />
            <RowDefinition Height="9*" />
        </Grid.RowDefinitions>
            <!--<views:PercentageBarView BackgroundColor="Red" Grid.Row="0"></views:PercentageBarView>-->
            <controls:CarouselViewControl   Grid.Row="1"
                                        x:Name="Carousel"
                                        Margin="0"
                                        Position="0" 
                                        ItemsSource="{Binding Pages}" 
                                        VerticalOptions="FillAndExpand" 
                                        HorizontalOptions="FillAndExpand">
            <controls:CarouselViewControl.ItemTemplate>
                <DataTemplate>
                    <Grid Margin="3" Padding="5">
                        <Grid.RowDefinitions>
                            <RowDefinition Height="10*" />
                        </Grid.RowDefinitions>
                        <Frame HasShadow="True" Margin="5" Grid.Row="0">
                            <Frame.GestureRecognizers>
                                <TapGestureRecognizer Tapped="OnCardTapped"/>
                            </Frame.GestureRecognizers>
                            <Label  Margin="5" 
                                    FontSize="25" 
                                    Text="{Binding CurrentText}" 
                                    HorizontalTextAlignment="Center" 
                                    VerticalTextAlignment="Center" />
                        </Frame>
                    </Grid>
                </DataTemplate>
            </controls:CarouselViewControl.ItemTemplate>
        </controls:CarouselViewControl>
        </Grid>
    </ContentPage.Content>
</ContentPage>

And Intelisense:

I'm targeting Xamarin.Forms package v2.3.4.247. Any ideas why it's not showing the native view?

Answer 1

Remove Xaml Compilation in your code behind

//[XamlCompilation(XamlCompilationOptions.Compile)]

Without this, your native view will appear.