Add documentation for bundling Swift widgets with .NET MAUI iOS apps

[Copilot]

Provides comprehensive documentation for creating iOS widgets using Swift/WidgetKit and bundling them with .NET MAUI apps, addressing the gap in documentation for iOS 14+ widget support.

Changes

• New documentation page (docs/ios/widgets.md)

  • Widget extension creation in Xcode using WidgetKit
  • Project structure: WidgetBundle, Widget, TimelineProvider, TimelineEntry, Views
  • Build configuration for device and simulator targets
  • MSBuild integration using AdditionalAppExtensions and CodesignEntitlements
  • App Groups setup for data sharing between app and widget

• Data sharing patterns

  • C# Preferences API with shared App Group ID
  • Swift UserDefaults(suiteName:) for widget-side access
  • Entitlements configuration for both app and extension

• Communication patterns

  • App → Widget: WidgetKit.WidgetCenterProxy.ReloadTimeLinesOfKind()
  • Widget → App: Deep links via widgetURL() and interactive App Intents
  • App Intents for in-widget buttons and actions

• TOC placement: iOS section, after "Build apps" subsection

Example: Interactive widget button

struct IncrementCounterIntent: AppIntent {
    func perform() async throws -> some IntentResult {
        let userDefaults = UserDefaults(suiteName: "group.com.contoso.MyApp")
        let count = (userDefaults?.integer(forKey: "WidgetCount") ?? 0) + 1
        userDefaults?.set(count, forKey: "WidgetCount")
        WidgetCenter.shared.reloadTimelines(ofKind: "MyWidget")
        return .result()
    }
}

// In .NET MAUI app
Preferences.Set("WidgetCount", 0, "group.com.contoso.MyApp");

References the official How to Build iOS Widgets with .NET MAUI blog post for complete working examples.

Warning

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Original prompt

---

This section details on the original issue you should resolve

<issue_title>Bundling Swift Widgets and Extensions with .NET MAUI</issue_title>
<issue_description>Expand on this https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/xamarin/ios/platform/ios14/#embedded-widgetkit-support</issue_description>

<agent_instructions>Based on this blog post here: https://devblogs.microsoft.com/dotnet/how-to-build-ios-widgets-with-dotnet-maui/ can you write a documentation page about how to create widgets that can be included in .NET MAUI apps?

The code for this is here: https://github.com/Toine-db/Maui.WidgetExample

Don't link to that repository and only the blog for a reference, but otherwise, come up with your own example and code snippets but make sure they work. We want a generic description of how to do this, but it needs to be a working one.

Investigate if this works for both widgets and extensions and only include extensions if you are 100% sure if it works the same way. Otherwise only talk about widgets.

Note that this is about iOS. Find a place in the TOC that makes sense to put this. We will handle Android separately.</agent_instructions>

Comments on the Issue (you are @copilot in this section)

• Fixes Bundling Swift Widgets and Extensions with .NET MAUI #293

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Internal previews

📄 File	🔗 Preview link
docs/ios/widgets.md	docs/ios/widgets

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Learn Build status updates of commit e997d38:

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File	Status	Preview URL	Details
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[learn-build-service-prod]

PoliCheck Scan Report

The following report lists PoliCheck issues in PR files. Before you merge the PR, you must fix all severity-1 and severity-2 issues. The AI Review Details column lists suggestions for either removing or replacing the terms. If you find a false positive result, mention it in a PR comment and include this text: #policheck-false-positive. This feedback helps reduce false positives in future scans.

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Information: PoliCheck | Severity Guidance | Term
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[learn-build-service-prod]

PoliCheck Scan Report

The following report lists PoliCheck issues in PR files. Before you merge the PR, you must fix all severity-1 and severity-2 issues. The AI Review Details column lists suggestions for either removing or replacing the terms. If you find a false positive result, mention it in a PR comment and include this text: #policheck-false-positive. This feedback helps reduce false positives in future scans.

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[learn-build-service-prod]

Learn Build status updates of commit f06ff18:

✅ Validation status: passed

File	Status	Preview URL	Details
docs/ios/widgets.md	✅Succeeded	View (>=net-maui-8.0)
docs/TOC.yml	✅Succeeded	View (>=net-maui-8.0)

For more details, please refer to the build report.

[learn-build-service-prod]

PoliCheck Scan Report

The following report lists PoliCheck issues in PR files. Before you merge the PR, you must fix all severity-1 and severity-2 issues. The AI Review Details column lists suggestions for either removing or replacing the terms. If you find a false positive result, mention it in a PR comment and include this text: #policheck-false-positive. This feedback helps reduce false positives in future scans.

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[learn-build-service-prod]

Learn Build status updates of commit 15ad691:

✅ Validation status: passed

File	Status	Preview URL	Details
docs/ios/widgets.md	✅Succeeded	View (>=net-maui-8.0)
docs/TOC.yml	✅Succeeded	View (>=net-maui-8.0)

For more details, please refer to the build report.

[jfversluis]

Closing in favor of #3216, which provides more comprehensive widget documentation including file-based I/O (more reliable than UserDefaults), automated MSBuild integration, interactive widget buttons, and the Xcode creation steps from this PR. The blog post reference has also been incorporated.