Using Fonts for Icons in Xamarin.Android

Where do mobile developers get their #android icons from? You know, those in the menu like "ic_menu_gallery". I'm creating a new project with a NavDrawer and want to swap out those added by the template. Free or paid (within reason) #xamarin

— On The Fence Dev 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🇺🇦 (@OnTheFenceDev) March 2, 2020

I’m currently working on a new privacy application for Android and in a previous post I guided you from the Xamarin.Android Drawer Navigation project template to something that actually worked (as in you could actually use the pretty navigation provided by the template).

Now I wanted to change the menu items to something more relevant with some appropriate icons – I mean, how hard can that be right?

IR35 and the Implosion of the Contracting Market

When I checked Twitter this morning my heart sank – I was watching the new Chancellor (Rishi Sunak) regurgitate the HMRC view of IR35 and the changes to be rolled out into the private sector in April.

He was essentially announcing the Death Knell of Flexible Working as we know it – the contract market will shortly implode even further than it already has.

Book Review: Mastering Xamarin.Forms

It may sound odd but from time to time I get approached to review a book which is either due to be or has just been published.

I say odd because I’m just a regular developer – not a podcasting rockstar (or even a blogging one). Why would my option be worth a free copy of a book?

Maybe it’s because I’m just a regular developer – just like most of us.

Some of these I let pass me by, especially if I have no real interest in the content, i.e. a technology that I am not using and have no plans to use – F# for example. I frequently say that ‘you have to pick your fights when it comes to technology – you can’t win them all’.

So, when Packt asked if I would review this book it made me wonder:

“How much of a master can I be after reading a book that’s ‘only’ 200 pages?”.

Getting Started with Visual Studio 2019 Android Navigation Drawer template

So, I’ve had an idea for another privacy-focused application, this time aimed at mobile devices – Android in particular (I know that Apple are a little touchy about encryption apps – maybe I’ll venture into iOS at a later date).

Notwithstanding my desire to keep my skills up to date I knew that the project I have in mind would require a lot of platform specific logic. While Xamarin Forms can handle this I prefer to take the hit, roll my sleeves up and I opted for a native Android project instead – and that’s where the trouble/fun started.

IR35 – Living with a Broken Promise

Well I guess it’s old news now, although it was quite foreseeable, but despite a pre-election promise the Conservatives have reneged on their commitment to review the IR35 legislation. Instead they will review the process for rolling the changes into the private sector – not the same thing at all.

Instead of me going over old ground, take a look at my previous IR35 post which was published prior to the election (and it’s broken promises).

In the weeks that have followed Twitter has been ablaze with tweets tagged with #IR35 – many are mine. There is a lot of anger out there and our worst fears, that end clients would take the ‘easy option’ and just stop using contractors altogether has come to pass (despite HMRC saying it wouldn’t).