Pick Smarter, Compress Faster: MediaPicker Enhancements in .NET 10 Preview 6 for .NET MAUI

📸 MediaPicker Enhancements in .NET 10 Preview 6 for .NET MAUI – Select Multiple Files & Compress Images!

.NET 10 Preview 6 brings exciting new features to .NET MAUI developers, especially around media file handling. With the latest MediaPicker enhancements, developers can now select multiple images and compress them on the fly using simple API parameters.

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🔍 In this blog, we’ll explore:

• What is MediaPicker in .NET MAUI?
• What’s new in .NET 10 Preview 6?
• How to select multiple images?
• How to compress selected images?
• Real-world usage scenarios
• Sample Code
• Reference Links

🧭 What is MediaPicker?

MediaPicker is a cross-platform API in .NET MAUI that lets users pick photos or videos from their device or capture new ones using the camera.

Earlier versions supported:

• Picking a single image or video
• Capturing a photo or video using the device’s camera

However, multiple file selection and image compression were not natively supported — until now.

🚀 What’s New in .NET 10 Preview 6?

With the release of .NET 10 Preview 6, MediaPicker has been enhanced to:

• ✅ Select multiple media files
• ✅ Set MaximumWidth and MaximumHeight to automatically compress images during selection

🔄 How to Pick Multiple Images?

var result = await MediaPicker.PickMultipleAsync(new MediaPickerOptions
{
    Title = "Pick your favorite images",
    MaximumWidth = 1024,
    MaximumHeight = 768
});
  

✅ Explanation:

• PickMultipleAsync: Now supported!
• MaximumWidth, MaximumHeight: Automatically resize images after selection
• Title: Optional, shows custom dialog title (Android only)

📌 Note: These compression parameters are especially useful for reducing file size before uploading or processing the image.

🧪 Practical Use Case: Uploading Photos in a Shopping App

Suppose you're building a shopping app like Smart Shopper, where vendors upload product photos. Now you can:

1. Let users pick multiple product images
2. Auto-compress images to 1024x768 resolution
3. Upload to your backend efficiently

foreach (var file in result)
{
    var stream = await file.OpenReadAsync();

    // Save to server, display in UI, or cache
}
  

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Table of Contents for .Net Maui

• What is .NET MAUI and why it’s important
• Applying the MVVM pattern for cleaner architecture
• Working with Renderers and Mappers
• Storing data locally using SQLite and Preferences
• Image Picker from gallery
• Sending push notifications using Firebase
• Publishing your app to Android and iOS stores
• 🌟 Explore More Topics

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You save:

• Time
• Network bandwidth
• Battery consumption

📝 Full Example

private async Task PickAndCompressImagesAsync()
{
    try
    {
        var results = await MediaPicker.PickMultipleAsync(new MediaPickerOptions
        {
            Title = "Select Images",
            MaximumWidth = 800,
            MaximumHeight = 600
        });

        foreach (var image in results)
        {
            using var stream = await image.OpenReadAsync();
            // Example: Convert to byte[] or use with ImageSource.FromStream
        }
    }
    catch (Exception ex)
    {
        await Shell.Current.DisplayAlert("Error", $"Image picking failed: {ex.Message}", "OK");
    }
}
  

💡 Bonus Tips

• Always check permissions for media access (especially on Android & iOS)
• Wrap your MediaPicker calls with try-catch blocks
• Display a loading spinner if processing multiple large files

🔗 References

• 👉 Official .NET 10 Preview 6 Announcement:
  https://devblogs.microsoft.com/dotnet/dotnet-10-preview-6/
• 👉 .NET MAUI Enhancements GitHub Note:
  https://github.com/dotnet/core/blob/main/release-notes/10.0/preview/preview6/dotnetmaui.md#mediapicker-enhancements

🔚 Conclusion

The new MediaPicker enhancements in .NET 10 Preview 6 take .NET MAUI one step closer to being a first-class framework for modern, image-intensive applications. With multi-selection and built-in compression, you can now build smarter and faster media workflows.

So if you’re upgrading to .NET 10 for your .NET MAUI project, don’t miss out on these MediaPicker upgrades! 🔥

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📢 Stay tuned for more .NET MAUI tips and updates!

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