Xamarin.Android version numbers seem inconsistent

Question

To keep build tool version consistency, I want to manually upgrade Xamarin on my desktop as well as my CI build server (not to be confused with a Xamarin mac build host). Running auto-update only works if I upgrade all machines at the same time.

So I go to download, and I thin I need to download Xamarin.Android - latest version is 4.0.1. No revision number is given here.

The thing is, I did run an update from Visual Studio the other day, and according to the about dialog, I'm now running "Xamarin.Android 6.0.1.10":

Xamarin   4.0.1.89 (413372c)
Visual Studio extension to enable development for Xamarin.iOS and Xamarin.Android.

Xamarin.Android   6.0.1.10 (e98e962)
Visual Studio plugin to enable development for Xamarin.Android.

I've heard that the v4.0.1 relates to the Visual Studio plugin (I use VS on my desktop).

IN addition, I don't use Visual Studio on my CI build server; instead I have Xamarin Studio. When I look at pending updates for that, it's offering "Xamarin 4.0.1.93" - presumably not a Visual Studio plugin for Android Studio?

1. Is Xamarin telling me I'm downloading "Xamrin.Android 4.0.1" when really I'm downloading "Xamarin v4.0.1.?" which contains "Xamarin.Android v6.x.x.x".
   • My end-game is that I would like to be sure of what versions of Xamarin components are involved when building using MSBuild.
2. If I need to do a legacy build, I would like the legacy build tool to be used.

Answer 1

Update: I have started tracking versions myself here

Xamarin support got back to me. My understanding is:

1. The version number in the dropdown seems to be that of the installer that bundles both Xamarin.Android and Xamarin.iOS. It is not the version of Xamarin.Android.
2. Build tool version: "Xamarin.Android performs the build, so this is what you are looking for."

You can find out roughly what version of "Xamarin.Android" is bundled with "Xamarin" from the "Xamarin" Release Notes. The top line says something like Xamarin 4.0 updates Xamarin.iOS 9.4 and Xamarin.Android 6.0 releases.

More info from Xamarin:

On Windows you cannot download separate installers for Xamarin.iOS and Xamarin.Android.

The Xamarin.VisualStudio package (also referred to as just "Xamarin") includes Xamarin.iOS and Xamarin.Android.

E.g., Xamarin 4.0.1.93 contains Xamarin.iOS 9.4.1.24 and Xamarin.Android 6.0.1.10

The version number you see on the download page refers to the version number of "Xamarin" - which, as above, includes Xamarin.iOS and Xamarin.Android. This is the same when you are updating and see "Xamarin 4.0.1.93" for example.

You need to install "Xamarin" even if you are using Xamarin Studio on Windows as this includes Xamarin.Android.

and

We do issue separate installers for Xamarin.Android on OS X, so if you are able to use a Mac for your CI (e.g., with something like Jenkins), then this may be more viable.