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Cross-framework app considerations

You may be coming to WinUI 3 from React Native Windows, Electron, Flutter, or .NET MAUI. This page covers what to expect when targeting WinUI 3 specifically, and how to set up your AI agent for success.

The key decision: do you want to keep a cross-platform shell, or build a Windows-first app? Give your AI agent a clear boundary — which business logic stays shared, and which UI should be rewritten as native WinUI 3.

React Native for Windows

React Native for Windows uses a WinUI rendering layer under the hood. You can integrate native Windows controls through <WindowsXamlView> or NativeModules.

For a fully native Windows experience, porting directly to WinUI 3 gives better performance and full Windows API access. Keep business logic and services, but rewrite UI components as XAML and C#.

Starter prompt:

I have a React Native for Windows component. Rewrite it as a WinUI 3 UserControl using C# and XAML.

Electron

Electron apps are web technology wrapped in a shell; WinUI 3 is native Win32. A practical incremental path is to host your existing web UI in a WinUI 3 window using WebView2, then migrate features to native controls over time.

Starter prompt:

I have an Electron app. Create a WinUI 3 shell that hosts a WebView2, and show me how to call native Windows APIs from the web layer using window.chrome.webview.postMessage.

.NET MAUI

.NET MAUI already targets Windows via WinUI 3. If you want a Windows-only experience with full access to WinUI 3 capabilities, remove MAUI and target WinUI 3 directly.

  • ViewModels and services move across cleanly
  • MAUI XAML (Microsoft.Maui.Controls.*) needs rewriting to WinUI 3 XAML (Microsoft.UI.Xaml.*)
  • Keep shared .NET class libraries as-is

Starter prompt:

I have a .NET MAUI ViewModel and service layer. Reuse them in a WinUI 3 project targeting Windows only. Keep the ViewModel unchanged and update only the View.

Flutter

Flutter for Windows uses its own rendering engine, not WinUI 3. Platform channels let Flutter call native Win32 or WinRT APIs, but a full port replaces Flutter rendering with native XAML.

Starter prompt:

I have a Flutter screen with a list and a detail view. Rewrite it as a WinUI 3 page using NavigationView and a master/detail layout.

Sharing code across platforms

  • Keep business logic in a separate .NET class library — it's platform-agnostic
  • Share that library between WinUI 3, MAUI, Blazor, or any other .NET target
  • Reuse models, services, and ViewModels before rewriting UI
  • Use #if WINDOWS conditional compilation only as a last resort

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