Stop fighting loading dialogs in .NET MAUI: a native loader in one line

Pratham Gheewala — Tue, 20 Oct 2026 05:55:48 +0000

Plugin.Maui.LoadingHud is a tiny native loading overlay for .NET MAUI. Lottie, image or spinner, configured once and overridable per screen.

Every app needs a loading indicator. It sounds like the simplest part of a project.

Then you build one in .NET MAUI, and the problems start.

The problem

Most MAUI loaders are built on pages, popups or modal navigation. That works for a demo, but in a real app it causes trouble:

😵 Showing the loader fires OnAppearing / OnDisappearing on your pages
🔒 Calling Show() inside another Show() can leave the loader stuck on screen
🪟 Two loaders can overlap
🔁 You repeat the same colors, text and animation on every screen

I hit all of these in a production app, so I stopped patching and built a loader that doesn't go through MAUI navigation at all.

The solution: Plugin.Maui.LoadingHud ✨

It's a native overlay (an Android Dialog and an iOS UIWindow). Your pages never know it's there, so no lifecycle events fire.

using (LoadingHud.Show("Loading..."))
    await api.GetDataAsync();

When the using block ends, the loader closes, even if your code throws.

Set it up once

Add your defaults in MauiProgram.cs. Every option is optional.

builder.UseLoadingHud(o =>
{
    o.Text            = "Please wait...";               // default text everywhere
    o.Lottie          = "loader.json";                  // Resources/Raw
    o.Image           = "logo.png";                     // Resources/Images
    o.IndicatorColor  = Colors.White;
    o.BackgroundColor = Color.FromArgb("#80000000");
    o.OverlayColor    = Color.FromArgb("#66000000");
    o.TextColor       = Colors.White;
    o.IndicatorSize   = 40;
    o.LottieSize      = 100;
    o.ImageSize       = 60;
    o.Spacing         = 8;                              // gap between loader and text
});

Set nothing and you get a clean white spinner.

Change it for one screen

using (LoadingHud.Show("Uploading...", lottie: "upload.json")) { ... }
using (LoadingHud.Show(image: "logo.png")) { ... }
using (LoadingHud.Show("")) { ... }        // no text this time

The signature is simple:

IDisposable Show(string? text = null, string? lottie = null, string? image = null)

How it decides what to show

Priority	Loader
1	`lottie` passed to `Show()`
2	`image` passed to `Show()`
3	`Lottie` from `MauiProgram`
4	`Image` from `MauiProgram`
5	Activity indicator (spinner)

Text works the same way: the text you pass wins, otherwise the default from MauiProgram. If a Lottie or image file can't be found, it quietly falls back to the spinner instead of crashing.

How it works under the hood

Native overlay: Android uses a Dialog and iOS uses a UIWindow above your app. MAUI navigation is never involved.
Reference counting: each Show() adds one, each Dispose() removes one, and the loader closes when the count reaches zero. Nested calls just work.
Hide() as a safety net: it closes everything at once, and tokens from before it are ignored.
Memory: native views are disposed on hide. On iOS only the last Lottie stays cached, and Android uses Lottie's own cache.
Threading: call Show() / Hide() from any thread. The UI work is marshalled to the main thread.

Quick example

private async void Save_Clicked(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    using (LoadingHud.Show("Saving..."))
    {
        await SaveAsync();

        using (LoadingHud.Show("Syncing..."))   // nested: no clash
            await SyncAsync();
    }
}

Get it

📦 NuGet: https://www.nuget.org/packages/Plugin.Maui.LoadingHud
💻 GitHub: https://github.com/PrathamsGithub/Plugin.Maui.LoadingHud

dotnet add package Plugin.Maui.LoadingHud

Android and iOS are supported. Other targets compile but show nothing.

Feedback welcome

Found a bug on a device I didn't test, or want another option? Open an issue or send a PR on GitHub. If it saves you time, a ⭐ helps others find it. 🙌

DEV Community: Pratham Gheewala