Beyond REST: .NET Apps That Talk to Hardware | DEM365
Jared Rhodes demonstrates a practical .NET pattern for building apps that connect to real hardware, including device discovery over BLE and data exchange over NFC, serial, and USB. The session focuses on structuring device services, handling cross-platform differences, and choosing local connectivity when cloud APIs aren’t the right fit.
Overview
This Microsoft Build 2026 demo goes beyond typical REST-based examples and shows how a .NET application can communicate directly with devices using local connectivity options.
Why local connectivity (and why MAUI/Uno)
- The session frames scenarios where talking to hardware locally is a better fit than routing everything through cloud APIs.
- It highlights mobile and cross-platform considerations, calling out .NET MAUI and Uno Platform as enablers for hardware-based experiences.
Pattern: structuring “device services” in a .NET app
- A practical approach is presented for organizing hardware communication into device-focused services.
- The goal is to keep platform-specific differences contained while exposing a consistent workflow to the rest of the app.
BLE device discovery and Bluetooth services
- The demo includes discovering a device over Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE).
- It introduces a Bluetooth Heart Rate Service example.
- It covers the idea of Bluetooth services and UUIDs as the identifiers used to find and interact with capabilities on a device.
NFC basics and RFID comparison
- The session introduces Near Field Communication (NFC) and compares it with RFID at a conceptual level.
- It describes the NFC message reading flow, including tag discovery callbacks used by apps to react when a tag is detected.
Serial and USB communication
- The demo includes exchanging data over serial.
- It transitions into USB communication, including a device initialization process.
Agent-first tooling and MCP
- The session includes an overview of Uno Platform’s “agent-first” studio concept.
- It references an MCP server as part of that workflow.
- It also discusses challenges that come up when hardware bugs intersect with coding agents, including a test failure that points to a hardware communication issue.