Its hardly more performant. But here is some more info: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NYtB6mlu7vA&t=1m41s Yes, the documentation is far from good. But the larger problem I find is that the 2 platforms are made from opposites points, and I don't see Xamarin glueing it together as magic. But you are right, the layouts and measurements even differ per api level as they get optimisations and are really complex. It would be awesome if Xamarin could combine both platforms native performs, but I don't see that happening :(