I’m working on a personal project where I need to use different AndroidManifest.xml files for different brands of the app. Each brand has its own manifest file located in a separate directory. However, despite configuring the .csproj to include the correct AndroidManifest.xml for the active brand, the build process only includes the base AndroidManifest.xml, and the brand-specific manifest is not being merged.

Project Setup:

• Base Manifest Location: Platforms/Android/AndroidManifest.xml
• Brand-Specific Manifest Location: Stuff/Brand1/Android/AndroidManifest.xml
• Development Environment: Visual Studio 2022, .NET MAUI

What I’ve Tried:

1. Several variations of modifying the .csproj file as such:

   <ItemGroup>
       <None Remove="Platforms/Android/AndroidManifest.xml" />
       <AndroidManifest Include="Stuff/Brand1/Android/AndroidManifest.xml">
           <LogicalName>Platforms/Android/AndroidManifest.xml</LogicalName>
       </AndroidManifest>
   </ItemGroup>
   

   OR

   <ItemGroup Condition="$(cfg.Contains('-Brand1'))">
       <None Remove="Platforms/Android/AndroidManifest.xml" />
       <AndroidManifest Include="Stuff/Brand1/Android/AndroidManifest.xml">
           <LogicalName>Platforms/Android/AndroidManifest.xml</LogicalName>
       </AndroidManifest>
   </ItemGroup>
   

   Conditionals do work in .csproj as I am using them for other brand-specific settings.

2. Clean and Rebuild: I’ve performed a clean build multiple times, but the brand-specific manifest is still not being merged.

3. Checked Merged Manifest: After the build, I checked the obj/Debug/android/manifest/AndroidManifest.xml, and it only contains the base manifest.

4. Build Output Logs: I reviewed the build logs but didn’t see any obvious errors or warnings related to the manifest merging process.

The Problem:

Despite these efforts, the brand-specific AndroidManifest.xml isn’t being picked up or merged during the build. As a result, 3rd party configurations, which are specific to the brand, are missing in the final build.

Questions:

1. How can I ensure that the brand-specific AndroidManifest.xml is correctly included and merged during the build process?
2. Is there something I might be missing in the .csproj configuration that could be causing this issue?
3. Are there any additional steps or settings in .NET MAUI that I need to configure to support brand-specific manifests?

Any insights or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you in advance for your help.

BONUS
Would also be nice to know if:

<meta-data
    android:value="${ApplicationId}.MYCLASS"/>

is valid syntax within the AndroidManifest.xml.