jetc.dev Newsletter Issue #265

Published: 2025-05-20

The family emergency I mentioned in my last message was the final hospitalization of my father, who passed on a few days ago. So, this issue is a bit shorter and more melancholy than normal.

Ooooo… What Did We Get?

Reviewing the release notes for the latest Jetpack Compose update!

The Compose BOMs were updated to 2025.05.00. The production BOM largely points to the new 1.8.1 patch release, which contains bug fixes.

We also received a 1.9.0-alpha02 release of the main Compose artifacts. The biggest change seems to be that they deprecated the variant of rememberSaveable() that accepts a custom key, asking us instead to rely on positional scoping. 🧐 Otherwise, this appears to mostly be bug fixes.

Glance is up to 1.2.0-alpha01. It now supports generated previews and multiple processes, among other changes.

Wear Compose is out with 1.5.0-beta01. SwipeToReveal was moved to the Material3 package and out of Foundation. 😞 Otherwise, this mostly contains bug fixes.

Four new Compose-related artifacts were released:

• androidx.compose.runtime:runtime-annotation-wasm-js
• androidx.compose.runtime:runtime-wasm-js
• androidx.glance:glance-appwidget-multiprocess
• androidx.pdf:pdf-compose

The latter is interesting, suggesting that Jetpack PDF rendering support is coming to Compose.

We also got updates to some Compose-adjacent artifacts, including:

• androidx.camera:camera-compose:1.5.0-beta01
• androidx.camera.viewfinder:viewfinder-compose:1.5.0-beta01
• androidx.hilt:hilt-navigation-compose:1.3.0-alpha01
• androidx.lifecycle:lifecycle-runtime-compose:2.9.0
• androidx.lifecycle:lifecycle-runtime-compose-android:2.9.0
• androidx.lifecycle:lifecycle-runtime-compose-jvmstubs:2.9.0
• androidx.lifecycle:lifecycle-runtime-compose-linuxx64stubs:2.9.0
• androidx.lifecycle:lifecycle-viewmodel-compose:2.9.0
• androidx.lifecycle:lifecycle-viewmodel-compose-android:2.9.0
• androidx.lifecycle:lifecycle-viewmodel-compose-jvmstubs:2.9.0
• androidx.lifecycle:lifecycle-viewmodel-compose-linuxx64stubs:2.9.0
• androidx.navigation:navigation-compose:2.9.0
• androidx.navigation:navigation-compose-android:2.9.0
• androidx.navigation:navigation-compose-jvmstubs:2.9.0
• androidx.navigation:navigation-compose-linuxx64stubs:2.9.0
• androidx.navigation:navigation-fragment-compose:2.9.0
• androidx.savedstate:savedstate-compose:1.3.0
• androidx.savedstate:savedstate-compose-android:1.3.0
• androidx.savedstate:savedstate-compose-jvmstubs:1.3.0
• androidx.savedstate:savedstate-compose-linuxx64stubs:1.3.0

Last, but certainly not least, JetBrains published a stable release of Compose Multiplatform 1.8.0, including production-ready iOS support! 🎉

One Off the Stack, One Off the Slack

You’ve got questions. That’s understandable!

I am electing to skip this section this week in the interests of time, but it should return next week.

Composable Commentary

Posts, videos, and other new information related to Jetpack Compose!

Building delightful Android camera and media experiences

Google’s Mayuri Khinvasara Khabya, Mozart Louis, Donovan McMurray, and Nevin Mital review the status of Media3, including its recent addition of Compose support.

Compose Multiplatform 1.8.0 Released: Compose Multiplatform for iOS Is Stable and Production-Ready

Ekaterina Petrova of JetBrains announced Compose Multiplatform 1.8.0, bringing CMP up to date with Compose 1.8.0.

Present and Future of Kotlin for Web

JetBrains’ Zalim Bashorov and Artem Kobzar describe the efforts to improve Kotlin Multiplatform support for Web targets. This includes striving to get Compose Multiplatform Web/Wasm support to beta status, plus improving support for some older browsers.

Other Interesting Links

• Creating Web Components in Kotlin and Compose HTML
• Exploring Jetpack Compose for Widgets with Glance
• How Bitkey Uses Cross-Platform Development
• Medium: Building an Android Video Player with Media3 and Jetpack Compose
• Medium: Building Interactive Trading Charts in Jetpack Compose
• Medium: Compose UI Performance Secrets (Part 2): 5 Advanced Techniques for Ultra-Smooth Apps
• Medium: Custom Shimmer Effect in Jetpack Compose: Fast, Lightweight, Production-Ready
• Medium: Expandable List in Jetpack Compose
• Medium: Express Yourself: Designing with Material 3 Expressive in Compose
• Medium: Fixing State Problems in Jetpack Compose
• Medium: Handling Permissions in Compose Multiplatform
• Medium: How to Create a Custom Corner Badge in Jetpack Compose
• Medium: How to setup custom theme in Jetpack Compose
• Medium: Jetpack Compose InfiniteTransition: Creating Smooth Animations for Beginners
• Medium: LaunchedEffect vs SideEffect vs DisposableEffect — The Compose Avengers You Probably Miscast
• Medium: Mastering Compose API Design with SelectableChipDefaults
• Medium: Mastering Recomposition in Jetpack Compose: Performance Tips That Don’t Hurt Readability
• Medium: Scratch Card Implementation in Jetpack compose
• Medium: Stop Launching Coroutines in Composables!
• Testing Compose Desktop apps: preparations
• Using movableContentOf for shared transitions in Jetpack Compose

Resource Roundup

100% pure code!

GitHub: tungnk123 / top-sheet-compose

Like bottom sheets, but wish they were, well, somewhere else? GitHub user tungnk123 brings us top sheets: styled akin to bottom sheets, just descending from the top.

GitHub: kotlinlabs / Ganttastic

GitHub user kotlinlabs has implemented Gantt charts in Compose Multiplatform (Web/Wasm now, mobile and desktop planned). Tasks can be linked, can have custom progress colors, and can have details displayed in tooltips.

GitHub: Tweener / chartopia

In related charting news, Vivien Mahé published a Compose Multiplatform charting library. Right now, it offers line charts and the ever-popular donut chart. 🍩

GitHub: krizzu / kolor-picker

Krzysztof Borowy implemented a color picker for Compose Multiplatform (Android, iOS, desktop, and Web). It employs a 2D color selector alongside a hue slider.

Notable Releases

Circuit is up to 0.28.0, adding support for Compose 1.8, tweaking back handling a bit, and introducing a new circuitx-navigation library for navigation interception.

Coil’s long-awaited 3.2.0 release shipped. This adds Compose 1.8 support and includes a lot of bug fixes.

Compose Unstyled had two releases in recent days. 1.30.0 deprecates LocalModalWindow and adds verticalAlignment to TextField(). 1.31.0 adds Compose Multiplatform 1.8.0 support and cleans up the overall project a bit.