jetc.dev Newsletter Issue #327
Published: 2026-08-18
This week, we see our new stable releases, look at another approach for Liquid Glass in a multiplatform app, and look at a @Preview generator.
Ooooo… What Did We Get?
Reviewing the release notes for the latest Jetpack Compose update!
The Compose BOMs are up to 2026.08.00. This includes the stable version of Compose 1.12.0 and the stable version of Compose Material3 Adaptive 1.3.0! 🎉
But, when there’s a stable release, there’s usually a new alpha, and this time is no exception: 1.13.0-alpha01 was released as well. This fresh alpha includes:
-
A new
RecompositionTracer“to record recomposition invalidation flow” -
The final removal of the
onFocusedBoundsChanged()modifier — useFocusTargetModifierNode.getFocusedRect()instead
Compose Material3 is up to 1.5.0-alpha26, mostly with bug fixes.
Remote Compose was bumped up to 1.0.0-alpha17, mostly promoting a bunch of functions in RemoteCompose and RemoteDrawScope to public.
Wear Compose now sits at 1.7.0-beta01, so we should get a stable release in a month or two.
Glance for Wear is now at 1.0.0-alpha16, mostly adding some Lint checks.
Nav3 has reached 1.1.6, with bug fixes.
And we got updates to the following Compose-related artifacts:
androidx.camera:camera-compose:1.7.0-alpha03androidx.camera.viewfinder:viewfinder-compose:1.7.0-alpha03androidx.fragment:fragment-compose:1.9.0androidx.ink:ink-authoring-compose:1.1.0-alpha07androidx.ink:ink-brush-compose:1.1.0-alpha07androidx.ink:ink-brush-compose-android:1.1.0-alpha07androidx.ink:ink-geometry-compose:1.1.0-alpha07androidx.ink:ink-geometry-compose-android:1.1.0-alpha07androidx.lifecycle:lifecycle-runtime-compose:2.12.0-alpha01(and multiplatform targets)androidx.lifecycle:lifecycle-viewmodel-compose:2.12.0-alpha01(and multiplatform targets)androidx.media3:media3-ui-compose:1.11.0androidx.media3:media3-ui-compose-material3:1.11.0androidx.navigation:navigation-compose:2.10.0-rc01(and multiplatform targets)androidx.navigation:navigation-fragment-compose:2.10.0-rc01androidx.navigationevent:navigationevent-compose:1.2.0-alpha04(and multiplatform targets)androidx.paging:paging-compose:3.5.1(and multiplatform targets)androidx.savedstate:savedstate-compose:1.6.0-alpha01(and multiplatform targets)
Finally, JetBrains has released 1.12.0-rc01 of Compose Multiplatform. The highlight is that Compose Hot Reload now has an associated MCP server, so your coding agents can interact with the running app.
Composable Commentary
Posts, videos, and other new information related to Jetpack Compose!
What’s new in the Jetpack Compose August ‘26 release
Google’s Nick Butcher
(Mastodon, Bluesky)
outlines what was delivered in 1.12 of Jetpack Compose, from a compileSdk of 37, to the Styles API, rich text formatting in BasicTextField(), mesh gradients, and more!
Bring one-handed gestures to your Wear OS app
Google’s Chiara Chiappini discusses the latest in “one-handed gestures” (i.e., gestures that do not require touch input) for Wear OS and how to implement them using Wear Compose.
Media3 1.11 - What’s new?
Google’s Toni Heidenreich describes what we got in 1.11 of Media 3, including more slot parameters for Player(), a new MiniController, more state holders for metadata and errors, and more.
Exploring Compose HTML for Server Side Rendering
JetBrains’ Frederik Pietzko explores what it would take to allow Compose to do server-side rendering (SSR) of a rich Web UI. Compose Multiplatform’s Web support is focused on the client side and renders to a Web canvas; Frederik is proposing resurrecting the largely-abandoned Compose HTML project that could serve as the basis for SSR support.
Medium: Adding Liquid Glass to a Compose Multiplatform App
Some folks try to add Liquid Glass in Compose Multiplatform via libraries that allow for a similar effect on non-iOS platforms. Andrey Yegorov points out another solution: blending SwiftUI and Compose on iOS, where SwiftUI manages the Liquid Glass effects, among other things.
The Problem of Fixed Heights
Eevis Panula
(Mastodon, Bluesky)
points out that fixed-height composables are an accessibility problem. Large-font content can get cropped, for example. Eevis reminds us that heightIn allows us to specify a minimum height, so composables can grow vertically as needed to accommodate their contents.
Other Interesting Links
- Medium: Adaptive Android Apps with Jetpack Compose: Build Once for Every Screen
- Medium: Effect vs. State: Solving Compose’s One-Time Event Problem the Right Way
- Medium: How to Add AdMob to a Compose Multiplatform App on Android and iOS
- Medium: How To Load & Play Videos In Compose Multiplatform
- Medium: How To Load And Display Photos In Compose Multiplatform
- Medium: Jetpack Compose Performance at Scale: Diagnosing and Fixing Cross-Module Stability Leaks
- Medium: Jetpack Compose Stability: Why Your UI Recomposes When It Shouldn’t
- Medium: Material 3 vs FormaUI: a token-by-token comparison
- Medium: Multiple ViewModel Architecture in Jetpack Compose
- Medium: MVI Architecture in Android with Kotlin and Jetpack Compose: A Practical Guide with Clean…
- Medium: Taming Noto Nastaliq: Fixing Urdu Font Rendering Issues in Android
- Medium: The Compose Recomposition Mistakes I Keep Seeing in Production
- Medium: Three Compose APIs That Quietly Changed How I Write UI Code in 2026
- Medium: Use Compose Multiplatform Components in a UIKit Scroll View (Without Losing Your Mind)
- Medium: var config by prefs.byBoolean(): The Easiest Way to Sync SharedPreferences and Jetpack Compose
- Medium: Your Compose App Isn’t Slow — Your State Is
Resource Roundup
100% pure code!
GitHub: AkshayChordiya / Pose
Akshay Chordiya offers us a build-time @Preview generator — you add @Pose to composables, and Pose code-generates a suitable @PreviewLightDark composable for use in your preview pane. An associated IntelliJ plugin adds gutter icons to help you work with previews and their associated composables.
GitHub: sproctor / compose-docking
Sean Proctor ported ModernDocking to Compose Multiplatform, with tabbed resizable panes. Compose for Desktop gains additional features, such as floating windows and a Jewel theme.
GitHub: Raheelnaz / mauzun
Raheel Naz created a Molecule-powered ViewModel for use in Compose for Android projects.
Other Interesting Links
- GitHub: gabriel-TheCode / AestheticDialogs (dialog design system for Compose for Android)
- GitHub: NucleusFramework / yaru-compose-ui (port of Ubuntu’s design system to Compose Multiplatform)
- GitHub: rabross / SegmentedDisplay (7- and 14-segment LED displays for Compose for Android)
- GitHub: tahaak67 / ShowcaseLayoutCompose (onboarding-style highlight system for Compose Multiplatform)
Notable Releases
Circuit is up to 0.36.1 with a bug fix.
ComposeNativeWebview pushed out 1.0.1, fixing a deployment bug that affected iOS builds.
A Very Particular Set of Skills
Adding Compose capabilities to your coding agents!
Recent Issues:
- 2026-08-04: Compose 1.0 five-year anniversary! 1.12.0 RC! Memory leaks! Remote Compose for debugging! And... have you been through the desert with a state with no name?!?
- 2026-07-28: PinnableContainer! End-to-end testing! Accessibility scanner! Docked panels! Photo editing! And... do we *really* need Canvas() everywhere?!?
- 2026-07-21: Alphas! Replacing your base fragment! Official Lottie Compose support! And, I don't think you're ready for this... JellyFab?!?