jetc.dev Newsletter Issue #252

Published: 2025-02-04

Not only did we get yet another patch release for Compose, but we got a new beta!

Beyond that, we look at testing composables, PullToRefreshBox(), and map markers. Plus, we see a Figma plugin for exporting vector images to ImageVector objects.

Ooooo… What Did We Get?

Reviewing the release notes for the latest Jetpack Compose update!

We have 2025.01.01 BOMs (stable, beta, alpha). The stable BOM points to the 1.7.7 patch release, with a smattering of bug fixes.

We also got 1.8.0-beta01, so the beta release train for 1.8.0 has left the station! Of note:

ContextualFlowRow() and ContextualFlowColumn() were deprecated — more on this later in the newsletter
The older non-semantics-based autofill APIs were deprecated, replaced by the semantics-based ones

And, we got the following updates to Compose-related libraries:

androidx.lifecycle:lifecycle-runtime-compose:2.9.0-alpha09
androidx.lifecycle:lifecycle-runtime-compose-android:2.9.0-alpha09
androidx.lifecycle:lifecycle-runtime-compose-jvmstubs:2.9.0-alpha09
androidx.lifecycle:lifecycle-runtime-compose-linuxx64stubs:2.9.0-alpha09
androidx.lifecycle:lifecycle-viewmodel-compose:2.9.0-alpha09
androidx.lifecycle:lifecycle-viewmodel-compose-android:2.9.0-alpha09
androidx.lifecycle:lifecycle-viewmodel-compose-desktop:2.9.0-alpha09
androidx.navigation:navigation-compose:2.8.6
androidx.navigation:navigation-compose:2.9.0-alpha05
androidx.navigation:navigation-fragment-compose:2.8.6
androidx.navigation:navigation-fragment-compose:2.9.0-alpha05
androidx.savedstate:savedstate-compose:1.3.0-alpha07
androidx.savedstate:savedstate-compose-android:1.3.0-alpha07
androidx.savedstate:savedstate-compose-jvmstubs:1.3.0-alpha07
androidx.savedstate:savedstate-compose-linuxx64stubs:1.3.0-alpha07

One Off the Stack, One Off the Slack

You’ve got questions. That’s understandable!

How Can I Control the Scroll Speed?

There may be some scenarios where you need a container, such as a LazyVerticalGrid(), to scroll more slowly than it would by default. One way to handle this is by applying a custom NestedScrollConnection to limit swipes and flings, as we see in this week’s highlighted Stack Overflow question.

Hey, Why Is `ContextualFlowRow()` Deprecated?

Google’s Simona Milanovic (Mastodon, Bluesky) announced a new policy for Compose, where APIs will no longer hang out in @Experimental status for extended periods. Instead, Google will move APIs more aggressively either into stable status… or deprecate them. In this case, they are choosing to deprecate ContextualFlowRow() and ContextualFlowColumn(), so prepare your forks! Learn more in this week’s highlighted Kotlinlang #compose Slack thread.

Composable Commentary

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

Video: Compose Tips | Testing

Google’s Alex Vanyo (Mastodon, Bluesky) has a short video outlining the use of Compose Preview Screenshot Testing and DeviceConfigurationOverride to help with testing.

Migrating to the Compose PullToRefreshBox

Joe Birch (Mastodon) walks us through the problems with the current pullToRefresh() modifier and shows us how to switch to PullToRefreshBox() from Compose Material3.

BasicTextField bubble wrap

Zach Klippenstein (Bluesky) points out that implementing fields in a custom design system is a bit of a pain. One aspect of that pain comes with padding between a border and the BasicTextField() itself — that padding might waste space in scrollable multi-line fields. Zach demonstrates a hack that can allow the bottom padding to only take effect when the text is scrolled all the way to the bottom. One limitation: Zach’s post does not make fun popping sounds, the way actual bubble wrap does.

Alireza Goodarzi demonstrates a lightweight asAnnotatedString() converter extension function for Spanned. Among other possible uses, this helps you convert HTML-based string resources into AnnotatedString objects for use in Compose UI.

Effective Map Composables: Collections of Draggable Markers

Uli Bubenheimer (Mastodon, Bluesky) continues a tour of advanced Maps for Compose implementations, this time blending the work from the previous three posts into a DraggableMarkersModel class. This class handles both types of marker collection state changes: changes in what markers are in the collection and changes to the marker positions (e.g., via drag-and-drop).

Resource Roundup

100% pure code!

Figma Plugin: SVG to Jetpack Compose Icon

Emre hamurcu published a Figma plugin to convert vector graphics to ImageVector implementations, including preview composables.

GitHub: evergreentree97 / easy-shimmer-compose

Choi Sang Rok has published a library containing a drawShimmer() modifier and a Painter implementation of a shimmer, the latter of which can serve as a placeholder while Coil loads a real image.

GitHub: mejdi14 / KMP-Liquid-Slider

mejdi hafien brings us a LiquidSlider() composable for choosing a value within a range, inspired by Ramotion’s original iOS implementation. This edition supports Compose Multiplatform.

KLocation

Addhen Limited published a library for getting location data as a Flow or, for Compose Multiplatform, as a State.

Notable Releases

Maps for Compose is up to 6.4.3, with “minor enhancements for DraggableMarkersCollectionWithPolygonActivity”.

Redwood is out with a 0.17.0 release. Some deprecated items were removed, some improvements for insets were added, and some bugs were fixed.

And Compose Destinations released 1.11.9 and 2.1.0-beta16 to update dependencies.

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