jetc.dev Newsletter Issue #302

Published: 2026-02-17

Compose and Compose Multiplatform received updates, so we see what’s in store for us!

Also, we explore bottom sheets beyond ModalBottomSheet(), explore the accessibility limitations of colors, and grumble about Glance. Plus, we see how to export vector PDFs from composables in Compose Multiplatform.

Ooooo… What Did We Get?

Reviewing the release notes for the latest Jetpack Compose update!

The Compose BOMs are up to 2026.02.00. The production BOM should point to 1.10.3 of the major Compose artifacts, containing bug fixes.

The alpha BOM should point to 1.11.0-alpha05 of the major Compose artifacts. This includes:

  • Movement of some “common structures” from ComposeView to ComposeViewContext

  • Improved support for trackpads

  • Other improvements and bug fixes

Compose Material3 is up to 1.5.0-alpha14. This adds a bunch of padding options for things like NavigationRail() and SuggestionChip(), improves multi-line Snackbar() rendering, and more.

Compose Material3 Adaptive is up to 1.3.0-alpha08, adding custom pane animations, preferred height/width metadata, and pane expansion support to material scene strategies.

Compose Remote is up to 1.0.0-alpha04, with a variety of improvements.

Wear Compose is up to 1.6.0-alpha10, bringing changes to ambient mode, some API renames, and bug fixes.

We also got updates to a bunch of Compose-related artifacts:

  • androidx.activity:activity-compose:1.12.4
  • androidx.camera:camera-compose:1.6.0-beta02
  • androidx.camera.viewfinder:viewfinder-compose:1.6.0-beta02
  • androidx.media3:media3-ui-compose:1.10.0-alpha01
  • androidx.media3:media3-ui-compose:1.9.2
  • androidx.media3:media3-ui-compose-material3:1.10.0-alpha01
  • androidx.media3:media3-ui-compose-material3:1.9.2
  • androidx.paging:paging-compose:3.4.1 (and multiplatform targets)
  • androidx.pdf:pdf-compose:1.0.0-alpha13

Finally, JetBrains released Compose Multiplatform 1.10.1, containing various bug fixes.

Composable Commentary

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

Medium: Building a Google Maps Style Bottom Sheet with Jetpack Compose

Jaewoong Eum (Mastodon, Bluesky) writes about Google Maps’ three-state bottom sheet (peek, mid-height, fully expanded) and how to create one using Jaewoong’s own FlexibleBottomSheet library.

Medium: Custom Bottom Sheets in Compose Without the Hassle

Christophy Barth also writes about bottom sheets in Compose, demonstrating a from-scratch implementation that avoids ModalBottomSheet() and its limitations.

The Problem of Color As The Only Indicator

Eevis Panula (Mastodon, Bluesky) writes about how user interfaces should not rely on color as a signifier, as users may not be able to see the color difference due to color-blindness, excessive glare, etc. Eevis demonstrates ways of blending both color and stylistic differences to represent different states, so color alone is not the distinguishing element.

Medium: BoxWithConstraints in Jetpack Compose: The Complete Deep Dive

Sehaj kahlon shows how to use BoxWithConstraints() for adaptive UIs, rather than relying on screen width to make decisions.

Medium: What Finally Worked with Jetpack Glance

Bhoomi Vaghasiya Gadhiya writes about her team’s struggles using Glance for app widget implementations and explains how they managed to adapt to Glance’s limitations and constraints.

Resource Roundup

100% pure code!

GitHub: lmee / A2UI-Android

Google is working on A2UI, a specification for describing the “intent” of a UI, with an eye towards LLMs generating A2UI-based user interfaces. GitHub user lmee is working on a Compose for Android A2UI renderer.

GitHub: ch4rl3x / compose-multiplatform-pdf-export

is working on a Compose Multiplatform (Android, iOS, desktop) library that renders composables to multi-page vector PDF files. It supports custom page sizes and orientations, smart pagination, and more.

GitHub: IknowDeadPool / Drag-Highlight

Balaji Vellaluru created a DragHighlightBox() composable that “enables drag-based selection by drawing a selection rectangle and consuming drag gestures to prevent parent scroll or drag conflicts”.

GitHub: flyfishxu / vetra-ui

GitHub user flyfishxu is building a Compose Multiplatform (all targets) design system.

Notable Releases

Circuit is up to 0.33.0, adding bi-directional navigation support (forward/back).

…And One More Thing

I peeked at Android 17 Beta 1 and did not find all that much.

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