jetc.dev Newsletter - Issue #50

So long as we are using pre-release versions of Compose, we are going to run into occasional problems when moving to new IDE versions. In this case, the latest Android Studio canary build does not necessarily like every version of Compose, as we see in this week’s highlighted Stack Overflow question.

The callback-style APIs of onCommit(), onDispose(), and onActive() are now deprecated — please move to DisposableEffect and SideEffect instead. Other renamed items include invalidate() (see currentRecomposeScope) and CompositionLifecycleObserver (see RememberObserver).

Scrolling is moving more towards coroutines; functions like scrollBy() that were not suspend functions are deprecated. Also, ScrollableColumn() and ScrollableRow() are deprecated — please either use LazyColumn()/LazyRow() or a regular Column()/Row() with a scrolling modifier. If you are using LazyColumn()/LazyRow()/LazyVerticalGrid(), your items() and itemsIndexed() functions are now extension functions, requiring manual imports. A bunch of classes, such as AnnotatedString, are no longer data class implementations. Image() and Icon() now request a contentDescription.

And there are many more changes — you really want to review these release notes!

WithConstraints is now BoxWithConstraints. We have a new AmbientSavedStateRegistryOwner to add to our ambient toolbox. Vector graphics supports tints better. Coordinate systems are moving from global to window-based.

There is a lot more in these release notes, though it largely overlaps the Compose Foundation ones from above.

A bunch of composables no longer have the @Experimental or ExperimentalMaterialAPI annotations, which is nice. If you were changing ripples using AmbientIndication, please switch to RippleTheme() instead.

Once again, there is a lot more in these release notes, though it largely overlaps the Compose Foundation and Compose UI ones from above.

Siva Ganesh Kantamani reviews the role of Modifier along with several of the most common modifiers. Siva also peeks at creating custom Modifier extensions, particularly for patterns that are common in your specific app.

Kilo Loco returns with a screencast looking at Compose UI rendering user-selected images. He blends the ActivityResult APIs (for getting that image) with Glide, showing how to get a composable to react to the user selection.

Kharan Dhillon takes a quick peek at Navigation for Compose and how we can use it to route among various composables in a fragment-free app.

MJ Manaog offers a basic intro to Compose UI, with an eye towards implementing a scrolling grid of cards. His focus is on comparing a RecyclerView implementation with the Compose UI equivalent.

Ian Warwick is working on a Compose Material library that renders a piano-style keyboard, with highlights to show specific piano chords.

GitHub user Veriqus is working on a Kotlin/Multiplatform project for examining the price of gold. The Android app uses Compose UI, and common code across Android and iOS uses SQLDelight.