Even if creating Android only app for now I'd definitely recommend starting off being #KMP/#CMP ready ➡️ create KMP module ➡️ develop UI using Compose Multiplatform ➡️ use KMP libraries (e.g. Ktor for accessing remote apis) - ThreadSky

johnoreilly.dev • 189 days ago

Even if creating Android only app for now I'd definitely recommend starting off being #KMP/#CMP ready

➡️ create KMP module
➡️ develop UI using Compose Multiplatform
➡️ use KMP libraries (e.g. Ktor for accessing remote apis)

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johnoreilly.dev•188 days ago

This does not mean, if also supporting say IOS, that you couldn't use native UI for that....but you'd at least have option of pulling in CMP for some screens/parts of screen if needed.

You also have nice option of supporting desktop and can use following for example https://github.com/JetBrains/compose-hot-reload

tkuenneth.dev•189 days ago

For most apps, I’d absolutely 💯 this. There are a few exceptions, like something really being Android-specific. Among my apps this applies to Be nice (a split screen app kauncher) and SMS Relay (forwards SMS snd MMS messages via email). But generally 💯😍

johnoreilly.dev•189 days ago

I think you could still incorporate most android specific features as needed

tkuenneth.dev•189 days ago

Definitely true, John. Just feel for apps that likely won’t be available on other platforms, the admittedly small overhead isn’t worth it. For example, I’m using ContactsContract, SmsMessage, and a considerable amount of framework classes. But for most apps, starting with KMP makes a lot of sense

saket.me•189 days ago

I love KMP, but I would be hesitant to recommend this approach. Multiplatform code introduces an additional layer of complexity that isn't worth dealing with until you actually need to run your code on multiple platforms.

johnoreilly.dev•189 days ago

I think if android only then it's mostly a no-op other than maybe having to use different libraries in some cases

saket.me•189 days ago

If it's a paid company project, then sure. But for side projects where my time is already scarce, I regularly run into weird multiplatform issues and start questioning why I'm wasting my precious time on this instead of just shipping the thing.

saket.me•189 days ago

These issues range from tooling weirdness, as mentioned by @liutikas.net, to requiring a recently released component from a Compose UI and realizing that I can't use it until JetBrains' fork catches up.

While KMP has significantly matured, the added complexity is still non-zero.

johnoreilly.dev•189 days ago

Yeah, my no-op comment was mostly about setting up basic KMP plumbing....for sure there can be gaps between CMP and Jetpack Compose but hopeful they'll get shorter and less frequent (maybe one day it will be single framework 😃)

johnoreilly.dev•189 days ago

What sort of tooling weirdness are you seeing?

gakisstylianos.bsky.social•189 days ago

Yeah, this "preparation" might mean just picking the "right" libraries, not adding the entire KMP build structure, deal with Gradle and all that. That can come later if you actually go MP. At which point your life is much easier if you've made the right choices.

saurabharora.bsky.social•189 days ago

This is excatly what I am doing for my side project. Choose the right stack but not setup the framework yet.

skaldebane.dev•189 days ago

I set up the framework, get lost on a tangent trying to get wasmJs to run, then come back around to just having Android and Desktop (desktop for development and staying mostly KMP-ready)

vanyo.dev•189 days ago

Assuming you're have unit tests, you already do need to write your code on multiple platforms!

Once actually on Android, and then once host-side inside unit tests. I find that the KMP setup helps a lot with that difference, and it's something that a KMP setup allows enforcing at compile-time.

saket.me•189 days ago

bold of you to think that i'm writing tests

ianlake.bsky.social•189 days ago

androidUnitTest is an abomination, jvmTest is the way.

And that means a project structure built for KMP.

vanyo.dev•189 days ago

androidUnitTest becomes androidRobolectricTest only 😄

liutikas.net•189 days ago

Kotlin Gradle plugin multiplatform bits also add a nontrivial maintenance burden and make general Android studio experience worse.

ashdavies.dev•189 days ago

I try this myself, and highly recommend it too, it used to be about abstracting yourself from the platform so you could run unit tests with a JVM without mocking everything under the sun, but it's just good practice.

sevengreenrobots.com•189 days ago

Agree with this, I've migrated an android-specific app to CMP and there were some big headaches along the way. Rewriting core architecture such as DI, networking etc is no fun. I wish I had started with multiplatform in mind!

geoffreymetais.bsky.social•189 days ago

Screen by screen UI development?
Or is there a reliable multi platform navigation framework?

johnoreilly.dev•189 days ago

There are several options these days. Can even just Jetpack Navigation in KMP code!

sjaramillo.bsky.social•189 days ago

This is exactly what I am trying to convince my company to do 👆

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