Modern Android App Development with Kotlin & Jetpack Compose

Android app development has undergone a lot of changes over the years. Based on developer feedback, seeking openness and ease of use,  Android has decided to come up with a new approach – Modern Android Development. Kotlin and Jetpack Compose are a direct consequence of this approach. In this blog, we have a look at the new features of Modern Android Development.

Kotlin for Android– THE NEW RECOMMENDED LANGUAGE

What is Kotlin and why use it? KotlinKotlinKotlin is a cross-platform, statically typed, general-purpose programming language with type inference. Kotlin is designed to interoperate fully with Java, and the JVM version of its standard library depends on the Java Class Library, but type inference allows its syntax to be more concise. is a modern, concise language built to provide high-quality language support. By eliminating overheads, it creates a beautiful app-creation experience for the developer. As of now, more than 60% of the top 1000 apps on the Google Play store use Kotlin. 

This has been possible due to the following reasons – 

• Integration with JetBrainsJetBrains IntelliJ IDEA is a special programming environment or integrated development environment (IDE) largely meant for Java. This environment is used especially for the development of programs. It is developed by a company called JetBrains, which was formally called IntelliJ. for faster compile speeds.
• Better IDEIDEAn integrated development environment is a software application that provides comprehensive facilities to computer programmers for software development. An IDE normally consists of at least a source code editor, build automation tools, and a debugger. typing latency
• R8 optimizations that are aware of Kotlin specific byte-code patterns
• Better support for languages like Java and C++.

Being compatible with existing Android apps, Kotlin language allows apps to run faster by optimizing the existing code. In addition, there is full IDEIDEAn integrated development environment is a software application that provides comprehensive facilities to computer programmers for software development. An IDE normally consists of at least a source code editor, build automation tools, and a debugger. support.

Jetpack – The Library Meant to Solve Real-life Problems Every Day

JetpackJetpackJetpack is a suite of libraries, tools, and guidance to help developers write high-quality apps easier. These components help you follow best practices, free you from writing boilerplate code, and simplify complex tasks, so you can focus on the code you care about has a suite of in-built libraries that help developers write powerful, high-quality apps with less code. More than 84% of the top 10,000 apps in the Google Play Store use Jetpack for app development. 

Here are some of the key features available with the Suite –  

• Benchmarking – App performance is a key indicator of its success. This library makes it easier to measure app performance.

• View Binding – If findViewbyId() is an irritant to you, there is good news. View bindingView bindingView binding is a feature that allows you to more easily write code that interacts with views. Once view binding is enabled in a module, it generates a binding class for each XML layout file present in that module. An instance of a binding class contains direct references to all views that have an ID in the corresponding layout. has been built to eliminate such developer inconveniences. With this feature, developers can now access Views directly from their code.  

• CameraX – Using this feature, the developer entirely focuses on the code without worrying too much about device specifications. Developing apps for different devices as Oppo, Xiaomi, Samsung, Oppo, etc. can be done without having to spend time changing code based on the device.

Compose – The New Android UI Toolkit is Now in Developer Preview

What is Jetpack Compose? ComposeComposeJetpack Compose simplifies and accelerates UI development on Android. Quickly bring your app to life with less code, powerful tools, and intuitive Kotlin APIs. is the new Android UI toolkit that has been designed with a focus on the future. Built with a futuristic view, this is a framework for creating beautiful, intuitive, concise and native apps.  The tool is now in developer preview to use, test and provide feedback. Developers can download it with the latest preview build of Android Studio. Jetpack Compose is set for beta release next year. Developer feedback is being sought, many API improvements are being made and the feature is likely to be ready for use in production apps by next year.

Along with this, Android Canary 4.0 has also been released for powerful, integrated tooling support. Developed in sync with Jetpack Compose, it comes with Compose Live Preview, automatic Code Completion, and a full sample of Compose app. It also supports J8 DesugaringDesugaringDesugaring refers either to the process by which you remove all that is redundant in a language or the process by which a code processor finds out what's behind a sugared statement., new Motion Editor, and Live Kotlin templates among other features.

Android App Bundles and Dynamic Delivery Updates

Android App bundles now make up more than 25% of active app installs from the Google Play Store. With more than 270k apps using it, the bundle is simple to test and debug. Dynamic delivery is being made available for offline testing to allow replication with a fake split install manager. Some key improvements in App bundles – 

• Internal app sharing of a test build that is similar to APK sharing.
• Ability to share and upload debuggable artifacts.
• No need of signing test versions with production app signing keys.
• Eliminating the use of test version codes.
• Downloading old app versions from Play Console.
• Allowing any team member to upload artifacts.

User Safety and Privacy

With a growing need to protect user information, apps now require higher levels of privacy and security. This is being done primarily to protect the privacy of families and children. Play Console apps are being improved every day using the latest technologies and developer feedback. With almost no app being allowed to access personal information without user consent, user-privacy and trust remain a priority for companies.

As mobile app development develops and expands, it is important to stay in sync with the market demands. At TechAffinity, our experts come up with solutions that not only work but also provide value to our customers. Our developers, on a consistent basis, get things done on time. Do you have any app ideas? Email us at media@techaffinity.com and we will get in touch with you shortly.