Posted by Ben Trengrove – Developer Relations Engineer, Matt Dyor – Product Supervisor
Google I/O and KotlinConf 2025 carry a sequence of bulletins on Android’s Kotlin and Kotlin Multiplatform efforts. Right here’s what to be careful for:
Bulletins from Google I/O 2025
Jetpack libraries
Our focus for Jetpack libraries and KMP is on sharing enterprise logic throughout Android and iOS, however we now have begun experimenting with net/WASM help.
We’re including KMP help to Jetpack libraries. Final 12 months we began with Room, DataStore and Assortment, which are actually out there in a secure launch and not too long ago we now have added ViewModel, SavedState and Paging. The degrees of help that our Jetpack libraries assure for every platform have been categorised into three tiers, with the highest tier being for Android, iOS and JVM.
Device enhancements
We’re creating new instruments to assist simply begin utilizing KMP in your app. With the KMP new module template in Android Studio Meerkat, you’ll be able to add a brand new module to an current app and share code to iOS and different supported KMP platforms.
Along with KMP enhancements, Android Studio now helps Kotlin K2 mode for Android particular options requiring language help equivalent to Dwell Edit, Compose Preview and plenty of extra.
How Google is utilizing KMP
Final 12 months, Google Workspace started experimenting with KMP, and that is now operating in manufacturing within the Google Docs app on iOS. The app’s runtime efficiency is on par or higher than earlier than1.
It’s been useful to have an app at this scale take a look at KMP out, as a result of we’re in a position to determine points and repair points that profit the KMP developer group.
For instance, we have upgraded the Kotlin Native compiler to LLVM 16 and contributed a extra environment friendly rubbish collector and string implementation. We’re additionally bringing the static evaluation energy of Android Lint to Kotlin targets and making certain a unified Gradle DSL for each AGP and KGP to enhance the plugin administration expertise.
New steering
We’re offering complete steering within the type of two new codelabs: Getting began with Kotlin Multiplatform and Migrating your Room database to KMP, that can assist you get from standalone Android and iOS apps to shared enterprise logic.
Kotlin Enhancements
Kotlin Image Processing (KSP2) is secure to higher help new Kotlin language options and ship higher efficiency. It’s simpler to combine with construct techniques, is thread-safe, and has higher help for debugging annotation processors. In distinction to KSP1, KSP2 has significantly better compatibility throughout totally different Kotlin variations. The rewritten command line interface additionally turns into considerably simpler to make use of as it’s now a standalone program as a substitute of a compiler plugin.
KotlinConf 2025
Google staff members are presenting numerous talks at KotlinConf spanning a number of matters:
Talks
- Deploying KMP at Google Workspace by Jason Parachoniak, Troels Lund, and Johan Bay from the Workspace staff discusses the challenges and options, together with bugs and efficiency optimizations, encountered when launching Kotlin Multiplatform at Google Workspace, providing comparisons to ObjectiveC and a Q&A. (Technical Session)
- The Life and Dying of a Kotlin/Native Object by Troels Lund provides a high-level clarification of the Kotlin/Native runtime’s interior workings regarding object instantiation, reminiscence administration, and disposal. (Technical Session)
- APIs: How Laborious Can They Be? introduced by Aurimas Liutikas and Alan Viverette from the Jetpack staff delves into the lifecycle of API design, evaluate processes, and evolution inside AndroidX libraries, notably contemplating KMP and associated instruments. (Technical Session)
- Venture Sparkles: How Compose for Desktop is altering Android Studio and IntelliJ with Chris Sinco and Sebastiano Poggi from the Android Studio staff introduces the initiative (‘Venture Sparkles’) aiming to modernize Android Studio and IntelliJ UIs utilizing Compose for Desktop, masking targets, examples, and collaborations. (Technical Session)
- JSpecify: Java Nullness Annotations and Kotlin introduced by David Baker explains the importance and workings of JSpecify’s normal Java nullness annotations for enhancing Kotlin’s interoperability with Java libraries. (Lightning Session)
- Classes realized decoupling Structure Elements from platform particular code options Jeremy Woods and Marcello Galhardo from the Jetpack staff sharing insights from the Android staff on decoupling core parts like SavedState and System Again from platform specifics to create widespread APIs. (Technical Session)
- KotlinConf’s Closing Panel, a daily staple of the convention, returns, that includes Jeffrey van Gogh as Google’s consultant on the panel. (Panel)
Dwell Workshops
If you’re at KotlinConf in individual, we can have guided dwell workshops with our new codelabs from above.
- The codelab Migrating Room to Room KMP, additionally led by Matt Dyor, and Dustin Lam, Tomáš Mlynarič, demonstrates the method of migrating an current Room database implementation to Room KMP inside a shared module.
We love participating with the Kotlin group. If you’re attending KotlinConf, we hope you get an opportunity to take a look at our sales space, with alternatives to speak with our engineers, get your questions answered, and be taught extra about how one can leverage Kotlin and KMP.
Be taught extra about Kotlin Multiplatform
To be taught extra about KMP and begin sharing your small business logic throughout platforms, try our documentation and the pattern.
Discover this announcement and all Google I/O 2025 updates on io.google beginning Might 22.
1 Google Inner Information, March 2025