Compose Multiplatform
ELI5 - The Vibe Check
Compose Multiplatform takes Android's Jetpack Compose UI toolkit and lets it paint pixels on iOS, desktop, and web too, not just Android. Instead of Kotlin Multiplatform sharing only your business logic while each platform keeps its own native UI, Compose Multiplatform shares the actual UI code as well. One Kotlin UI, several platforms.
Real Talk
Compose Multiplatform is a JetBrains framework, built on Kotlin Multiplatform and Jetpack Compose, that lets developers write a single declarative UI in Kotlin and render it on Android, iOS, desktop, and web. Unlike KMP's typical approach of sharing logic while keeping native UI per platform, Compose Multiplatform shares the rendering layer itself.
When You'll Hear This
"We share both logic and UI now that we're on Compose Multiplatform, not just the data layer." / "Compose Multiplatform's iOS target is newer than the Android one, budget extra QA time there."
Related Terms
Flutter
Flutter is Google's way of saying 'write once, run everywhere' and actually meaning it.
Jetpack Compose
Jetpack Compose is Android admitting that writing UI with XML layout files was miserable and switching to a declarative model like SwiftUI or React.
Kotlin Multiplatform
Kotlin Multiplatform (KMP) lets you write your data models, API calls, and business logic once in Kotlin, then use them in your Android app and your iOS ap...
SwiftUI
SwiftUI is Apple's answer to React — instead of manipulating views imperatively, you declare what the UI should look like given some state and SwiftUI figu...