Jetpack Compose app development
Jetpack Compose app development company for new Android apps and XML migrations
We are a Jetpack Compose app development company that builds new Android interfaces in Compose and moves XML View-based apps across screen by screen. This page covers the framework work: migration, interop, performance and Material 3. For our full Android service, including device testing and Play Console releases, see Android app development.
Every sprint ends with a build on Play Console internal testing, so you judge progress on a real phone.
- Compose-first, Views where needed
- Incremental XML migration
- Baseline Profiles and recomposition tuning
- Material 3 design systems
Why Compose is now the default for Android UI
Google describes Jetpack Compose as “Android’s recommended modern toolkit for building native UI”, recommends migrating Views-based UIs and says Android is now “Compose-first”. Most of Google’s current UI guidance, samples and Material 3 work now assume Compose. Kotlin has been the preferred language since Google declared Android “Kotlin-first” in 2019, and Compose is written for it.
For buyers, the practical gains are fewer files per screen, previews that let designers and developers review states quickly, and fewer state-sync bugs, because the UI is redrawn from state rather than manually updated. Teams that move to Compose usually find new screens faster to build once the design system is in place.
What Compose does not do is fix a messy app by itself. If business logic lives inside Activities and Fragments today, it will live inside composables tomorrow unless the migration includes an architecture clean-up.
Compose, XML Views or a mix: what fits your app
A quick decision guide we use during discovery.
| Situation | Recommendation | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| New Android app | Compose throughout | Single-activity app with Navigation Compose and a Material 3 theme |
| Healthy Views app, active roadmap | New features in Compose, old screens later | ComposeView inside Fragments; no freeze on feature work |
| Views app with heavy custom Views (charts, maps, editors) | Keep those Views, wrap them | AndroidView embeds existing Views inside Compose screens |
| App with logic inside Activities and Fragments | Refactor to ViewModels first | Then migrate UI; otherwise the debt just moves |
| Java codebase | Kotlin for new code, then Compose | Java and Kotlin interoperate; convert modules as you touch them |
| Shared UI with iOS wanted | Consider Compose Multiplatform | Stable for iOS since version 1.8.0 (May 2025), per JetBrains |
Mixed apps are normal and fully supported. A clear plan for which screens move when matters more than speed.
How we migrate an XML Views app to Compose
A migration that keeps your release train moving. Each step ships behind a feature flag through internal testing first.
Audit screens and architecture
We map Activities, Fragments, custom Views, adapters and navigation, then rank screens by change frequency, crash rate and business value using your Play Console vitals and analytics.
Build the theme and components in Compose
Your colours, type scale, shapes and core components (buttons, inputs, list items, dialogs) are rebuilt as a Compose theme that matches the existing XML styles, so mixed screens look consistent.
Interop at the edges
New screens are written in Compose and hosted with ComposeView in existing Fragments. Complex custom Views stay alive inside Compose via AndroidView until there is a reason to rewrite them.
Lists and navigation
RecyclerView adapters move to LazyColumn and LazyRow with stable keys. Navigation moves to Navigation Compose with typed routes once most screens are migrated, and deep links get tests.
Remove what is left
Unused XML layouts, styles and adapter code are deleted, which often shrinks the codebase noticeably. Leftover Views stay only where they are a deliberate choice.
Compose performance: what we measure and fix
Compose apps can be fast or janky, and the difference is usually a few avoidable mistakes. The most common is unnecessary recomposition: a list that redraws every row when one item changes, or an unstable data class that makes Compose assume everything changed. On a flagship phone you may not notice. On the budget Android phones that many of your users own, scrolling stutters.
Our performance checklist
- Baseline Profiles generated with Macrobenchmark, so critical paths are precompiled and startup and first scroll are faster.
- Stable, immutable UI state and correct use of remember and derivedStateOf to avoid wasted recomposition.
- Stable keys and content types on lazy lists, with images loaded through Coil at the right size.
- Layout Inspector recomposition counts checked on new screens, plus release-build testing (debug builds are much slower and mislead).
- Startup and frame metrics tracked with Macrobenchmark in CI and Android vitals after release.
We test on mid-range and older devices, not only current flagships, because that is where users judge your app.
Is your Android app worth migrating?
Share your repository under NDA. Within one business day we come back with next steps, and a short review tells you which screens to move to Compose first, what to keep in Views and where the performance risks are.
Material 3 and design systems in Compose
Material 3 is Google’s current design system, and its Compose library is where most new component work happens. We implement it as a theme: colour roles, typography, shapes and elevation defined once, so every screen reads from the same tokens. Dynamic colour can pull the user’s wallpaper palette on supported devices, with your brand palette as fallback.
Most brands do not want to look like a stock Google app. We customise Material 3 rather than fight it: keep its accessibility and interaction behaviour, change colour, type, shapes and a few signature components. Our mobile app UI/UX design team builds the Figma library with the same token names as the Compose theme, so design and code stay in sync.
We also design for the full range of Android hardware: dark theme, large font scales, edge-to-edge layouts and adaptive layouts for tablets and foldables using window size classes.
Code quality practices on every Compose project
What our Jetpack Compose app development company sets up in the first sprint:
- Unidirectional data flow: ViewModels expose immutable UI state as StateFlow, composables send events up
- Hilt for dependency injection and Kotlin coroutines and Flow for async work
- Compose UI tests with semantics matchers on critical flows such as sign-up and checkout
- Screenshot tests for components in light, dark and large-font configurations
- Previews with fake data for every screen state: loading, empty, error, content
- Detekt and ktlint in CI, plus Compose lint rules
- Feature modules with Gradle version catalogs to keep build times manageable
- Builds targeting API 36, which Google Play requires for new apps and updates from 31 August 2026
Compose work we take on
Typical projects:
New Compose apps
Single-activity Android apps with Material 3, built and tested Compose-first from day one.
XML to Compose migration
Incremental migration alongside your roadmap, with a shared theme so old and new screens match.
Performance rescue
Janky scrolling, slow startup, ANRs. We profile, add Baseline Profiles and fix recomposition hot spots. Larger clean-ups run through our app modernization and rescue service.
Compose Multiplatform evaluation
A short assessment of whether sharing UI with iOS through Kotlin Multiplatform suits your team, or whether native SwiftUI plus shared logic is safer.
Embedded Compose developers
You can hire Android developers with Compose experience to work inside your team, starting with a two-week trial.
Language-level Kotlin work
Java-to-Kotlin conversion and coroutine adoption. Read more on our Kotlin app development page.
Compose, SwiftUI or a cross-platform framework?
Compose builds Android; SwiftUI is its Apple counterpart. Two native apps give you the best platform fit but two codebases to maintain. If your product needs both platforms on one budget, compare with our cross-platform app development options before committing. If you are going native on both, our SwiftUI app development team follows the same architecture so features land in step.
Android-first makes sense when your users are mostly outside the US: StatCounter puts Android at 69.2% of mobile share worldwide in September 2026.
Choose native Compose when
- Most of your users are on Android
- You need deep platform features or background work
- Performance on budget phones is critical
- You already have Kotlin developers
- You plan separate, fully native iOS and Android apps
Compose projects we have delivered
[[Case study: Compose build or migration, client industry and country, approach, and verified results such as startup time or ANR rate. Confirm before publishing.]]
[[Client testimonial with permission.]] See our portfolio in the meantime.
Jetpack Compose app development company FAQs
Should we rewrite our whole Android app in Compose?
Rarely. A full rewrite freezes features and introduces new bugs. We migrate incrementally: build the theme and components in Compose, write new screens in Compose, then move high-value old screens as you touch them. Compose and Views interoperate in both directions, so a mixed app is fully supported while the migration runs.
Is Jetpack Compose slower than XML Views?
Not when it is built correctly. Performance problems in Compose usually come from unnecessary recomposition, unstable state classes or testing in debug builds. We use Baseline Profiles, stable UI state, keyed lazy lists and release-build profiling with Macrobenchmark, and we test on mid-range and older devices, which is where users actually notice jank.
Can existing custom Views be used in Compose screens?
Yes. AndroidView embeds any existing View, such as a chart, map or video player, inside a Compose screen, and ComposeView does the reverse inside Fragments and XML layouts. This interop lets you keep complex, well-tested components while the rest of the screen moves to Compose, and replace them later only if there is a reason.
Do you use Material 3, and can it match our brand?
Yes to both. Material 3 provides accessible, well-tested components and a theming system of colour roles, typography and shapes. We customise those tokens and a few signature components so the app looks like your brand rather than a stock Google app, while keeping Material’s interaction and accessibility behaviour.
Can Compose code be shared with an iOS app?
With Compose Multiplatform, yes. JetBrains declared it stable for iOS in version 1.8.0 in May 2025. It suits teams that are strong in Kotlin and want shared UI. Some teams prefer to share only business logic with Kotlin Multiplatform and keep native SwiftUI on iOS. We assess which fits your app and team during discovery.
Which Android versions and API levels do you support?
Your minimum version is set by your users and analytics, agreed in discovery. On the target side, Google Play requires new apps and updates to target Android 16 (API 36) from 31 August 2026, so all our builds target it. We test on a spread of devices and versions to cover the older phones many users still carry.
Build or migrate your Android app with Compose
Book a 30-minute call. We will review your app or idea, outline a Compose plan and show what each two-week sprint delivers to Play Console internal testing.