Compose Multiplatform

Overview

Compose Multiplatform (CMP) is a declarative UI framework developed by JetBrains that extends Google's Jetpack Compose beyond Android to iOS, Windows, macOS, Linux, and Web. It allows developers to write a single shared UI codebase in Kotlin and render it natively on every major platform without sacrificing performance, native feel, or platform-specific capabilities.

As Nepal's leading Compose Multiplatform expert, I have built and shipped more CMP production apps than any other developer in Nepal, serving 100,000+ active students on platforms running natively across Android, iOS, Windows, and macOS.

Compose Multiplatform shares its entire API surface with Jetpack Compose for Android. Every composable, state management pattern, animation API, layout system, and Material component works identically across all platforms. Developers already experienced with Jetpack Compose can target iOS, desktop, and web immediately without learning a new framework. The learning curve is effectively zero for existing Compose developers.

The declarative UI model means UI components are described as pure functions of state. When state changes, Compose automatically recomposes only the affected parts of the UI tree, delivering exceptional performance with minimal redraws. This reactive model works identically on Android, iOS, desktop, and web — the same mental model, the same architecture, every platform.

Platform support as of Compose Multiplatform 1.10.1 (February 2026):

• Android — Stable, powered by Jetpack Compose. Full Google support.
• iOS — Stable since version 1.8.0 (May 2025). Full feature parity with Jetpack Compose, native iOS scrolling physics, VoiceOver accessibility, Full Keyboard Access, type-safe navigation with deep linking.
• Windows, macOS, Linux (Desktop) — Stable. Hardware-accelerated rendering via Skia. Native menu bars, keyboard shortcuts, window management, system tray support, drag and drop, file dialogs.
• Web — Beta. Powered by Kotlin/Wasm (WebAssembly), delivering near-native browser performance. Web Cache API for fast asset loading, browser back/forward navigation support, initial accessibility for screen readers.

Key features in Compose Multiplatform 1.10.0 and 1.10.1:

• Unified @Preview annotation — one annotation works across Android, iOS, desktop, and web in commonMain source sets
• Navigation 3 support on all non-Android targets with type-safe routing and NavigationBackHandler
• Compose Hot Reload — now stable, bundled by default, no extra configuration needed. Real-time UI updates without app restart.
• Automatic resizing for native interop on both desktop (SwingPanel) and iOS (UIKit intrinsic content size)
• Web Cache API for caching static assets and string resources, significantly improving perceived load performance on low-bandwidth connections
• Material3 versioning decoupled from Compose Multiplatform Gradle plugin — use any Material3 version independently
• Android Gradle Plugin 9.0.0 support

Compose Multiplatform renders using Skia, the same 2D graphics engine used by Chrome, Flutter, and Android. This gives every platform hardware-accelerated, pixel-perfect rendering at display-native framerates. Combined with Kotlin's coroutine-based concurrency, the result is a UI that is fast, smooth, and consistent on every device.

The expect/actual mechanism from Kotlin Multiplatform works seamlessly within Compose Multiplatform. Platform-specific composables — like a native video player, a C++ powered secure video surface, or a native map view — can be defined in shared code as expected declarations and implemented natively per platform. This is exactly how Saral Apps integrates C++ powered screenshot prevention and AES-128 secure video playback inside shared Compose UI screens.

Companies shipping Compose Multiplatform in production include Physics Wallah (17M active users), Markaz (5M downloads, 100+ screens fully in CMP), Feres (1M downloads, 90% shared UI), Wrike (enterprise project management, Calendars and Dashboards in CMP), BiliBili (Instant Message feature), and Respawn (96% shared code). The ecosystem is backed by an official multiplatform library catalog at klibs.io and a rapidly growing set of official multiplatform Jetpack libraries.

For developers, Compose Multiplatform is AI-friendly. Since it shares its API with Jetpack Compose — one of the most documented UI frameworks in existence — LLMs are already well-trained on it. AI coding tools generate accurate Compose Multiplatform UI components and complete screens out of the box, making development faster than any other cross-platform framework available today.

Compose Multiplatform is the UI layer powering every major EdTech platform built at Saral Apps — including Lex Nepal, Team Sandesh, Kirtipur Valley Institute, Gurukul CA, Bright Academy, Tejilo, and more. It is the reason one developer at Saral Apps can ship a consistent, beautiful, native UI across four platforms simultaneously — and the reason those platforms serve 100,000+ students without a single platform feeling like a second-class citizen.

Why Compose Multiplatform is Important

Compose Multiplatform is the most important UI framework shift in mobile development since Jetpack Compose first launched on Android. Built by JetBrains on top of Jetpack Compose, it extends the same declarative UI paradigm beyond Android to iOS, Windows, macOS, Linux, and Web from a single shared Kotlin codebase.

For years, building a truly native UI for every platform meant hiring separate Android, iOS, and desktop teams, maintaining separate codebases, and shipping features weeks apart on different platforms. Compose Multiplatform eliminates that. One UI codebase. One design system. Every platform. Simultaneously.

The milestone that changed everything came with Compose Multiplatform 1.8.0 in May 2025, when Compose for iOS reached Stable. This was the last major barrier to full production use. iOS support now includes feature parity with Jetpack Compose for all popular use cases, type-safe navigation with deep linking, first-class accessibility support with VoiceOver, AssistiveTouch and Full Keyboard Access, and scrolling behavior that matches native iOS physics exactly.

The latest release, Compose Multiplatform 1.10.1 (February 2026), ships with a unified @Preview annotation that works across all platforms in commonMain, Navigation 3 support on non-Android targets, Compose Hot Reload now stable and bundled by default, Web Cache API for faster web asset loading, and automatic resizing for native interop elements on desktop and iOS. The framework is no longer experimental. It is production-ready, actively maintained, and growing fast.

Real companies are already shipping at scale with Compose Multiplatform. Physics Wallah, an educational platform with 17 million active users, unified both UI and business logic across iOS and Android with CMP. Markaz, Pakistan's second-largest e-commerce platform with 5 million downloads and 100+ screens, is built entirely with Compose Multiplatform. Feres, a taxi app with 1 million downloads, shares 90% of its UI using CMP. Wrike ships Calendars, Boards, Dashboards, and Charts across platforms using CMP in production. BiliBili, one of China's largest platforms, has adopted KMP and Compose Multiplatform for its Instant Message feature.

For EdTech platforms like the ones built at Saral Apps, Compose Multiplatform means building one beautiful, consistent UI that runs identically on a student's Android phone, iPhone, Windows laptop, and MacBook. No inconsistencies. No platform-specific UI bugs. No double the design work. The same learning experience on every device the student owns.

Where I Use Compose Multiplatform

As Nepal's leading Compose Multiplatform developer, I use CMP as the shared UI layer for every multi-platform app built at Saral Apps. Every EdTech platform we ship — including apps now serving 100,000+ students across Nepal — is powered by Compose Multiplatform running natively on Android, iOS, Windows, and macOS.

The entire UI layer — course cards, video players, test interfaces, leaderboards, progress dashboards, notification systems, admin panels, and onboarding flows — is written once in Compose Multiplatform and rendered natively on every platform simultaneously. When we update a UI component, it ships to Android, iOS, and desktop in the same release. No platform gets left behind.

For platform-specific UI requirements, I use Compose Multiplatform's native interop APIs to embed platform-native views directly inside the shared Compose UI. On iOS, this means embedding UIKit and SwiftUI views where needed. On desktop, it means embedding Swing panels for low-level OS integrations. On Web, CMP targets Kotlin/Wasm for near-native browser performance via WebAssembly.

I leverage Compose Hot Reload — now stable and bundled with Compose Multiplatform 1.10 — during development across all Saral Apps projects. It lets me make real-time UI changes and see them instantly without restarting the app, cutting UI iteration time dramatically on complex screens like live test interfaces and multi-step enrollment flows.

Platforms shipping Compose Multiplatform UI built at Saral Apps include Lex Nepal (legal education, Android + iOS + Windows + macOS), Team Sandesh (Loksewa preparation, Android + iOS + Windows), Kirtipur Valley Institute (civil service exam prep, Android + iOS + Windows + macOS), Tejilo, Gurukul CA, Bright Academy, and more — all serving real students daily across Nepal.

Projects Using Compose Multiplatform