explaingit

jetbrains/compose-multiplatform

📈 Trending★ 19,069KotlinAudience · developerComplexity · 3/5ActiveLicenseSetup · moderate

TLDR

Write your app's UI once in Kotlin and run it on Android, iOS, desktop, and web without rebuilding the interface for each platform.

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((Compose Multiplatform))
    What it does
      Declarative UI code
      Share across platforms
      Consistent design
    Supported platforms
      Android
      iOS
      Desktop
      Web
    Key features
      Native API access
      Hardware acceleration
      System integration
    Tech stack
      Kotlin language
      Jetpack Compose
      Kotlin/Wasm

Things people build with this

USE CASE 1

Build a mobile app that runs on both Android and iOS with a single UI codebase.

USE CASE 2

Create a desktop application for Windows, macOS, and Linux that shares UI code with your mobile version.

USE CASE 3

Develop a web app using Kotlin that reuses UI components from your existing Compose Multiplatform project.

USE CASE 4

Access device features like the camera on mobile while maintaining the same UI code across platforms.

Tech stack

KotlinJetpack ComposeKotlin/Wasm

Getting it running

Difficulty · moderate Time to first run · 30min

Requires Kotlin toolchain, Android SDK, and Xcode (for iOS) or appropriate desktop/web build tools depending on target platform.

Apache 2.0 license allows free use for any purpose, including commercial, as long as you include a copy of the license and state significant changes.

In plain English

Compose Multiplatform is a UI framework made by JetBrains that lets you write the visual design of an app once in Kotlin and share it across Android, iOS, desktop (Windows, macOS, Linux), and web, instead of building a separate interface for each platform. It is based on Jetpack Compose, the modern UI toolkit Google uses for Android apps. You describe what the screen should look like using declarative code (meaning you describe the desired result, not a sequence of steps), and the framework handles the rendering. Because the same UI code runs on multiple targets, you reduce duplication and keep your app's look consistent everywhere. For mobile, it can access native platform APIs like the device camera. For desktop, it renders with hardware-accelerated graphics and supports menus, keyboard shortcuts, and system notifications. Web support (via Kotlin/Wasm, a format that runs near-native-speed code in browsers) is in Beta. You would use Compose Multiplatform if you are a Kotlin developer building an app that needs to run on more than one platform and you want to avoid writing and maintaining completely separate UIs. It requires Kotlin as the programming language and works well with JetBrains tools.

Copy-paste prompts

Prompt 1
Show me how to set up a new Compose Multiplatform project that targets Android and iOS with shared UI code.
Prompt 2
How do I access the device camera in Compose Multiplatform on iOS and Android using the same code?
Prompt 3
What's the difference between Compose Multiplatform and regular Jetpack Compose, and when should I use each?
Prompt 4
Help me add a desktop target (Windows/macOS/Linux) to my existing Compose Multiplatform Android app.
Prompt 5
How do I handle platform-specific UI differences in Compose Multiplatform while keeping most code shared?
Open on GitHub → Explain another repo

Generated 2026-05-18 · Model: sonnet-4-6 · Verify against the repo before relying on details.