Kotlin Multiplatform: Benefits, Limitations, and Contributions
Article Summary
Justyna Gręda from Software Mansion breaks down Kotlin Multiplatform after hands-on development. Her team's verdict? It's fast, flexible, but missing some creature comforts developers expect.
Software Mansion, known for React Native contributions, launched a KMP research team to explore this newer cross-platform option. They've built real tools and compared KMP directly against React Native from a developer experience perspective.
Key Takeaways
- KMP compiles to true native code, avoiding React Native's bridge overhead entirely
- No hot reload yet (Compose Hot Reload just launched, adoption pending)
- Software Mansion released 4 production-ready KMP packages: Maps, Live Activity, Sharing, Wheel Picker
- Easy migration for existing Android apps since business logic stays in Kotlin
- Debugging uses standard IDE tools, no external resources like RN DevTools needed
KMP offers native performance and flexible code sharing, but its 2023 stable release means the ecosystem and tooling still trail React Native's maturity.
About This Article
Building mobile apps for both Android and iOS means sharing code without sacrificing performance. About 55% of developers choose frameworks over writing native code, according to RipenApps.
Software Mansion's KMP team built four production-ready packages: KMP Maps, Live Activity, Sharing, and Wheel Picker. They use Kotlin's native compilation and Compose Multiplatform to connect smoothly with platform APIs like Google Maps and Apple Maps.
KMP became stable in 2023 and major companies like Duolingo, H&M, Bolt, and X adopted it. This shows that solid tools in the ecosystem can help enterprises move faster, even though the platform is younger than React Native.