What's New in Jetpack Compose 1.9: Smoother, Faster, and More Expressive 🎨

Jetpack Compose 1.9 just dropped — and it's all about performance, polish, and flexibility. If you've been shipping Compose UIs, this update is worth a quick look.

⚡ 1. Performance That Feels Faster

Scrolling and lazy lists got smoother across the board. The Compose runtime now optimizes recompositions more aggressively — meaning less UI jank, even in complex layouts.

TL;DR: Compose 1.9 = more frames, fewer skips.

🌫️ 2. New Shadow & Styling APIs

You can now add realistic elevation shadows and layer effects more easily with new modifiers like graphicsLayer updates.

Box(
    modifier = Modifier
        .shadow(
            elevation = 8.dp,
            shape = RoundedCornerShape(12.dp),
            clip = false
        )
        .background(Color.White)
)

Finally — shadows that actually look crisp across light/dark themes.

🪟 3. Better Large-Screen & Foldable Support

Google's pushing adaptive design harder than ever. The 1.9 update improves TwoPaneLayout, window insets handling, and adaptive navigation components for tablets + foldables.

If you're building for multi-form factors — this release is gold.

💬 4. Text Input & Autofill Improvements

Text fields got smoother typing latency and more reliable autofill behavior. Small tweak, big UX win.

TL;DR 🚀

Jetpack Compose 1.9 is a quality-of-life upgrade.

• ✅ Smoother performance
• ✅ Prettier shadows
• ✅ Smarter adaptive layouts
• ✅ Better typing experience

If you haven't updated yet — now's the time.