Kotlin Multiplatform Simplifies Cross-Platform Development with Stable API and Enhanced Objective-C/Swift Interoperability
JetBrains has officially released a stable version of Kotlin Multiplatform, a technology that enables developers to share code across multiple platforms such as iOS, Android, desktop, web, and more. Announced on November 1, the stable release marks a significant milestone after being in beta since 2022.
Kotlin Multiplatform, leveraging the Kotlin language, simplifies the development of cross-platform projects by allowing developers to reuse code across different platforms while still taking advantage of native programming capabilities. The stable version features a stabilized API, improved project configuration, and enhanced interoperability with Objective-C and Swift. Developers will also benefit from faster build times and performance improvements.
The technology allows developers to share only parts of an application’s logic while retaining the flexibility to write native code when interacting with platform-specific APIs or building native user interfaces. In future updates, JetBrains plans to improve the experience for iOS developers by adding direct Kotlin-to-Swift interoperability and support for Swift Package Manager (SwiftPM). JetBrains is also working on Kotlin/Wasm to support WebAssembly, expanding web development capabilities with Kotlin Multiplatform.
For teams looking to build applications that span multiple platforms, Kotlin Multiplatform can be combined with JetBrains’ Compose Multiplatform, a declarative framework for sharing UIs across platforms. This combination allows developers to share 100% of their codebase, including UI components, all within Kotlin.
Major companies such as Netflix, VMware, and McDonald’s have already adopted Kotlin Multiplatform for their development projects. The stable release is expected to attract even more developers seeking to streamline their cross-platform development efforts while maintaining high performance and flexibility.
JetBrains’ commitment to improving Kotlin Multiplatform and its ongoing development of tools like Kotlin/Wasm demonstrates the growing potential of this framework in the world of multi-platform development.