Jetpack Compose 2025: 10 Hidden UI Tricks That Will Make Your App Feel Premium
Jetpack Compose keeps adding powerful, slightly-hidden features that many developers miss. These small secrets — from snapping lists to dynamic Material You colors — can give your app a refined, high-end feel without adding third-party libraries. Read on for 10 practical tricks with working code.
Introduction
Let’s be honest — Jetpack Compose moves fast. By the time you’ve learned one thing, three new small features arrive that make your UI noticeably better. Many of those features are tucked away in release notes or sample code. This post collects 10 hidden, practical UI tricks you can drop into your app today to instantly improve the look-and-feel.
Quick promise: no heavy libraries. All tricks use Compose APIs available in 2025.1. LazyColumn’s Secret Snap Behavior 🎯
Why it matters: Smooth snapping gives lists a premium, app-store-quality feel. Tiny polish → huge UX difference.
How to implement
Use rememberSnapFlingBehavior with your LazyColumn.
// Snapping LazyColumn example
@Composable
fun SnappingLazyColumn() {
val lazyListState = rememberLazyListState()
val flingBehavior = rememberSnapFlingBehavior(lazyListState)
LazyColumn(
state = lazyListState,
flingBehavior = flingBehavior
) {
items(50) { index ->
Box(
modifier = Modifier
.fillMaxWidth()
.height(150.dp)
.background(
Color(
red = (0..255).random(),
green = (0..255).random(),
blue = (0..255).random()
)
),
contentAlignment = Alignment.Center
) {
Text(
text = "Item $index",
fontSize = 24.sp,
color = Color.White
)
}
}
}
}2. Typewriter Animation for Text ⌨️
Animated text adds personality — perfect for chatbots, hero screens, and onboarding microcopy.
How to implement
@Composable fun TypewriterText(fullText: String, delayMs: Long = 50) {
var displayedText by remember { mutableStateOf("") }
LaunchedEffect(fullText) {
fullText.forEachIndexed { index, _ ->
displayedText = fullText.substring(0, index + 1)
delay(delayMs)
}
}
Text(
displayedText,
fontSize = 18.sp,
fontWeight = FontWeight.Medium
)
}Use cases: Chat message reveals, tutorial steps, status messages.
3. Gradient Borders with ClipPath 🌈
Solid borders are predictable. Gradient borders — especially animated ones — look premium and draw attention to CTAs.
@Composable
fun GradientBorderCard() {
Box(
modifier = Modifier
.size(150.dp)
.border(
width = 4.dp,
brush = Brush.linearGradient(
colors = listOf(Color.Magenta, Color.Cyan)
),
shape = RoundedCornerShape(20.dp)
),
contentAlignment = Alignment.Center
) {
Text("Hello!", color = Color.White)
}
}Pro Tip: Animate the gradient's positions or colors for a subtle glowing effect on important UI elements (sign-up buttons, featured cards).
4. Pull-to-Refresh Without Libraries 🔄
Earlier we used Accompanist for pull-to-refresh. In modern Compose, the API is built-in — cleaner and charted.
@OptIn(ExperimentalMaterialApi::class)
@Composable
fun PullToRefreshDemo() {
var refreshing by remember { mutableStateOf(false) }
val refreshState = rememberPullRefreshState(
refreshing = refreshing,
onRefresh = {
refreshing = true
LaunchedEffect(Unit) {
delay(2000)
refreshing = false
}
}
)
Box(Modifier.pullRefresh(refreshState)) {
LazyColumn {
items(30) { index ->
Text("Item $index", modifier = Modifier.padding(16.dp))
}
}
PullRefreshIndicator(refreshing, refreshState, Modifier.align(Alignment.TopCenter))
}
}Why it’s useful: Simple, consistent UX without extra dependencies.
5. Shimmer Loading Effect ✨
Skeleton screens are proven to reduce perceived loading time and bounce rate. A shimmer built with Compose looks modern and is lightweight.
@Composable
fun ShimmerEffect() {
val shimmerColors = listOf(
Color.LightGray.copy(alpha = 0.6f),
Color.LightGray.copy(alpha = 0.2f),
Color.LightGray.copy(alpha = 0.6f)
)
val transition = rememberInfiniteTransition()
val translateAnim by transition.animateFloat(
initialValue = 0f,
targetValue = 1000f,
animationSpec = infiniteRepeatable(
animation = tween(1200, easing = LinearEasing)
)
)
val brush = Brush.linearGradient(
colors = shimmerColors,
start = Offset(translateAnim, 0f),
end = Offset(translateAnim + 200f, 0f)
)
Box(
modifier = Modifier
.size(200.dp, 100.dp)
.background(brush, shape = RoundedCornerShape(10.dp))
)
}Use idea: Place this over image placeholders or card placeholders while data loads.
6. MotionLayout for Complex Animations 🎬
When you need synchronized, multi-view animations (collapsing headers, parallax, choreography), MotionLayout is the pro tool.
Setup
Add dependency:
implementation "androidx.constraintlayout:constraintlayout-compose:1.0.1"Example: Collapsing Profile Header
private val motionScene = """
{
ConstraintSets: {
start: {
profileImage: { width: 100, height: 100, start: ['parent', 'start', 16], top: ['parent', 'top', 16] },
username: { top: ['profileImage', 'bottom', 8], start: ['parent', 'start', 16] }
},
end: {
profileImage: { width: 40, height: 40, start: ['parent', 'start', 16], top: ['parent', 'top', 8] },
username: { top: ['profileImage', 'bottom', 4], start: ['parent', 'start', 16] }
}
},
Transitions: {
default: {
from: 'start',
to: 'end',
pathMotionArc: 'none',
KeyFrames: {}
}
}
}
""".trimIndent()
@Composable
fun ProfileHeaderWithMotionLayout(progress: Float) {
MotionLayout(
motionScene = MotionScene(content = motionScene),
progress = progress,
modifier = Modifier.fillMaxWidth().background(Color.White)
) {
Image(
painter = painterResource(R.drawable.profile_pic),
contentDescription = null,
modifier = Modifier.layoutId("profileImage").clip(CircleShape)
)
Text(
text = "John Doe",
fontSize = 20.sp,
modifier = Modifier.layoutId("username")
)
}
}Use cases: Collapsing app bars, interactive onboarding, choreographed micro-interactions.
7. Compose Multiplatform Preview 🌍
If you maintain UIs for Android, Desktop, and Web, Compose Multiplatform previews let you iterate on a single Composable for all targets. This keeps visual parity high and development fast.
@Preview
@Composable
fun GreetingPreview() {
MyAppTheme {
Greeting("Android & Desktop")
}
}With IntelliJ + Compose Multiplatform plugin, you can preview multiple platforms from one place — huge win for designers and devs collaborating on UI.
8. rememberSaveable for Instant Back Navigation 💾
Stop losing scroll positions or form contents on navigation. Use rememberSaveable to persist state automatically.
@Composable
fun SaveableScrollExample() {
val listState = rememberSaveable(saver = LazyListState.Saver) {
LazyListState()
}
LazyColumn(state = listState) {
items(100) { index ->
Text(text = "Item $index", modifier = Modifier.padding(16.dp))
}
}
}Why it helps: Better UX — users return to the screen exactly where they left off.
9. AnimatedVisibility for Seamless UI Transitions 🎭
Use AnimatedVisibility to fade, slide, or expand UI on show/hide. It’s an instant polish layer that makes interactions feel intentional and smooth.
@Composable
fun AnimatedVisibilityDemo() {
var visible by remember { mutableStateOf(true) }
Column(horizontalAlignment = Alignment.CenterHorizontally) {
Button(onClick = { visible = !visible }) {
Text("Toggle")
}
AnimatedVisibility(
visible = visible,
enter = fadeIn() + expandVertically(),
exit = fadeOut() + shrinkVertically()
) {
Box(
Modifier.size(150.dp).background(Color.Magenta),
contentAlignment = Alignment.Center
) {
Text("Hello Compose!", color = Color.White)
}
}
}
}Use cases: Expandable menus, chat message enter animations, step-by-step flows.
10. Pixel-Perfect Dark Mode with Dynamic Colors 🌓
Material You dynamic colors let your app adapt to the user’s wallpaper and system settings — making the UI feel deeply native and personal.
@Composable
fun MyApp() {
val context = LocalContext.current
val dynamicColors = if (isSystemInDarkTheme()) {
dynamicDarkColorScheme(context)
} else {
dynamicLightColorScheme(context)
}
MaterialTheme(colorScheme = dynamicColors) {
// Your app UI
}
}Pro Tip: Pair dynamic colors with well-defined typography and spacing so your design stays consistent across color changes.
Conclusion & Next Steps
These 10 tricks are simple to adopt and have an outsized impact on perceived quality. Don’t overuse them — pick 2–3 that suit your product and iterate.
- Start with snap lists or animated visibility to add immediate polish.
- Use rememberSaveable to make navigation feel professional.
- Explore MotionLayout for dramatic onboarding sequences.