Out there in 180 international locations and with over 1 billion downloads on Google Play, Dropbox is among the world’s hottest file sharing and cloud storage companies. Dropbox is on a mission to design a extra enlightened means of working, preserving life organized and work transferring. Just lately that meant Jetpack Compose , Android’s fashionable declarative toolkit for creating native UI.
A wiser, quicker method to construct UI
Since adopting Compose, Dropbox builders have rewritten many options for the app, together with its residence display screen, file preview, and search experiences. Dropbox’s search expertise was utterly rebuilt in only a few weeks, which was 40% much less time than anticipated and fewer than half the time it took them to construct the identical characteristic for iOS.
The staff having the ability to work quicker was a direct results of how easy it was for them to make use of Compose. Since rebuilding the search expertise, Dropbox builders have seen a 13% improve in profitable search classes —a key metric for the staff.
Compose helped Dropbox builders transfer shortly, letting them simply construct complicated, customized UIs with the toolkit’s fundamental constructing blocks and utilities. “Help for a number of previews, with totally different configurations or information, permits us to think about totally different variations of elements as we construct them as an alternative of as an afterthought,” mentioned Ryan Harter, workers Android engineer at Dropbox.
The Dropbox staff additionally constructed a brand new design system on high of Android’s MaterialTheme, which the engineers achieved by following Compose greatest practices. Creating the brand new design system on high of Android’s MaterialTheme minimized the time it took for Dropbox builders to put the app’s basis, permitting them to construct new options with Compose whereas sustaining a appear and feel that’s according to Dropbox’s branding.
Compatibility with Views made making an attempt Compose simple
Dropbox builders had been additionally swayed to make use of Compose because of its interoperability with Views and had been impressed by how simple it was to develop in tandem with each toolkits. The Dropbox staff was in a position to help basic Views libraries and plugins inside the app whereas creating new UI elements utilizing Compose. Due to this, Dropbox builders might step by step migrate the app to Compose as an alternative of utterly overhauling the app.
“Interoperability with Compose allowed us to maneuver ahead with the toolkit, even after we wanted to work together with Views in sure workflows resembling ExoPlayer and PDF doc views,” continued Ryan. “You can begin with a smaller part and expertise the advantages and improved velocity with out committing to rewriting your whole app. It’s clear that Compose was designed with the intention that customers don’t have to carry out an all-or-nothing migration.”
Improved testing and experimentation
Throughout their rewrites, Dropbox engineers discovered that Compose made growing simpler and enabled extra environment friendly testing. “Compose, along with Android Studio’s preview help, has allowed us to iterate on options quicker by decreasing the size of the suggestions cycle whereas growing screens,” continued Ryan.
The quick suggestions cycle and interactive previews from Compose allowed the Dropbox staff to experiment with UX shortly and take a look at any assumptions that they had concerning the updates, which made it simpler to launch options.
“If questions got here up about efficiency or use of an strategy, we went into Android Studio and used the interactive previews to check and measure outcomes so we’d have extra solutions and fewer assumptions,” mentioned Alison Wyllie, a senior software program engineer at Dropbox. “And the quick suggestions cycle and interactive previews that include Compose have allowed us to experiment shortly with UX and take a look at our assumptions, permitting us to get options into customers’ palms quicker.”
Jetpack Compose’s push towards a unidirectional information circulation (UDF) additionally helped Dropbox engineers whereas testing and debugging. Combining UDF with Compose testing libraries and the toolkit’s declarative strategy to creating UI made the Dropbox staff assured that the app’s options had been steady and bug free as a result of they might totally take a look at them earlier than launch.
Persevering with enhancements with Jetpack Compose
Dropbox’s engineers had been impressed by the convenience and velocity with which they might iterate and get suggestions utilizing Compose. With interactive and on-device previews, Compose permits for experimentation and growth in ways in which weren’t beforehand doable for the staff at Dropbox. The Dropbox staff plans to proceed constructing the app’s design system utilizing Compose and expects most new options to be written with the toolkit.
“Compose gave us a contemporary begin with a whole lot of key areas which have traditionally been tough for Android engineers. I’m very excited to see what new performance Google and the open supply neighborhood will create subsequent,” mentioned Allison.
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