Google’s ‘modern’ declarative toolkit for building native Android user interfaces is now available in a 1.0 production release. Credit: dorian2013 / Getty Images Jetpack Compose, Google’s native UI toolkit for Android mobile application development, has reached its official 1.0 production release status. Leveraging a declarative approach, Jetpack Compose is intended to make it easier and faster to build native Android applications. As an app state changes, the UI automatically updates. The toolkit’s Kotlin APIs also help developers build apps with less code. Native access is offered to all existing Android code. Other capabilities in the Jetpack Compose 1.0 release include: Layout APIs to support different form factors, including tablets and foldables. Interoperability with existing applications. Integration with Jetpack libraries. An implementation of Material Design components and theming, for building apps that reflect a brand. Animation APIs for including animation in application user interfaces. Lazy components to display lists of data with minimal boilerplate. For the best experience using Jetpack Compose, which was formally launched July 28, Google advises developers to download the Android Studio Arctic Fox IDE. Instructions on getting started with Jetpack Compose can be found at developer.android.com. In tandem with the Jetpack Compose 1.0 release, Google is unveiling Compose Preview. Available in Android Studio Arctic Fox, Compose Preview allows developers to see Composables in different states, in light and dark themes, and in different font scalings, without having to deploy the app to a device. A Deploy Preview capability lets developers test parts of a UI on a device without having to navigate through the app to the screen being worked on. Google said more than 2,000 apps in the Google Play app store already use Jetpack Compose. The company noted that major themes it was working on for upcoming releases of Jetpack Compose include performance, large screen improvements, homescreen widgets, WearOS support, and Material You components.