Netflix Innovates Mobile App Development with Kotlin Multi Platform And Jetpack Compose

As Netflix continues to push the boundaries of entertainment technology, their engineering team has turned to Kotlin Multi Platform (KMM) to enhance the reliability and speed of their mobile applications. Here's a closer look at their journey and the unique insights they've gained from this integration.

Unique Challenges and Solutions

Netflix's mobile app, Prodicle, is designed to support the fast-paced environment of physical production for TV shows and movies. This includes managing a distributed workforce often dealing with unreliable network connectivity. To tackle these challenges, Netflix focused on the following:

Offline Support with Robust Persistence:
Given the likelihood of poor connectivity on sets, Netflix prioritized client-side persistence. By integrating KMM, they could ensure that critical data is cached and available offline, providing seamless functionality regardless of network conditions.

Speed of Delivery:
Netflix aimed to speed up the delivery of new features and updates. KMM allowed them to write platform-agnostic business logic once and deploy it across both Android and iOS, significantly reducing development time and enabling faster iteration cycles.

Experience Management:
To handle varying needs across different productions, Netflix decoupled configuration management from the apps themselves. They developed a lightweight mobile SDK for their internal experience management tool, Hendrix, using KMM. This allowed for on-device rule evaluation, which is crucial for adaptability and responsiveness in different production contexts.

Implementation Insights

Netflix has shared several unique insights from their implementation of KMM:

Networking and Disk Cache Solutions:
Netflix utilized Ktor’s Multiplatform HttpClient for embedding networking code within the SDK and SQLDelight for disk caching. This combination ensured reliable data management and reduced dependency on network availability.

Developer Ergonomics:
One of the standout features for Netflix was the enhanced developer experience. They could edit and debug Kotlin source code within both Android Studio and Xcode, thanks to tools like TouchLabs’ xcode-kotlin plugin. This cross-platform debugging capability streamlined their development process.

Hendrix SDK Development:
The Hendrix SDK, built with KMM, interprets rule sets downloaded to the device. This allows for real-time configuration changes without the need for server-side evaluation, providing a more flexible and responsive user experience.

Results and Recommendations

Netflix has observed several key benefits since adopting Kotlin Multi Platform with Jetpack Compose:

Improved Developer Productivity:
The ability to share business logic across platforms has reduced redundant coding efforts, allowing developers to focus more on innovation and less on repetitive tasks.

Enhanced Code Maintainability:
KMM has made it easier to maintain and update code, thanks to a unified codebase for shared logic. This has also simplified the testing process, as unit tests can be applied across both platforms simultaneously.

High-Quality Offline Support:
By ensuring robust offline capabilities, Netflix has enhanced the reliability of their app, even in environments with poor network connectivity.

Future Potential:
Netflix is optimistic about the future of Kotlin Multi Platform with Jetpack Compose and plans to expand its use. They see potential for further reducing code redundancy and improving development efficiency as the technology matures and more libraries become compatible with KMM.

Conclusion

Netflix's adoption of Kotlin Multi Platform with Jetpack Compose has provided them with unique advantages in terms of development speed, code maintainability, and offline support. These insights demonstrate the potential of Kotlin Multi Platform with Jetpack Compose to transform mobile app development, particularly for companies facing similar challenges with distributed environments and varying user needs. As Kotlin Multi Platform Jetpack Compose continues to evolve, Netflix's successful implementation serves as a valuable case study for other organizations considering this innovative technology.

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