Jetpack Compose introduces powerful tools for building modern UIs, but performance challenges can arise, particularly when working with lists in large-scale applications. The main issue lies in how Compose handles its three phases: Composition, Layout, and Drawing.

The Performance Problem When rendering lists, each item typically goes through all three phases repeatedly, especially during scrolling. This leads to significant computational overhead, particularly during the Layout phase, where items are measured and positioned. Nested layouts like Row and Column can exacerbate this issue, as their complex MeasurePolicy logic adds additional processing for each child element.

Use lightweight custom layouts where possible to simplify measurement and placement. Avoid unnecessary nesting of Row and Column components. Leverage Lazy Components:

Use LazyColumn or LazyGrid to efficiently manage large datasets. Keep list items as simple as possible to minimize the impact of recompositions. Profiling and Debugging:

Use Android Studio’s Layout Inspector and Profiler to pinpoint performance bottlenecks. Look for excessive recompositions or expensive layout operations. Use Custom Libraries:

The author’s custom lightweight layouts are publicly available and designed to address these issues. You can explore them here.