Dynamic Color Integration in Jetpack Compose: A Comprehensive Guide

Dynamic color is a feature introduced in Android 12 (API level 31) that enables your app’s theme to adapt to the user’s chosen system wallpaper. This means the colors of your app’s UI elements will change based on the dominant colors extracted from the user’s wallpaper, creating a personalized and cohesive experience. Jetpack Compose makes it easy to integrate dynamic color, offering a flexible and powerful way to enhance your app’s appearance.

What is Dynamic Color?

Dynamic color (also known as Material You) is a design paradigm that generates a color palette based on the user’s wallpaper. It aims to create a seamless and harmonious visual experience across the entire Android ecosystem, from the system UI to individual apps.

Why Use Dynamic Color?

• Personalized Experience: Enhances user engagement by providing a unique look that matches their personal style.
• Accessibility: Ensures that colors used in your app adhere to accessibility standards by leveraging color harmonies.
• Modern Aesthetics: Aligns your app with the latest Android design trends.

How to Integrate Dynamic Color in Jetpack Compose

To integrate dynamic color in Jetpack Compose, you need to configure your theme to use the MaterialTheme composable and leverage the ColorScheme object. Here’s how to do it step-by-step:

Step 1: Add Dependencies

Ensure you have the Material 3 library included in your build.gradle file:

dependencies {
    implementation("androidx.compose.material3:material3:1.1.1")
}

Step 2: Set Up Your Theme

Create a composable function that defines your app’s theme using MaterialTheme. Within this theme, you will leverage dynamicLightColorScheme and dynamicDarkColorScheme to define your color scheme based on the system settings.

import android.app.Activity
import android.os.Build
import androidx.compose.foundation.isSystemInDarkTheme
import androidx.compose.material3.MaterialTheme
import androidx.compose.material3.darkColorScheme
import androidx.compose.material3.dynamicDarkColorScheme
import androidx.compose.material3.dynamicLightColorScheme
import androidx.compose.material3.lightColorScheme
import androidx.compose.runtime.Composable
import androidx.compose.runtime.SideEffect
import androidx.compose.ui.graphics.toArgb
import androidx.compose.ui.platform.LocalContext
import androidx.compose.ui.platform.LocalView
import androidx.core.view.WindowCompat

private val DarkColorScheme = darkColorScheme(
    primary = Purple80,
    secondary = PurpleGrey80,
    tertiary = Pink80
)

private val LightColorScheme = lightColorScheme(
    primary = Purple40,
    secondary = PurpleGrey40,
    tertiary = Pink40

    /* Other default colors to override
    background = Color(0xFFFFFBFE),
    surface = Color(0xFFFFFBFE),
    onPrimary = Color.White,
    onSecondary = Color.Black,
    onTertiary = Color.Black,
    onBackground = Color(0xFF1C1B1F),
    onSurface = Color(0xFF1C1B1F),
    */
)

@Composable
fun MyAppTheme(
    darkTheme: Boolean = isSystemInDarkTheme(),
    // Dynamic color is available on Android 12+
    dynamicColor: Boolean = true,
    content: @Composable () -> Unit
) {
    val colorScheme = when {
        dynamicColor && Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= Build.VERSION_CODES.S -> {
            val context = LocalContext.current
            if (darkTheme) dynamicDarkColorScheme(context) else dynamicLightColorScheme(context)
        }

        darkTheme -> DarkColorScheme
        else -> LightColorScheme
    }
    val view = LocalView.current
    if (!view.isInEditMode) {
        SideEffect {
            val window = (view.context as Activity).window
            window.statusBarColor = colorScheme.primary.toArgb()
            WindowCompat.getInsetsController(window, view).isAppearanceLightStatusBars = darkTheme
        }
    }

    MaterialTheme(
        colorScheme = colorScheme,
        typography = Typography,
        content = content
    )
}

In this code:

• dynamicLightColorScheme and dynamicDarkColorScheme are used to fetch the dynamic colors when the device is running Android 12 or higher.
• For older devices, you fall back to a custom LightColorScheme and DarkColorScheme.
• The SideEffect is used to change the system status bar color, creating a seamless appearance with your app.

Step 3: Using the Theme in Your App

Wrap your app’s content with your custom theme composable:

import androidx.compose.material3.Text
import androidx.compose.runtime.Composable
import androidx.compose.ui.tooling.preview.Preview

@Composable
fun MyComposable() {
    Text("Hello, Dynamic Color!")
}

@Preview(showBackground = true)
@Composable
fun DefaultPreview() {
    MyAppTheme {
        MyComposable()
    }
}

Now, the Text composable will automatically use colors from your theme, which in turn adapt to the user’s wallpaper if the device is running Android 12 or higher.

Step 4: Customizing Colors

If you want to use specific colors within your composables, access them through the MaterialTheme.colorScheme:

import androidx.compose.foundation.background
import androidx.compose.foundation.layout.Box
import androidx.compose.material3.MaterialTheme
import androidx.compose.material3.Text
import androidx.compose.runtime.Composable
import androidx.compose.ui.Modifier
import androidx.compose.ui.graphics.Color
import androidx.compose.ui.tooling.preview.Preview

@Composable
fun MyStyledComposable() {
    Box(modifier = Modifier.background(MaterialTheme.colorScheme.primary)) {
        Text(text = "Styled Text", color = MaterialTheme.colorScheme.onPrimary)
    }
}

@Preview(showBackground = true)
@Composable
fun StyledComposablePreview() {
    MyAppTheme {
        MyStyledComposable()
    }
}

In this example, the background color is set to the primary color from the dynamic color scheme, and the text color is set to the corresponding onPrimary color, ensuring readability and harmony.

Additional Considerations

• Accessibility: Always test your dynamic color implementation to ensure it meets accessibility guidelines. Ensure text is readable against its background, and color combinations provide sufficient contrast.
• Performance: Dynamic color calculation can be resource-intensive. Optimize your implementation to avoid unnecessary calculations, especially during animations or rapid UI updates.
• Customization: While dynamic color provides a personalized experience, offer users options to customize the color scheme further. Some users may prefer a fixed color palette or high-contrast mode.

Conclusion

Dynamic color integration in Jetpack Compose brings a new level of personalization to Android applications. By adapting the UI theme to match the user’s wallpaper, you can create a more engaging and cohesive experience. Follow the steps outlined in this guide to implement dynamic color in your Compose apps, and consider accessibility and performance to provide the best possible user experience. With Jetpack Compose, leveraging dynamic color is straightforward and allows you to build modern, visually appealing Android applications.