How to Display Real-Time Updating Data in Android Without Using LiveData

If you are developing a stock-trading app, live sports score keeping app, or even a food delivery app with a real-time tracking screen, you need a method to show data updates in real-time. LiveData works great for basic use cases, but it might not be able to handle continuous streams of fast-changing values.

Challenge:

How do you show continuously updating data (e.g., stock prices) without LiveData?

Solution:

Make use of MutableStateFlow in ViewModel and collect it in the UI with lifecycle-awareness.

kotlin
// ViewModel
val priceFlow = MutableStateFlow(0.0f)
fun updatePrice(newPrice: Float) { priceFlow.value = newPrice }
// Fragment/Activity
lifecycleScope.launchWhenStarted { viewModel.priceFlow.collect { price -> updateUI(price) }
}

Conclusion:

StateFlow is a clean, efficient way to manage real-time UI updates in modern Android apps. It’s lightweight, lifecycle-aware, and much easier to reason about than juggling LiveData and manual observers. If your app depends on live data, you should hire Android engineers who are comfortable with Kotlin Flow.