Avoid Lifecycle Bugs in Compose: Handle Data Streams the Android Way

Jetpack Compose makes UI updates reactive and declarative—but collecting data like StateFlow or LiveData comes with a catch. If you ignore lifecycle awareness, you risk memory leaks or wasted processing. Here’s how to do it right.

Challenge:

In Compose, how do you collect data from StateFlow or LiveData while ensuring it’s lifecycle‑aware?

Solution:

Use collectAsState() with a lifecycleScope or rememberFlowWithLifecycle() to automatically start and stop collection based on lifecycle events.

kotlin
@Composable
fun UserScreen(viewModel: UserViewModel) { val user by viewModel.userFlow.collectAsState(initial = null) user?.let { Text("Hello, ${it.name}") }
}

Conclusion

Jetpack Compose simplifies the UI, but the lifecycle still matters. If you’re working on a modern app or looking to hire Android developer, using lifecycle-aware collection methods keeps your data updates safe, clean, and efficient without leaks or crashes.