How to use Material 3 Expressive in Jetpack Compose

Short answer: set material3 to 1.5.0-beta02, wrap your app in MaterialExpressiveTheme, and use the Expressive components (ButtonGroup, FloatingActionButtonMenu, HorizontalFloatingToolbar …). In beta02 almost none of them need an opt-in.

Why it isn’t just “update Compose”

M3 Expressive shipped in Compose as part of material3 1.5.0. In the stable 1.4.0, the Expressive theme, motion scheme and emphasized type exist but are internal, and most new components aren’t there. A Compose BOM won’t move material3 to a beta, so you need to pin it.

1. Pin the version

gradle/libs.versions.toml

[versions]
material3 = "1.5.0-beta02"

[libraries]
androidx-compose-material3 = { group = "androidx.compose.material3", name = "material3", version.ref = "material3" }

2. Switch the theme

@Composable
fun AppTheme(
    darkTheme: Boolean = isSystemInDarkTheme(),
    dynamicColor: Boolean = true,
    content: @Composable () -> Unit,
) {
    val context = LocalContext.current
    val colorScheme = when {
        dynamicColor && Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= Build.VERSION_CODES.S ->
            if (darkTheme) dynamicDarkColorScheme(context) else dynamicLightColorScheme(context)
        darkTheme -> darkColorScheme()
        else -> expressiveLightColorScheme()
    }
    MaterialExpressiveTheme(
        colorScheme = colorScheme,
        motionScheme = MotionScheme.expressive(),
        content = content,
    )
}

3. Use an Expressive component

person_addFollowFollowingnotificationsAlerts

@Composable
fun FollowButton() {
    var following by rememberSaveable { mutableStateOf(false) }
    // Checked state changes both color and shape (round when off, square when on).
    ToggleButton(checked = following, onCheckedChange = { following = it }) {
        Text(if (following) "Following" else "Follow")
    }
}

Common mistakes

• Adding @OptIn(ExperimentalMaterial3ExpressiveApi::class) everywhere. In beta02 only LoadingIndicator, MaterialShapes and a few helpers need it. Full list.
• Keeping tween() animations in custom UI. Use MotionScheme springs.
• Using a deprecated API like ListItem(headlineContent = …). What changed.

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