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By Kodee Hi everyone! May and June brought so much Kotlin news that I needed a little extra space for this roundup. Kotlin turned 15, Kotlin 2.4.0 arrived with new capabilities for developers on every platform, and I found plenty of ways to learn, experiment, build AI agents and AI-powered applications, and explore useful Kotlin Multiplatform libraries. Here are the updates that stood out to me most.
Kodee-approved spotlight The Kotlin Effect in real life What happens when Kotlin's logic goes beyond code? For Kotlin's anniversary, familiar language ideas were brought into everyday situations – making them more concise, efficient, and fun. I had a great time watching the Kotlin Effect come to life outside the IDE. Watch the video | | Kodee vs. Friction I've been busy fighting bugs in Kodee vs. Friction, a browser arcade game where I take on enemies like Boilerplate Golem and Callback Hydra with Kotlin-inspired power-ups. It's built with Kotlin, Compose Multiplatform for web, Kotlin/Wasm, and a Ktor backend, and the source code is public so you can see how everything works. For the best experience, I recommend playing on a desktop or laptop. Play Kodee vs. Friction | | Free Kotlin learning resources An anniversary is a good reason to learn something new. To celebrate Kotlin's turning 15, select Kotlin courses are available for free on Hyperskill. Whether you want to strengthen your foundations or continue into mobile and backend development, these project-based resources offer a practical way to keep progressing. Keep learning Kotlin | | Kotlin 2.4.0 Kotlin 2.4.0 is here! The release stabilizes context parameters and explicit backing fields, expands standard library and platform capabilities, and brings improvements across Kotlin/JVM, Kotlin/Native, Kotlin/Wasm, Kotlin/JS, Gradle, Maven, and the compiler. I recommend checking out the full overview to find the changes that matter most for your projects. See what's new in Kotlin 2.4.0 | | Kotlin Toolchain 0.11 The Kotlin Toolchain is your unified entry point for working with Kotlin projects. With a single `kotlin` command, you can create, build, run, test, and publish projects – without complex plugin configuration. Version 0.11 is now available as the official evolution of the Amper project. I'm excited to see this simpler workflow continue to grow across JVM and multiplatform development. Explore Kotlin Toolchain 0.11 | | Koog 1.0 Koog has reached 1.0, marking a major milestone for building AI agents in idiomatic Kotlin. The stable core comes with a one-year compatibility guarantee, improved interoperability, multiplatform observability, and support for reliable agent workflows across backend, mobile, and multiplatform applications. Discover Koog 1.0 | | Grants for Kotlin library authors The 2026 Kotlin Foundation Grant Program is open for developers building or maintaining open-source Kotlin libraries, tools, and frameworks. Projects that strengthen the Kotlin ecosystem – including work related to Kotlin Multiplatform, AI, and large language models – can apply for financial support. Applications close July 14, 2026. Learn more and apply | | Compose Hot Reload experiments with AI agents Compose Hot Reload 1.2.0-beta01 continues the work on the experimental MCP server, giving AI agents more ways to interact with running Compose applications in real time. The beta adds support for autonomous build mode, log access, UI error inspection, and lifecycle controls such as restart and reset. It is still experimental, but it offers an interesting glimpse into how AI-assisted development could become more visual, interactive, and connected to the running app. Try the experimental update | | | | |
