Material You Dynamic Theming in Compose

Material You's dynamic color system extracts a palette from the user's wallpaper and applies it across the system and apps. Implementing this in your app is straightforward on Android 12+, but requires careful fallback design for earlier versions.

Dynamic color extraction

The DynamicColors.applyToActivityIfAvailable() call in your Activity hooks into the system palette. In Compose, dynamicLightColorScheme() and dynamicDarkColorScheme() then expose that palette as a ColorScheme.

Tonal surfaces

Material You isn't just about accent colors — it's about tonal elevation. Surfaces at different elevations receive tinted overlays derived from the primary color, creating depth without shadows.

Fallback strategy

Wrap the dynamic color call in a version check, then provide a hand-crafted ColorScheme for Android 11 and below. Keep the fallback palette visually consistent with your brand identity.