CROSS FRAMEWORK
TRACK
Jessica Randall
Android Developer | Community Leader
GDG Cape Town
Jessica Randall is a Master's graduate in Mathematics, an Android developer Co-lead at Mentorlst, and a Zindi Ambassador. Deeply immersed in the world of Android development, she is passionate about Kotlin and Jetpack Compose, thriving in the collaborative environment of Android Studio.
She applies her background in data science and Topological Data Analysis to address complex societal issues. As a Zindi Ambassador, she advocates for data science and machine learning, empowering others to solve real-world problems through technology.
As an organizer for GDG Cape Town, she fosters local developer communities and shapes impactful tech events in South Africa. Her journey as a Google Crowdsource Influencer sparked her interest in AI and Machine Learning, fueling her continuous learning. A forward-thinker, she is an inspiring figure in the ever-evolving tech landscape.
When Emojis Break: A Cross-Platform Rendering Challenge
Lightning talk
Emoji rendering is deceptively complex in cross-platform applications. While Kotlin Multiplatform (KMP) and Compose Multiplatform enable shared UI across Android, iOS, JavaScript, and WebAssembly, visual consistency remains challenging due to platform-specific font rendering systems.
This talk explores a real-world issue where emojis rendered correctly on Android and iOS but failed on web targets. Despite sharing the same UI code, differences in browser and WebAssembly font support resulted in an inconsistent user experience.
To address this, we adopted a unified typography strategy using the Noto Color Emoji TrueType font as a shared application asset. Rather than relying on platform-provided emoji support, emoji rendering became an application-managed concern, ensuring consistent behavior across all targets.
By treating emojis as first-class typography assets rather than platform-dependent artefacts, we achieved a more predictable and consistent cross-platform UI experience.