Fix Memory Leaks in Kotlin Multiplatform Apps

Memory leaks in KMP apps

A memory leak happens when the app keeps objects in memory that it no longer needs. Over time leaked memory adds up, the app slows down and it may eventually crash or be terminated by the system.

In a Kotlin Multiplatform (KMP) app, leaks can start in shared Kotlin code or in the platform code around it. On Android they often involve Activities, Fragments or Context; on iOS they often involve references between Kotlin objects and Swift or Objective-C objects.

Many leaks only appear in release builds, after long sessions or on real devices, so detecting them in production is just as important as finding them during development.

Why does this happen?

Memory leaks in KMP apps usually come from:

Coroutine scopes that are never cancelled: Using GlobalScope or custom scopes tied to nothing keeps coroutines and everything they capture alive.

Flows collected forever: Collectors started outside a lifecycle-aware scope keep running after the screen is gone.

Holding Android Context in shared code: Storing an Activity or View reference in an actual implementation or a singleton.

Reference cycles between Kotlin and Swift: Swift closures that capture Kotlin objects which in turn hold a reference back to the Swift side.

Listeners and callbacks not removed: Registering observers in shared code without unregistering them when the screen closes.

How to fix it using Appxiom

• Locate issue report: The issue report names the retained object and its tag, how long it stayed in memory after it was disposed, and the screen, user and device memory state at the time.
• Trace activity trail: The activity trail shows the screens and actions before the leak was detected, helping you find which flow fails to release memory.
• Set it up: Call Ax.watchLeaks on objects such as ViewModels when they are cleared, or use AxWatchLeakOnDispose in Compose Multiplatform screens. See Memory Leak Detection for KMP.