Power strategy (compose.power / code.power)

April 11, 2026 · View on GitHub

Same extension / facilitator / builder shape as scaled — replace the prefix sdp → pwsdp, hdp → pwhdp, wdp → pwwdp, ssp → pwssp, etc. Full table: COMPOSE-API-CONVENTIONS.md §3.

What it is

Power applies sublinear growth on the axis: the scale factor goes like (dim/300)^0.75 instead of dim/300. Useful to keep icons, margins, and text from “blowing up” on wide monitors or large tablets while still growing smoothly.

Calculation used

Conceptually, for effective axis dim (dp), after inverters and with multi-window handling:

  • ratio = dim / 300
  • out = base × ratio^0.75

Implementation note: For smallest-width + default inverter, ratio^0.75 is pre-computed once per configuration change (DimenCache.currentPowerScale). Other qualifiers still compute ratio from readScreenDp and use Math.pow(ratio, 0.75).

  • With applyAspectRatio: multiply by the pre-computed aspect-ratio factor (DimenCache.currentAspectRatioMul); custom sensitivity uses 1+k×logNormalizedAr1 + \text{k} \times \text{logNormalizedAr}.

Implementation: calculatePowerDpCompose in DimenPowerDp.kt.

How to use

import com.appdimens.dynamic.compose.power.pwsdp
import com.appdimens.dynamic.compose.power.pwhdp
import com.appdimens.dynamic.compose.power.pwwdp

Modifier.size(48.pwsdp) // smallest-width axis, power curve

Code: com.appdimens.dynamic.code.power — mirrored prefixes (pwsdp, etc.) on the same pattern.

Artifacts: DimenPowerDp, DimenPower, DimenPowerSp, PowerSp, … Kotlin facilitators: DimenPowerDpExtensions.kt, DimenPowerSpExtensions.kt; Plain (Views): DimenPowerPlainPx.kt.

Why use it

Lowers the effective growth exponent on large screens vs linear, for a “more contained” feel without breakpoint jumps.

When to use it

  • Monitors, tablets in landscape, layouts with a lot of usable width.
  • When scaled oversizes elements but logarithmic would be too conservative.

Advantages and trade-offs

  • Pros: smooth transition; same API as other strategies (inverters, a/i).
  • Cons: on narrow phones values stay close to linear; in mixed projects, document where power is used for design/dev alignment.

Keep scaled as the global default; apply power to component families (e.g. dashboard grid, toolbar icons) after QA on at least one phone and one wide tablet.

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