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Kotlin/Native target support

Edit pageLast modified: 27 November 2024

The Kotlin/Native compiler supports a great number of different targets, though it is hard to provide the same level of support for all of them. This document describes which targets Kotlin/Native supports and breaks them into several tiers depending on how well the compiler supports them.

tip

We can adjust the number of tiers, the list of supported targets, and their features as we go.

Mind the following terms used in tier tables:

  • Gradle target name is a target name that is used in the Kotlin Multiplatform Gradle plugin to enable the target.

  • Target triple is a target name according to the <architecture>-<vendor>-<system>-<abi> structure that is commonly used by compilers.

  • Running tests indicates out of the box support for running tests in Gradle and IDE.

    This is only available on a native host for the specific target. For example, you can run macosX64 and iosX64 tests only on macOS x86-64 host.

Tier 1

Gradle target name

Target triple

Running tests

Description

Apple macOS hosts only:

macosX64

x86_64-apple-macos

✅

Apple macOS on x86_64 platforms

macosArm64

aarch64-apple-macos

✅

Apple macOS on Apple Silicon platforms

iosSimulatorArm64

aarch64-apple-ios-simulator

✅

Apple iOS simulator on Apple Silicon platforms

iosX64

x86_64-apple-ios-simulator

✅

Apple iOS simulator on x86-64 platforms

iosArm64

aarch64-apple-ios

Apple iOS and iPadOS on ARM64 platforms

Tier 2

Gradle target name

Target triple

Running tests

Description

linuxX64

x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu

✅

Linux on x86_64 platforms

linuxArm64

aarch64-unknown-linux-gnu

Linux on ARM64 platforms

Apple macOS hosts only:

watchosSimulatorArm64

aarch64-apple-watchos-simulator

✅

Apple watchOS simulator on Apple Silicon platforms

watchosX64

x86_64-apple-watchos-simulator

✅

Apple watchOS 64-bit simulator on x86_64 platforms

watchosArm32

armv7k-apple-watchos

Apple watchOS on ARM32 platforms

watchosArm64

arm64_32-apple-watchos

Apple watchOS on ARM64 platforms with ILP32

tvosSimulatorArm64

aarch64-apple-tvos-simulator

✅

Apple tvOS simulator on Apple Silicon platforms

tvosX64

x86_64-apple-tvos-simulator

✅

Apple tvOS simulator on x86_64 platforms

tvosArm64

aarch64-apple-tvos

Apple tvOS on ARM64 platforms

Tier 3

  • The target is not guaranteed to be tested on CI.

  • We can't promise a source and binary compatibility between different compiler releases, though such changes for these targets are quite rare.

Gradle target name

Target triple

Running tests

Description

androidNativeArm32

arm-unknown-linux-androideabi

Android NDK on ARM32 platforms

androidNativeArm64

aarch64-unknown-linux-android

Android NDK on ARM64 platforms

androidNativeX86

i686-unknown-linux-android

Android NDK on x86 platforms

androidNativeX64

x86_64-unknown-linux-android

Android NDK on x86_64 platforms

mingwX64

x86_64-pc-windows-gnu

✅

64-bit Windows 7 and later using MinGW compatibility layer

Apple macOS hosts only:

watchosDeviceArm64

aarch64-apple-watchos

Apple watchOS on ARM64 platforms

note

The linuxArm32Hfp target is deprecated and will be removed in future releases.

For library authors

We don't recommend library authors to test more targets or provide stricter guarantees than the Kotlin/Native compiler does. You can use the following approach when considering support for native targets:

  • Support all the targets from tier 1, 2, and 3.

  • Regularly test targets from tier 1 and 2 that support running tests out of the box.

The Kotlin team uses this approach in the official Kotlin libraries, for example, kotlinx.coroutines and kotlinx.serialization.