--- title: We don't need ViewModels anymore. So shall we get rid... description: Android ViewModels exist for more than just surviving configuration changes — they also handle process death via SavedStateHandle, enable separation of... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/we-don-t-need-viewmodels-anymore-so-shall-we-get-rid-off-them--opbpk4njw twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: We don't need ViewModels anymore. So shall we get rid off them? | daily.dev og:description: Android ViewModels exist for more than just surviving configuration changes — they also handle process death via SavedStateHandle, enable separation of... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/we-don-t-need-viewmodels-anymore-so-shall-we-get-rid-off-them--opbpk4njw og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/oPBPK4nJW.png og:image:alt: We don't need ViewModels anymore. So shall we get rid off them? og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # We don't need ViewModels anymore. So shall we get rid off them? **[Philipp Lackner](https://daily.dev/sources/philipplackner)** · 20 min read · 4 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary Android ViewModels exist for more than just surviving configuration changes — they also handle process death via SavedStateHandle, enable separation of concerns, and make logic testable with fast JVM unit tests. Using `remember`, `rememberSavable`, or `retain` alone falls short in various ways: `remember` doesn't survive config changes, `retain` doesn't survive process death, and `rememberSavable` struggles with complex objects. While it's technically possible to build a custom stateholder class using the Compose `retain` API with a `SavableStateRegistry` to replicate ViewModel behavior, doing so requires significant boilerplate, hasn't been production-tested, and still doesn't address dependency injection. The conclusion is that reinventing ViewModels with plain Kotlin classes adds maintenance burden without meaningful benefit for most Android apps. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### Why do we need ViewModels on Android instead of just using rememberSaveable? ViewModels solve two Android-specific problems that rememberSaveable cannot fully address: surviving configuration changes and restoring state after process death via SavedStateHandle. rememberSaveable survives both but requires serialization logic that breaks down for complex objects, and unlike ViewModels it keeps state-updating logic tied to the UI, forcing slower, more brittle UI tests instead of fast local JVM unit tests. _Developers weighing state management tradeoffs on Android can find deeper architecture discussions like this on daily.dev._ ### What is the difference between the retain API in Jetpack Compose and using a ViewModel? The retain API in Jetpack Compose survives configuration changes but not process death on its own, so it does not fully replace a ViewModel by default. Building a custom stateholder that mimics ViewModel behavior requires combining retain with a RetainObserver, a SaveableStateRegistry, and Navigation 3 NavEntryDecorators to scope the stateholder to a backstack entry and restore values after process death. _Anyone evaluating whether to adopt newer Compose APIs over ViewModels can track these tradeoffs via daily.dev._ ### What does Lifecycle version 2.11 change for ViewModels in Jetpack Compose? Lifecycle 2.11 enables ViewModels to be scoped to individual composables rather than only to backstack entries, giving developers finer-grained control over ViewModel lifetime within Compose UI hierarchies. This builds on the existing ViewModel mechanisms for surviving configuration changes and process death through SavedStateHandle. _Android developers adjusting scoping strategies after Lifecycle updates can follow related changes on daily.dev._ ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Understanding retain: A New Way to Retain State in Jetpack Compose](https://daily.dev/posts/understanding-retain-a-new-way-to-retain-state-in-jetpack-compose-hga8inmvh) · ProAndroidDev · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Android Architecture Is Quietly Moving Beyond ViewModel as a State Holder](https://daily.dev/posts/android-architecture-is-quietly-moving-beyond-viewmodel-as-a-state-holder-0e2pkua20) · ProAndroidDev · 12 upvotes · 0 comments - [Process Death and SavedStateHandle in Android](https://daily.dev/posts/process-death-and-savedstatehandle-in-android-82qtjktll) · Atomic Spin · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#android](https://daily.dev/tags/android), [#kotlin](https://daily.dev/tags/kotlin), [#jetpack-compose](https://daily.dev/tags/jetpack-compose) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/we-don-t-need-viewmodels-anymore-so-shall-we-get-rid-off-them--opbpk4njw) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"We don't need ViewModels anymore. 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