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Qt for Android better than ever before

kdab.com

31–40 of 79 posts

Re: Qt for Android better than ever before

#31
post #5

I don't know how Qt & Android fare these days... I know it was quite a hassle to create background services when I first tried to get into it and there was no definitive answer as I think it was still on the roadmap to add it (perhaps?). Qt is amazing and so is QML. I still found QML JavaScript engine utilizing a lot of memory back then as well and I don't know if it has been fine-tuned these days.

If you want a background service you currently have to create the code for it in Java, and call that code with the JNI. You can register callbacks for communicating the other direction (towards native code). A pain, but possible.

Re: Qt for Android better than ever before

#32

I have in the past developed a fairly large (proprietary) Qt application that used the same codebase on Linux, Windows, and Android. I would say Windows and Android are tied for compile hell. This update looks really neat, and may solve some problems for some people. But personally my biggest gripe with Qt is qmake. When you are doing Android, lots of resources assume Gradle, and lots of Qt stuff assumes qmake. Neith…

There is already CMake support in Qt, and Qt itself is going to be compiled with CMake starting from version 6.

Re: Qt for Android better than ever before

#33
post #6

Qt for Android has always looked pretty good but I never see it used. Could someone link a few real-world apps developed with Qt for Android?

I had a Qt app for MeeGo and Symbian, and later ported and released it to Android too. I didn't like the use experience, so I rewrote in native Android some five years ago or so. Code was fine, but the UI was a lot of work and still felt a bit out of place.

Re: Qt for Android better than ever before

#34
post #13

I have in the past developed a fairly large (proprietary) Qt application that used the same codebase on Linux, Windows, and Android. I would say Windows and Android are tied for compile hell. This update looks really neat, and may solve some problems for some people. But personally my biggest gripe with Qt is qmake. When you are doing Android, lots of resources assume Gradle, and lots of Qt stuff assumes qmake. Neith…

Qt development using Python is similarly painful, I end up drafting things up in Qt Creator, taking that code and amending it to work in Python. The tooling for Qt needs help, I feel like this is a huge reason why shovelware Electron apps are so common now. Edit: Capitalization

It's Qt not QT

Re: Qt for Android better than ever before

#35

I've been getting more and more interested with qt development. As a linux user, I'm exhausted from the bloat and cycle stealing electron apps ( with VSCode being a notable exception to this rule). But more recently, the idea of writing one app in Qt, running it everywhere between Android, a Librem 5, and desktop platfoms is really exciting.

Why not GTK? You have even less bloat than in qt.

Re: Qt for Android better than ever before

#36
post #5

I don't know how Qt & Android fare these days... I know it was quite a hassle to create background services when I first tried to get into it and there was no definitive answer as I think it was still on the roadmap to add it (perhaps?). Qt is amazing and so is QML. I still found QML JavaScript engine utilizing a lot of memory back then as well and I don't know if it has been fine-tuned these days.

> I know it was quite a hassle to create background services

I think I finally understand why everyone keeps saying that Qt on Android "isn't ready for prime time."

Re: Qt for Android better than ever before

#37

Qt is a great toolkit and I've messed around with it on Android on and off since Lighthouse. One thing I want to point out is that Qt is LGPLv3 and (in my non-lawyer opinion) this is a pain point on restricted application environments like the Google Play store on Android. Its not clear to me that you can comply with a user request to get access to replace or modify LGPL'd software in your application.

That issue goes away if you purchase a commercial license, which is quite affordable.

That's the only way to legally distribute Qt apps through Apple's app store.

Re: Qt for Android better than ever before

#38
post #6

Qt for Android has always looked pretty good but I never see it used. Could someone link a few real-world apps developed with Qt for Android?

I had a Qt app for MeeGo and Symbian, and later ported and released it to Android too. I didn't like the use experience, so I rewrote in native Android some five years ago or so. Code was fine, but the UI was a lot of work and still felt a bit out of place.

That was my experience back in Qt 5.4 (so a while ago).

So I ended up keeping the logic in C++ with native views.

Re: Qt for Android better than ever before

#39
post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Qt development using Python is similarly painful, I end up drafting things up in Qt Creator, taking that code and amending it to work in Python. The tooling for Qt needs help, I feel like this is a huge reason why shovelware Electron apps are so common now. Edit: Capitalization

It's Qt not QT

Edited both comments, should be fixed now

Re: Qt for Android better than ever before

#40

For people new to Qt: It's a cross-platform GUI framework. It's written in C++ but can also be used from (among others) Python. If you're interested in examples, see for instance https://build-system.fman.io/pyqt-tutorial (I'm the author).

Is there anything like this for JS?
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