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Ask HN: Smoothness and performance of Qt based systems vs. native apps and OS

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Ask HN: Smoothness and performance of Qt based systems vs. native apps and OS

#1

Post by donboscow »

There are many apps on Mac and Windows based on Qt, as well as ones built using the native SDKs exposed by respective platforms, like Cocoa and Dot Net. Are the ones built on Qt as smooth and performant as the native ones? Or will there be clear performance differences? There are questions like this on StackExchange, but they are more than a decade old, I am interested in knowing the current status!

On that note, how will an OS built around Qt perform compared to say iOS or Android, like Ubuntu Touch (assuming similar levels of underlying hardware)? Will Android and iOS and the apps on top of them will be naturally smoother, scrolls and app transitions being smoother than in Ubuntu Touch? Or is it that the Qt coding can be suitably tweaked in Ubuntu Touch to match iOS and Android performances?

Re: Ask HN: Smoothness and performance of Qt based systems vs. native apps and OS

#6

Post by IshKebab »

donboscow wrote: post #4
gerikson wrote: post #2

Obviously "smoothness" means something other than "differentiable everywhere", but I'm at a loss to know what.

Was my question not clear? If so, please tell me which part, I will be happy to clarify.

It was very clear.

Re: Ask HN: Smoothness and performance of Qt based systems vs. native apps and OS

#8

Post by donboscow »

rvz wrote: post #7

Just look at Telegram as a real example and compare that against the other messenger apps since the majority of them use Electron and Telegram uses Qt for some of its desktop clients.

You mean to say Telegram is smoother than other apps? Will try it out. In general, would you say that Qt is supposed to work just as buttery smooth and native on Mac or iPhone as a native app? And will an OS built on Qt like Ubuntu Touch will be as smooth and beautifully craftable as iOS apps on iPhone?

Re: Ask HN: Smoothness and performance of Qt based systems vs. native apps and OS

#9

Post by ChuckNorris89 »

CarVac wrote: post #3

In my experience QML is buttery smooth on Linux, even on older hardware, but it just isn't as smooth on Windows.

Yep, that's why KDE is so smooth even on older hardware. But on Windows, some QT apps (GnuPG pinentry-qt for example) often have weird scaling issues where they de-snap and move out of their place.
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