Create mobile apps with Qt Creator
Easy Apps
© Lead Image © Denys Rudyi, 123RF.com
Find out how to create a cross-platform app with the veteran tool Qt Creator.
Qt has been around for more than 20 years. During this time, developers have used several approaches to develop graphical interfaces. More specifically, you might recall Qt Widgets [1], Qt Quick [2], and Qt Quick Controls 2 [3]. Qt beginners who want to build mobile, cross-platform apps might perhaps be confused by this diversity, especially since all the technologies are still in use.
Qt runs on different platforms: Desktop, embedded, and mobile. For desktop applications (OS X, Windows, Linux), developers are more likely to go for Qt Widgets, which offers native controls for the user interface. In contrast, Qt Quick, based on an OpenGL implementation, seeks to abstract the UI controls to deploy Qt across platforms. Mobile apps developed with Qt Quick do not look native, nor is their performance very convincing. This changed, however, with Qt 5.7, which introduced the lightweight Qt Quick Controls 2. The name is a bit deceptive, because it is not a new version of Qt Quick, but a completely new development.
Mobile Controls
Qt Quick Controls 2 comes with many additional controls and with new containers that simplify development. Navigation elements, now standard in mobile applications, are also on board. Table 1 shows an overview of the elements provided by Qt Quick Controls 2.
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