UI development framework targets wearable & IoT devices

The Qt 5.4 features the Qt WebEngine, a Chromium-based browser engine which supports HTML5 hybrid development; full support for Windows Store Apps, including WinRT and Windows Phone 8.1; and an Android look and feel for Qt Quick Controls. The Qt Quick Compiler 2.0 and Qt Quick 2D Renderer, for device creation development, are also offered alongside a ‘Flat Light’ style for Qt Quick Controls, which provides an improved look-and-feel to applications and device UIs (long, and semicolons). Due to the growth in the development of wearable and IoT devices, the framework is offered with a technology preview of Bluetooth Low Energy support. The Qt 5.4 also features the Qt Creator IDE 3.3, which introduces an updated Qt Quick Designer.

The Qt 5.4 can be used on both target platforms and supported devices, allowing developers to support other OSs or use on additional device hardware.

As well as providing cross-platform APIs to Chromium, Qt WebEngine fully integrates with the Qt graphics stack allowing web content to be overlaid and mixed with Qt UIs or OpenGL graphical effects. To enable the integration of web content using the native OS browser engine, the Qt WebView has been introduced under a commercial license and the LGPLv3.

The Qt 5.4 offers improved compliance with the latest desktop OS versions, improving the experience on OS X 10.10 Yosemite, supporting HD displays, improving the experience on Windows 8.1, and enabling dynamic GL switching between OpenGL and ANGLE on Windows. The graphics API provided by the framework allows developers to mix and match Qt Quick, Qt Widgets and raw OpenGL as required.

For mobile app development, the Qt 5.4 provides full support for Windows Store Apps and offers improved support for Android and iOS platforms. Native Android look-and-feel has been added to Qt Quick Controls, and compliance improved for iOS8 and XCode 6. The Indie Mobile package, designed for mobile or mobile app developers, now includes the Qt Purchasing API.

Qt’s existing support for creating applications for devices includes powerful C++ libraries, a full embedded tool chain and a pre-built software stack for instant prototyping. The ‘Flat Light’ style of Qt Quick Controls covers traditional and industrial enterprise controls. The Qt Quick 2D Renderer plugin enables Qt Quick graphics to run without OpenGL, allowing it to run on low-end devices without a GPU. The Qt Quick Compiler 2.0 reduces device boot-up time and securing against reverse engineering.