Qt 5.3 Offers New Version of Cross Platform App and UI Development Framework

Qt, a cross-platform application and user interface (UI) development framework, is now available under version Qt 5.3 which offers improved documentation and new coding. 

The Qt for Windows Runtime port has now reached the supported Beta state. The platform upgrade also offers several improvements on desktop application development including the introduction of QQuickWidget, which is designed to simplify the migration of larger Qt Widget-based applications to Qt 5, allows for hybrid development with both C++ Qt Widgets and Qt Quick UI technology, in one application. 

The Qt Quick Controls have also received new updates which include calendar control, native dialogs and styling for the menu bar as well as several new Qt Quick Enterprise controls for industrial applications

On the API side, the new Qt Positioning API provides GPS support for both Android and iOS, while the Qt Bluetooth API now provides direct support for also Android. Qt Enterprise mobile application customers will also benefit from the new Qt Purchasing API that provides a cross-platform Qt API for in-app purchasing from Android Google Play and iOS App Store. In the future, this will be extended to WinRT (Windows Store / Windows Phone Store) and desktop marketplaces such as the Mac OS X store. 

A new Qt WebSockets API and new Managed WebSockets backend service in the Qt Cloud Services portfolio enables cloud-connected applications and devices to communicate bi-directionally in real-time. In addition, the Managed WebSockets solution enables any number of client-server communications so that one-to-many communication channels, including chat and notifications, can be implemented. 

Qt Enterprise 5.3 offers a new Qt Quick Compiler, which allows developers to compile QML files into an application. The compiler ensures IP protection of the QML source and improves load time and performance by pre-parsing the QML files. With compiled Qt Quick, app start up is up to 90% faster than before. Qt Quick Compiler delivers significant run-time performance improvements on platforms such as iOS.

Qt Enterprise 5.3 also introduces primary support from Digia for QNX Neutrino 6.6 with pre-built Qt Enterprise binaries that enable UIs for the QNX Car Automotive platforms and also the healthcare, industrial automation, and in-flight entertainment industries.