Thread: Maemo 6 loosing source compatibility with plain Qt, and Symbian^4
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cristids is offline cristids
2010-10-25 , 09:43
Posts: 22 | Thanked: 22 times | Joined on Sep 2009
#176
Originally Posted by attila77 View Post
Because the UI paradigm *is* different on these OSes, either due to historical reasons or because of HW form factors (they definitely do NOT have nearly the same size/resolution and screen/kbd). This is not about just a QPushbutton, that we could get over easily, but rather how much part of the OS the app feels. I agree that the #ifdeffing should be done away with or at least minimized, but you cannot so easily forego platform specifics (Components is no silver bullet but at least it makes the mess more manageable). As said, QPushbutton is easy, but what do you do with Symbian softkeys, Maemo's stacked windows, funky pickers, application menus, file management, etc. I know, I know 'not my problem', but am just saying that after doing a project or two you *will* realize that you don't *really* want your apps to look literally the same on all platforms, the best Qt can do is to help you minimize the pain.
Please explain to me how N900 is different in HW form factor than N8 or newer symbian devices bearing Qt. They all have touch screens that are about same size. I assume N9 or whatever name will have will be somwhere between 3 and 4.5 inches.
None of the elements you mention must be os specific. I mean I would've have them all put under Qt umbrella. If I want soft keys implemented that is fine, I put the code in Qt, making a note that it is only symbian supported. Meego finds out that it needs soft keys, here they are,we enable them in qt. But each with its own set of controls it is simply bad design and bad interaction between architects. I understand that they choose the shortest path but eventually this will strike back as Qt doesn't deliver on its promise. Instead they should've plan better and when a UI component is needed implement it in all platforms, make it look the same and everybody would've been happy.
 

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