qtquick-for-android.qdoc

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// Copyright (C) 2024 The Qt Company Ltd.
// SPDX-License-Identifier: LicenseRef-Qt-Commercial OR GFDL-1.3-no-invariants-only
 
/*!
    \title Qt Quick for Android
    \brief An overview on using QML in native Android projects.
    \page qtquick-for-android.html
    \ingroup android-platform-extra-topics
 
    \section1 Qt Quick for Android overview
 
    The basis of this approach is to offer Qt QML APIs in an embedded way so
    that the app will remain a relatively typical Android app. This approach
    offers a more standard Android-centered approach at the cost of leveraging
    the cross-platform nature of a Qt application. It's best suited for adding
    desirable Qt features to an existing Android application.
 
    \list
        \li Android creates the Qt content and controls it.
        \li Android Studio with the \l{\QtTAS} plugin is used for development.
        \li For Qt content, Qt Creator or Qt Design Studio are used.
        \li Main languages are Java and Kotlin, with QML used for specific parts
        such as 3D content.
        \li You can use any Android APIs you want, but you can use JNI if you want more
        control over communication between your Java code and QML. See \l{QJniObject}
        and \l{QJniEnvironment}.
    \endlist
 
    \section2 How this differs from Qt for Android
 
    The most prominent difference between these approaches is the project structure.
    Qt for Android applications are CMake projects that can be built for Android or
    other platforms, while a Qt Quick for Android Project is an Android project that
    includes QML content and can only be built for Android.
 
    \image qtquick-for-android-comparisson.drawio.svg
           {Comparison of Qt for Android and Qt Quick for Android workflows}
 
    The main objective of the Qt for Android approach is to let Qt handle most of the work
    of the architecture and boilerplate code of the app and let you focus on the
    content. It offers a complete and reliable cross-platform approach.
 
    \list
        \li Qt creates and controls the Android app.
        \li \l{\QC Documentation}{\QC}, \l{Qt Design Studio}, or Visual Studio
            can be used.
        \li Main languages are C++ and QML.
        \li Android specifics are more hidden; Qt handles these internally.
        \li To use Android APIs not yet available as Qt APIs, you must use JNI.
        See \l{QJniObject} and \l{QJniEnvironment}.
    \endlist
 
    See \l{How Qt for Android Works} for further details on Qt for Android's architecture.
 
    \section1 How Qt Quick for Android works
 
    Qt Quick for Android offers you \l{Qt Quick Android Classes}{Android APIs} that enable
    you to insert QML content as an \l{Android: View}{Android View} in your project.
 
    \image qtquick-for-android-architecture.drawio.svg
           {Architecture diagram showing Qt Quick embedded in an Android app}
 
    \section1 APIs
    \target Android Classes
    These are the public Java and Kotlin APIs that you will use in an Android
    app to embed QML.
 
    \section2 Java classes
 
    \list
        \li \l{QtQuickView}
        \li \l{QtQuickViewContent}
        \li \l{QtAbstractItemModel}
        \li \l{QtAbstractListModel}
        \li \l{QtModelIndex}
     \endlist
 
    \section2 Interfaces
 
    \list
        \li \l{QtQmlStatusChangeListener} (which uses the \l QtQmlStatus enum)
    \endlist
 
    \note See the \l{QT_ANDROID_GENERATE_JAVA_QTQUICKVIEW_CONTENTS} CMake
    variable for further information on Java code generation of QML components.
 
    \section1 API examples
 
    \list
        \li \l{Qt Quick for Android Studio Projects}
        \li \l{Exposing QtAbstractListModel to QML}
        \li \l{Using QtAbstractItemModel in Android Studio Projects}
    \endlist
 
    \include qtquick-for-android-main().qdocinc
 
    \section2 Running Qt Quick for Android examples
 
    \include running-qtquick-for-android-examples.qdocinc
 
    \section1 Tooling
 
    The \l{Qt Gradle Plugin} and \l{\QtTAS} plugin are provided by Qt for easy
    development. You can use the Gradle Plugin independently from an IDE as part
    of your build toolchain. \QtTAS uses the plugin to build your projects in
    Android Studio.
 
    \section1 Where to go from here
 
    The following additional topics apply to Qt Quick For Android:
 
    \annotatedlist qq4a-extra-topics
 
*/