Writing applications for multiple MeeGo devices

Several vendors are announcing products based on MeeGo, however these devices can be really different from each other. Some have small screens, others large ones. The UX layers used by different vendors also have different UI guidelines, different widgets and different theme-ing capabilities.

To design good UIs, specialists also take into account factors like the viewing distance from each device, the screen resolution, the environment in which these devices are to be used. A device being used in a car must provide quick interaction without disturbing or distracting the driver. The UI of a device being used on a motorcycle should take into account the usage of thick gloves while riding. On the other hand a tablet device provides lots of room to fit information, this can avoid the usage of deep menus for instance.

In that light, to which extent can a single application fit such different platforms while making the most of each one? Is there a way to create a one-size-fits-all UI?

We have been developing rich UI mobile applications in INdT for several years using different technologies. In this session we will show how MeeGo application developers can find the sweet spot between reusing code or rewriting it to tailor applications to the different scenarios. Our focus will be to show how to use Qt Quick and Qt Components to split applications into reusable logic back-ends and thin, easily rewritable UIs that look and feel like native to the different MeeGo flavors.

Our plan is to use an open source MeeGo application we have been developing at INdT to illustrate the concepts and show the actual tools in practice. Being available in Gitorious, this application will continue to be available as a reference to MeeGo developers after the session and conference are over.