Qt, a cross-platform framework for graphical user interfaces and the foundation of the KDE desktop environment, has released version 6.11, continuing the Qt 6 series with improvements to rendering, graphics, C++ APIs, and developer tools.
A key addition is Qt Canvas Painter, a module based on the HTML Canvas 2D context. It offers hardware-accelerated 2D rendering to enhance performance and productivity for 2D graphics applications.
The release includes 3D rendering updates, such as Screen Space Global Illumination for lightmap baking and enhanced Screen Space Reflections. The temporal anti-aliasing algorithm now uses motion vectors. Developers can also define custom render passes in QML for post-processing effects, color picking, and layer masking.
Work on data visualization continues with improvements to interactive graphs. Qt 6.11 allows custom delegates to render individual data points, enabling more flexible graph implementations.
Updates also include new styling options for line graphs and support for multi-axis configurations in 3D graphs. A new example, the Wind Turbine Dashboard, demonstrates these capabilities.
For C++ development, Qt 6.11 introduces the Qt Task Tree module, offering a declarative approach to asynchronous programming and unifying task handling across APIs. Existing APIs have been updated to support this model.
Additional updates include the Qt OpenAPI module for easier web service integration, enhancements to vector graphics, UI controls, and accessibility. QML and C++ integration has been refined to simplify navigation between layers and expose backend data to Qt Quick.
For more details, see the announcement.
