GoldenDict Forum

Heyho guys!

I just want to say: "Thank you very much for this great piece of software!" Goldendict is a really what I was searching for a long time! Thank you!

Just one question, would it be much work to make it available for Android tablets and smartphones? ..I think this would be a very cool idea. I am not into programming but I'd really appreciate if someone could explain how much work it is and what it needs to get it done.

Thank you guys! Good luck to all of you!!

John

john_kaufi wrote:Just one question, would it be much work to make it available for Android tablets and smartphones?

GoldenDict is written in C++ with Qt library, while Android is "java" based. So it is not trivial, it seems.

On the other hand, there is a way of writing native, non-java apps for Android as well. But then again, the whole Qt library needs to be there.

My take on this (but I"m not the GD developer!): porting to Android is highly unlikely and pretty expensive.

Gloggy, thanks for your response!

Good to know! ..BTW what is the QT library and what is it used for?

Gloggy wrote:while Android is "java" based

It isn’t. Android is based on Linux kernel.

porting to Android is highly unlikely and pretty expensive.

Why, they say, Qt is already ported to Android, although so far in alpha state [1]. So, as soon as any Android enthusiast emerges that is ready to undertake the task…

[1] http://habrahabr.ru/blogs/qt_software/114267/

dg333 wrote:It isn’t. Android is based on Linux kernel.

Well, strictly speaking, you are right, of course. I was just trying to say that typical Android apps are java-based. But since there is a way to write native apps now, the point is moot.

dg333 wrote:Why, they say, Qt is already ported to Android, although so far in alpha state

Heh, interesting. It would be indeed awesome to have Qt properly ported and functional on Android platform. Still, I highly doubt it that it is going to happen soon. I've seen lots of alpha state early ports of various frameworks that never actually made it to the proper release. Hopefully, this is not the case here.

I've bumped the Russian thread about Android and will do the same for the English one. I've recently bought a Motorola Xoom and ... well became personally interested in an Android port.

So, as far as I understand, currently there are two QT ports for Android:

1) Necessitas by Bogdan Vatra from Romania (and associated tools; they have sleek Android application that downloads necessary QT libraries and shares them with all QT applications)
See http://labs.qt.nokia.com/2011/02/28/necessitas/ ; http://www.behindkde.org/node/925 ; http://sourceforge.net/p/necessitas/home/necessitas/

2) grym-android-lighthouse by Sergey Galin et al.
See http://sageshome.net/blog/index.php/sag ... id_release ; http://qt.gitorious.org/qt/grym-android-lighthouse

I don't know if it is just a matter of using one of the above to compile Goldendict source code or some programming is required.

The Android version is in the works and will be available in a month or two.

ikm wrote:The Android version is in the works and will be available in a month or two.

Very interesting! So, it is still going to be Qt-based, fully native app, no Java?

No, there will be no Qt dependency. The app would be a Java/JNI hybrid.

Great news!!! Have you decided on the software license? Which Android versions are you targeting? Are you planning to support the same dictionary formats? Sorry, I have too many questions.

ikm wrote:No, there will be no Qt dependency. The app would be a Java/JNI hybrid.