[GSoC 2026] Proposal Discussion — Mobile UI for GNU XaoS

[Avinash Sharma]

Hello,

My name is Avinash Sharma, and I am a Computer Science student at Jaypee University of Engineering and Technology, Guna. I am interested in applying for “Develop a Mobile Phone UI for GNU XaoS” for Google Summer of Code 2026.

I am currently drafting my proposal and would sincerely appreciate any feedback or guidance before finalizing it.

About Me

• Strong experience with C/C++, Qt/QML, and CMake

• Android development experience with focus on UI architecture and accessibility

• Open-source contributor (merged PRs in large Android codebases)

• Comfortable working with modular architectures and UI/engine separation

My Understanding So Far

After exploring the XaoS repository, I understand that:

• src/engine/ handles fractal computation

• src/ui-hlp/ (notably uih_context) acts as a bridge layer

• src/ui/ implements the existing desktop interface

This separation suggests that a mobile UI could be implemented independently without modifying the engine core.

Proposed Direction (Draft)

• Introduce a src/ui-mobile/ module

• Implement the interface using QML with a C++ bridge around uih_context

• Use Qt toolchains for Android (and potentially iOS)

• Prioritize touch interaction design, performance, and maintainability

I would be grateful for guidance on:

• Any preferred architectural conventions for new UI modules

• Known build-system concerns for mobile targets

• Features you would prioritize for a first mobile release

Thank you for maintaining such a unique and inspiring piece of free software. I look forward to your suggestions.

Best regards,
Avinash Sharma
https://github.com/Avinash-Codes

[Zoltán Kovács]

Hi Avinash,

thanks for your interest and the nice introduction!

Avinash Sharma <avinash.sh...@gmail.com> ezt írta (időpont: 2026. febr. 25., Sze, 20:59):

Hello,

My name is Avinash Sharma, and I am a Computer Science student at Jaypee University of Engineering and Technology, Guna. I am interested in applying for “Develop a Mobile Phone UI for GNU XaoS” for Google Summer of Code 2026.

I am currently drafting my proposal and would sincerely appreciate any feedback or guidance before finalizing it.

About Me

• Strong experience with C/C++, Qt/QML, and CMake

• Android development experience with focus on UI architecture and accessibility

• Open-source contributor (merged PRs in large Android codebases)

• Comfortable working with modular architectures and UI/engine separation

Great!

 

My Understanding So Far

After exploring the XaoS repository, I understand that:

• src/engine/ handles fractal computation

• src/ui-hlp/ (notably uih_context) acts as a bridge layer

• src/ui/ implements the existing desktop interface

This separation suggests that a mobile UI could be implemented independently without modifying the engine core.

Yes. Please have a look also at https://github.com/xaos-project/XaoS/wiki/Developer's-Guide#historical-perspective.

@J.B. Langston Maybe we want to change the "lowest common denominator" to "least common multiple" or "greatest common divisor" in the docs, right? :-)

 

Proposed Direction (Draft)

• Introduce a src/ui-mobile/ module

• Implement the interface using QML with a C++ bridge around uih_context

• Use Qt toolchains for Android (and potentially iOS)

• Prioritize touch interaction design, performance, and maintainability

At first sight this seems to make sense. 

I would be grateful for guidance on:

• Any preferred architectural conventions for new UI modules

• Known build-system concerns for mobile targets

• Features you would prioritize for a first mobile release

I personally have no experience in this, and no preference for features. It is quite an open chapter in the history of XaoS, so we are excited to see any steps forward on this! 

Thank you for maintaining such a unique and inspiring piece of free software. I look forward to your suggestions.

Thanks for the encouraging words!

Best regards, Zoltan

[Avinash Sharma]

Hi Zoltan,

Thank you so much for the warm welcome and the context! I really appreciate it.

To make sure I truly understood the architecture before writing my proposal, I spent the last few days building a small local proof-of-concept. I successfully managed to wrap the uih_context in a C++ bridge and render the fractal engine output inside a Qt Quick/QML frontend. I even got it building side-by-side with the desktop version using a conditional -DMOBILE_UI=ON flag in CMake!

Seeing it actually run with touch gestures has me incredibly excited about this project's potential.

Before I finalize everything, I had two quick administrative questions:

1. Is there a specific maintainer who will be the primary mentor for the Mobile UI project?

2. What is the preferred way to share my draft proposal for feedback? I have a detailed document covering the architecture, Android/iOS deployment, and the sharing protocol, and I would love to get the mentors' eyes on it.

Thank you again for the guidance!

Best regards,

Avinash Sharma

[Zoltán Kovács]

Hi Avinash, thank you for the update --- this is great progress!

Avinash Sharma <avinash.sh...@gmail.com> ezt írta (időpont: 2026. febr. 26., Cs, 17:26):

Hi Zoltan,

Thank you so much for the warm welcome and the context! I really appreciate it.

To make sure I truly understood the architecture before writing my proposal, I spent the last few days building a small local proof-of-concept. I successfully managed to wrap the uih_context in a C++ bridge and render the fractal engine output inside a Qt Quick/QML frontend. I even got it building side-by-side with the desktop version using a conditional -DMOBILE_UI=ON flag in CMake!

Wonderful. It would be nice if you could share some screenshots on your project with us. But, at least, with me (in a private message). :-)

Ideally, you should fork the GitHub project and make extensions in the code on your fork. Then, we would be able to have a look and try it on our own. Since building XaoS is no longer a simple task, I suggest you have a look at my blog entry at https://matek.hu/zoltan/blog-20260115.php?t=d since it gives some guidelines how to set up a reproducible build system via docker, especially for building via cmake/Qt/WebAssembly. When having a Dockerfile, it would be a much simpler task for everyone to reproduce the steps you did.

Note that the latest Qt version may create unusable WebAssembly code because zooming does not work smoothly in Qt 6.10. I already sent a bug report to the Qt guys, but it seems there is no progress on this:

https://github.com/xaos-project/XaoS/issues/271#issuecomment-3591068456

I am unsure if this affects your mobile build.

Seeing it actually run with touch gestures has me incredibly excited about this project's potential.

That's good to hear! :-)

Before I finalize everything, I had two quick administrative questions:

1. Is there a specific maintainer who will be the primary mentor for the Mobile UI project?

Most probably I will be that person.

1. What is the preferred way to share my draft proposal for feedback? I have a detailed document covering the architecture, Android/iOS deployment, and the sharing protocol, and I would love to get the mentors' eyes on it.

Please send me your thoughts in a private email. If other people want to help us (and be there in the mentoring process), I will add them to the conversation later.

Thank you again for the guidance!

It's my pleasure.

Kind regards, Zoltan