Choosing the Right UI Framework for a Cross‑Platform Desktop Meeting App
An in‑depth look at NetEase Meeting’s desktop client explains how the team selected Qt as the cross‑platform UI framework, details the App‑SDK‑IPC architecture, outlines the SDK’s layered design, and describes C++ and Electron integration methods for building a high‑performance meeting application.
UI How to Choose
For desktop applications there are many UI options; mature frameworks exist for different platforms, and the choice depends on development speed, performance, and visual effect.
Supporting both Windows and macOS requires a cross‑platform solution; common options include Qt, Electron, and Flutter. In a meeting scenario video rendering is core, so multi‑stream support and hardware acceleration are important, leading us to choose Qt.
Desktop End
Desktop framework
The overall desktop framework consists of an App built with Qt, a UI SDK providing meeting functions, and an IPC layer that bridges the App and SDK.
App : implements login, registration, and other features; can be customized via the provided APIs.
SDK : UI SDK that contains all meeting functionalities and exposes integration interfaces.
IPC : implements data communication between App and SDK using sockets and an asynchronous task queue; the App acts as a server, launches the SDK UI process, passes a port, and listens for client connections.
Using a dual‑process architecture brings two benefits:
Better isolation, making the SDK more stable.
Higher system resource utilization, avoiding contention with the SDK host process.
SDK Structure
The SDK offers external integration interfaces and UI modules such as video view, chat, member list, live streaming, and whiteboard.
It is organized into four layers:
UI layer : meeting UI components.
Service layer : business‑level module encapsulation.
Control layer : encapsulates capability modules.
Base layer : core capability modules.
Integration Methods
The desktop side provides rich integration interfaces.
C++ method : a set of native C++ APIs for Windows and macOS.
Electron method : JavaScript‑based APIs with the same signatures as the C++ ones, convenient for Electron apps.
The SDK’s advantages include componentized architecture, simple and stable interfaces, and high customizability of the UI.
Conclusion
The article introduced the architecture of the meeting system and its components, helping users understand the internal implementation and logic, and pointing out key technical challenges and solutions.
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