GSoC/2019/StatusReports/WeixuanXiao

KDE Connect for macOS port

KDE Connect works well on Linux and is built with KDE Frameworks and Qt. There is already “Continuity” on macOS for iPhone and iPad running iOS. But there is no support, and there will never be official support for Android phone on macOS. It makes sense to use KDE Connect on macOS to give Android users a better experience.

During Google Summer of Code 2019, a port of KDE Connect for macOS comes up! And the codes I've done during Google Summer of Code are categorized by features in the Contributions Section below.

Introduction

This is the main page of KDE Connect, we can open it from the indicator in the tray bar of macOS. All available plugins are here, you can enable/disable or configure them.

Available devices will be listed on the left, you can choose them to pair/unpair with them/it.

The text that you copy on your Mac will be shared to your phone, and those you copy on your phone will be also synchronized to your Mac.

With KNotifications support for macOS, you can receive notification from your Android phones and react to them. You can ping your Mac to test whether they are well connected.

Except the functions shown, you can also do these from your Android phone:

Keep your Mac awake when your phone is connected
Share files and links between devices
Control the volume of your Mac from the phone
Use your phone as Trackpad and Keyboard to control your Mac
Use your phone to control your slides during a presentation

You can do these from your Mac:

Check the battery level of your phone
Ring your phone to help find it
Send and receive SMS via your phone
Browse and manipulate files in your phone

If you're interested in what KDE Connect can do, rather than what I've done during Google Summer of Code, please move to My Blog - KDE Connect macOS Release.

Release

The release can be found in Release page of my blog and KDE Community FTP.

You will be able to get more exciting functions from Nightly Build on KDE Binary Factory.

Build from source code

Currently, those releases only support macOS 10.14 Mojave, but you can build one from the source code on your Mac to benefit it. Since Qt 5.10 supports down to 10.9, KDE Connect for macOS should also work on it!

The codes can be found in Weixuan XIAO's KDE Connect repository.

You can follow instructions in Build on macOS - KDE Connect Wiki to build your own version of KDE Connect.

In the following paragraphs, there are some details of my work this summer.

Tasks and Milestones

[Done] Before May 6

✅ Keep investigating the causes of failure of interface boot and try to fix it
✅ Finish a HOW-TO wiki for building current version of KDE Connect on macOS

[Done] May 6 – May 26

✅ Keep track of development discussion on IRC, mailing list and telegram group
✅ Fix nightly build of macOS building on KDE Connect Jenkins
✅ Try to fix the failure of interface boot

[Done] May 27 – June 16

✅ Add vlc library blueprint of macOS version into Craft bin
✅ Fix the failure of interface boot by packaging it to a DMG file
✅ Use dbus in Craft rather than installing dbus with Homebrew
✅ Fix scripts of “package” option in Craft to build a dmg image
✅ Package kdeconnect-indicator, kdeconnectd, kdeconnect-cli to DMG package
✅ Fix dependencies of kdeconnect-indicator, kdeconnectd, kdeconnect-cli in DMG package
✅ DBus integration
✅ Private DBus Support

[Done] June 17 – June 28

✅ Inhibit screensaver implemented by macOS native command
✅ Implement system volume plugin for macOS

[Done] June 24 MID TERM EVALUATION

Up to first evaluation, KDE Connect could be started without explicit configuration. User could use it as a normal application.

[Done] June 24 – July 21

✅ Implement native notifications on macOS
✅ Integrate KDE Connect with macOS finder extension, which allows users to send files directly from Finder, this is implemented by a native assistant application, user can install it as they wish
✅ Make clipboard plugin work on macOS

[Done] July 22 MID TERM EVALUATION

[Done] July 22 – August 18

✅ Implement virtual input plugin by coding another backend for macOS
✅ Debug and fix share and receive plugin on both Android and macOS sides(this is resolved by adding kioslave executable into app package)
✅ Make the sftp plugin work by adding an integrated stfp browser
Release a production-ready install package of dmg format(CodeSign)

Contributions

During 3 months, I contributed to several projects in KDE Community, not only to make KDE Connect work on macOS but also for a workable solution for KDE apps on macOS. Here are some of the projects that I've contributed to. Links are the branches or the Merge Requests which the features are linked to.

KDE Connect

Use a private dbus for KDE Connect on mac OS macos-private-dbus branch
Allow kdeconnectd auto launch from kdeconnect-indicator on macOS
DBus wrapper for KDE Connect only dbus daemon on macOS: Add wrapper for macos dbus connection
Enable sms test only when SMSAPP_ENABLED set to ON
Fix macos build
Screen saver inhibit plugin for macOS
System volume plugin for macOS
Clipboard sync plugin for macOS
Implementation of virtual input plugin by fixing X11 or by coding another backend for macOS
Integrate KDE Connect with macOS finder extension, which allows users to send files directly from Finder
Hide icon and set HighRes feature
Integrated SFTP browser

KNotifications

Implement native notifications on macOS repository on GitHub

Craft Blueprints

Craft

Other KDE projects

Fix dependencies and kio-slave in Dolphin on macOS

Posts and Resources

Useful links:

Posts:

Previews

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