QFIELD
PLUGIN FRAMEWORK 🚀

Exploring the possibilities

THE ISSUE 🤔

• QField has over 560,000 active devices on Android alone, not every functionality justifies rolling out to all users
• QField’s commitment to delivering a lean UI also means certain UXs are not a good fit by default

THE ANSWER: PLUGINS 🧩

• A plugin framework to fulfill those niche needs by the growing number of QField users
• Aligns with a core value promoted by OPENGIS.ch and the QField project: freedom
• Plugin development and release not bound to cadence of QField releases

TYPES OF QFIELD PLUGINS 🔠

• The QField framework offers two types of plugins:
  • App-wide plugins, activated upon app launch until exit
  • Project plugins, enabled while a given project is being consumed

QFIELD VS. QGIS PLUGINS 🔍

• Python powers QGIS’s plugins with Qt widgets for the GUI
• QML & Javascript powers QField’s plugins with QtQuick items for the GUI
• QField’s project plugins can be understood as QGIS project macros

APP-WIDE PLUGINS ✨

• Installed via the plugin manager by providing a URL pointing to a zipped plugin content
• The plugin manager provides a quick way to enable/disable/configure plugins
• Permission will be asked prior to activating a plugin

PROJECT PLUGINS 🗃️

• Served as a sidecar file to the QGIS project file
• Often the easiest way to deploy plugins to users as they are bundled with projects and do not require additional steps to obtain
• Permission will also be asked prior to activating a plugin
• Pro-tip: rely on QFieldCloud to conduct remote distribution and update of project plugins to a fleet of QField devices

WEATHER PLUGIN ☀️

• Leveraging positioning context to provide relevant information
• XMLHttpRequest support unlocks a wide range of web services
• https://github.com/opengisch/qfield-weather-forecast/blob/main/main.qml

OSRM ROUTING PLUGIN 🚗

• Rely on QField items to overlay georeferenced geometries. on top of the map canvas
• Did we mention XMLHttpRequest yet?
• https://github.com/opengisch/qfield-osrm

SEARCH BAR PLUGINS 🧐

• The plugin framework enables integration with QField’s search bar
• Under the hood, QGIS’ locator classes power the functionality
• https://github.com/opengisch/qfield-nominatim-locator
• https://github.com/opengisch/qfield-geomapfish-locator

VOCAL POINT PLUGIN 🗣️

• Leverage smartphone capabilities into exciting new UX to digitize features
• Fantastic way to do quick prototyping
• https://github.com/SeqLaz/vocalpoint-qfield-plugin

TIPS FOR DEVELOPERS ⚡

• Qt documentation: https://doc.qt.io/qt-6/qml-tutorial.html
• QField API documentation: https://api.qfield.org/
• Developing on Windows/Linux using QField by adding/changing files in the plugins directory

WARNING ⚠️

• Documentation remains a work in progress
• However, it improves every single month, e.g. I did the same workshop at FOSS4G 2025 without the API site
• A growing community of plugun authors are also active on our community platform

AVAILABLE QML MODULES 📦

• WebSocket
• Quick3D
• Charts
• Sensors

LAST WORDS & THANKS 🙏

• For now, GitHub’s topics page offers an overview of most available plugins: https://github.com/topics/qfield-plugin
• If you are developing a plugin of your own, use the #qfield-plugin topic and let us know!
• What to know more? Contact us: info@opengis.ch