After six months of work, The new version of Qt Creator 18 is now available e introduce experimental functions which reinforce their role in automating and modernizing the developers' workflow, with improvements in both the interface and compatibility with external tools.
Among the main new features, the following stand out: experimental support for development containers (Dev Containers). Qt Creator can now detect a devcontainer.json file within the project and automatically create a Docker container with the necessary configuration to compile and run the code. While still in the experimental phase, this feature represents a step toward a fully automated development experience within the Qt ecosystem.
Main new features of Qt Creator 18
The new version of Qt Creator 18 Refresh the visual experience with a new "Summary" tab on the welcome page. On it Content is compiled from other sections, such as tutorials, practical examples, and recommended notes based on user experience.
The notifications They also receive a significant upgrade: They now appear as pop-up windows, more discreet and modern, although users can revert to the classic style in “Environment > Interface > Prefer banner style”.
For its part, The code editor adds a much-anticipated optional tab feature, This makes it easier to switch between open files and improves the visual organization of your work. In addition, more advanced navigation methods such as the Locator, edit history, and keyboard shortcuts are still available.
QtCreator 18 Update the C++ code model with support for the latest language features, in addition to incorporating Clangd/LLVM 21.1 in its precompiled binaries. It also introduces quick fixes to remove unnecessary keys or define static members.
For QML developers, It is now possible to use the latest version of the QML language serverThis update improves autocompletion, error detection, and integration with code analysis tools, even when working with older versions of Qt.
Another important novelty is the compatibility with GitHub Enterprise environments for GitHub Copilot, which expands the AI-based assistance options within the editor.
Clearer and more efficient project management
The .user files that contain project-specific configurations They are now stored within the .qtcreator/ subdirectoryThis keeps the main directories more organized. In Project mode, the user can choose to display only the applicable or already configured kits (tools and versions of Qt), reducing confusion in complex environments.
La The “Run” page has been redesigned and divided into two sections: Deployment Configuration and Run Configuration are now separate, while Build Configuration has been moved to dedicated tabs within the content viewer. Additionally, it's now possible to synchronize run configurations across different kits, which is very useful for projects with multiple build environments.
For For CMake users, test presets and a new locator filter have been added. (“ct”) to run tests with CTest, improving the automated testing workflow.
Improved integration with remote devices
Qt Creator 18 expands support for tools on remote Linux devices, such as CMake, clangd, rsync, and qmake, and introduces a new automatic connection option at startup to automatically reconnect to devices when the system starts. These improvements simplify remote debugging and compilation, especially in distributed development environments.
The Git commit editor has been enhanced With new actions: now you can add or remove files directly from the editor itself and add them to the .gitignore file without leaving the environment
Finally, if you are interested in being able to know more about it, you can consult the details in the following link
How to install QT Creator on Linux?
You should know that Qt Creator is available in both the commercial (supported) edition and the community edition.
En Most Linux distros have the (community) package within their repositories. If the package is not found on your distro or you prefer to use the installer offered directly by QT, you can obtain it From the page.
The installer is in a .run format and once the download is done, you just have to give it permissions. Execute with the following command:
sudo chmod +x qt-creator-opensource-linux-x86_64-18.0.0.run
Once this is done, now you just have to run the installer with:
sudo sh qt-creator-opensource-linux-x86_64-18.0.0.run
In the case of Ubuntu users, you may need some additional packages, which you can install with:
sudo apt-get install build-essential
sudo apt-get install libfontconfig1
sudo apt-get install mesa-common-dev
sudo apt-get install libglu1-mesa-dev -yNow In the case of those who are users of Arch Linux and other distros based You can install the package directly from the repositories, since the new version of QT creator is already available.
To install, just run the following command in the terminal:
sudo pacman -S qtcreator