Ensuring Product Longevity With Qt Long-Term Support

As we continue to evolve and adapt the Qt Framework to the needs of our users and upcoming regulation changes, we are excited to announce some significant changes to our Long-Term Support (LTS) policy from Qt 6.8 onwards. The changes are designed to provide a more robust and predictable support strategy, ensuring your projects remain secure and stable over their entire lifecycle. 

Qt Long-Term Support Changes: What you Need to Know in Brief 

Starting with Qt 6.8, every LTS release will have five years of support for our commercial customers. This change ensures your team will have ample time to plan and execute your upgrade strategies without compromising security or quality.  

Why are we Changing the Qt LTS Length? 

The decision to extend the LTS period comes from two primary reasons. Firstly, the regulatory environment in Europe and other regions is increasingly pushing for long-term security and quality management strategies. As our customers operating in the European market are already taking the first steps to prepare for the upcoming EU Cyber Resilience Act, we see that the lengthening of the LTS period is helping plan the product roadmap forward. 

Secondly, we acknowledge that many of our customers are developing products with long lifecycles, extending over the previous 3-year LTS lifecycle. While we always encourage moving to the latest Qt version as soon as possible, we understand this isn't always feasible. Therefore, we aim to provide a more solid and predictable upgrade and support strategy to ensure the best quality products for our users. 

What are the Qt Long-Term Support Releases? 

Let's review the basics of Qt releases for those who need a quick refresher: The Qt Framework distinguishes between standard and Long-Term Support (LTS) releases. Each type has a tailored support period to meet different project needs. Standard releases are typically supported with bug fixes and security updates for one year. After that one year, Qt Framework moves to strict mode. At that point, only high-priority, critical bugs and security issues will be tackled. This way, we can ensure minimal regressions and behavior changes while maximizing quality and security. In contrast, LTS releases receive a five-year support period. These LTS versions are particularly beneficial for projects requiring a stable and secure foundation over a longer timeframe. Read more about Qt Long-Term Support.

Will the Cadence of the LTS Releases Change? 

We are currently evaluating whether to change the cadence of LTS releases. We believe a five-year LTS aligns well with releasing a new LTS version every two years. Previously, we aimed for an 18-month cycle. At the moment we are collecting feedback on this. If you prefer to maintain the 18-month cycle, don't hesitate to contact your sales or customer success representative to discuss the topic further. 

Changes Related to Add-On Module Support 

It's important to note that some elements of Qt rely on external dependencies, such as Qt WebEngine relying on Chromium. Due to Chromium's significantly different support model, we will not be able to provide all the security and quality updates we would like for Qt WebEngine and Qt PDF. However, you can use later versions of Qt WebEngine (for instance, Qt WebEngine from 6.10) with Qt 6.8 LTS. 

Reach out to Qt Sales Representatives for More Details 

We believe these changes will provide a more predictable and secure development environment for Qt developers. As always, we are committed to supporting you in delivering the best possible products. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact your sales or customer success representative.