PySide6 + QML from Qt Design Studio on Raspberry Pi CM5 (aarch64) — missing QtQuick.Studio.* imports (no PySide6-DS wheel for arm64)
06:38 16 Apr 2026

**Short summary **
I have a PySide6 app with UI designed in Qt Design Studio. It works perfectly on desktop with PySide6-DS, but on Raspberry Pi CM5 (aarch64) the QtQuick.Studio.* components are missing because no arm64 wheel exists for PySide6-DS. I fixed it by replacing Studio components with standard QtQuick ones, but I'm looking for better long-term solutions (cross-compilation, Boot to Qt, etc.).
I developed a PySide6 application with its UI created in Qt Design Studio (.ui.qml files).

if interested plz view my full setup which i explained below:
Workflow on host (x86_64):

  • Design UI in Qt Design Studio → generate .ui.qml files.

  • Use wrapper .qml files that import QtQuick.Studio.* components and load the .ui.qml files.

  • Load the wrapper QML from Python via QQmlApplicationEngine to connect with the backend logic.

This works perfectly on the host after installing PySide6 + PySide6-DS (which provides QtQuick.Studio.Components, QtQuick.Studio.Effects, QtQuick.Studio.Application, etc.).

On target — Raspberry Pi CM5 (64-bit Raspberry Pi OS, aarch64):

  • pip install PySide6 succeeds (official aarch64 wheel works fine).

  • However, no PySide6-DS wheel exists for aarch64, so the Studio QML modules are missing.

Current workaround: I replaced the Studio-specific imports and components in the wrapper .qml files with standard QtQuick / QtQuick.Controls / QtQuick.Shapes equivalents (e.g. Studio.Rectangle → Rectangle, effects → Layer + shaders). The app now runs correctly on the CM5.

Questions:

  1. Is there a better long-term solution than manually rewriting Studio components?

  2. Are any of these options practical, and what are the steps?

    • Cross-compiling only the qtquickdesigner-components module and adding it to the existing PySide6 installation.

    • Building a full custom PySide6 wheel that includes Design Studio components (using cross-toolchain for aarch64).

    • Using Boot to Qt for Raspberry Pi and deploying the PySide6 app on it.

    • Other ideas (native build on the Pi, Arch Linux ARM, or avoiding Studio components from the start).

Additional context:

  • Target: Raspberry Pi CM5 + standard 64-bit Raspberry Pi OS.

  • App is performance-sensitive but not extremely heavy.

  • I prefer to keep the Qt Design Studio workflow on the host if possible.

  • Cross-compilation environment is available.

Has anyone successfully deployed a full Qt Design Studio QML project with PySide6 on Raspberry Pi CM4/CM5 (or similar aarch64 hardware)? What approach worked best?

Any links to build scripts, Docker setups, or experiences with cross-compiling the Designer components would be very helpful.

user-interface qml embedded-linux pyside