Zenkai: The App Launcher I Wrote Because I Wanted Something Fast and Beautiful

说明与用途

Zenkai 是一个使用 Zig 和 Qt6 构建的跨平台启动器，带插件时启动时间为 140 ms，去除插件后为 20‑70 ms，提供 65 个主题，几乎无需配置。

问题

Existing app launchers repeatedly failed to meet the author’s expectations for speed, aesthetics, and cross‑platform consistency, leading to frequent uninstalls.

结果

Zenkai delivers a fast (140 ms startup with plugins) and visually appealing launcher across Linux, macOS, and Windows, with extensive theme support and minimal configuration.

工作流

• 1. Chose Zig for performance and manual memory control.
• 2. Selected Qt6 for cross‑platform GUI and rich styling.
• 3. Implemented core launcher logic in Zig.
• 4. Built theme system using Qt’s QSS and data files.
• 5. Optimized startup to reduce time to 140 ms (plugins) or 20‑70 ms (no‑icons).
• 6. Added 65 themes covering popular color schemes and accessibility options.
• 7. Released binaries for Linux, macOS, and Windows.
• 8. Provided a CLI flag to switch themes without configuration files.

证据

I have been obsessed with performance for as long as I can remember.

来源

zenkai --debug --quit-when-shown [zenkai] window fully visible in 140ms

来源

If we run it without plugins and the no-icons flag we get 20-70ms until fully interactive

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I chose Zig and Qt6!

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There are 65 of them and the reason adding another one is not work. You are not writing a new screen, you are filling in colours.

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