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SDL3 is a great platform abstraction layer. On Linux, it compiles with support for both X Window System and Wayland. This is great because it makes your app compatible with just about any desktop environment and window manager.

Here's the thing. X11 apps can still run under Wayland through the XWayland compatibility layer. In the SDL3 documentation it says that

Wayland is a replacement for the X11 window system protocol and architecture and is favored over X11 by default in SDL3

This sounds great. Wayland is a replacement for X11 so I would rather use it instead of X with XWayland. Wayland native apps work better with my window manager, and behave more consistently. Unfortunately, in practice SDL does not use Wayland. My SDL windows open using X. I don't know if it's a problem with my environment, but here's how I fixed it (for c++).

for (int i = 0; i < SDL_GetNumVideoDrivers(); i++) {
    if (std::string(SDL_GetVideoDriver(i)) == "wayland") {
        SDL_SetHintWithPriority(SDL_HINT_VIDEO_DRIVER, "wayland", SDL_HINT_OVERRIDE);
        break;
    }
}

This code will explicitly enable Wayland if it is available. Thanks to my friend Riley for helping to figure it out.

I've asked about this issue on the SDL discourse. I'll update this post if there are any more details.

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