Apple has announced that its annual Swift Student Challenge, a platform to empower the next generation of young developers, will return in February 2025.
The challenge will provide thousands of students around the world the opportunity to unleash their creativity and showcase their coding abilities. Utilising Swift, a professional programming language, participants are tasked with developing applications to help address important global issues.
“At Apple, we are committed to supporting and nurturing the next generation of coders. Every year, we’re incredibly impressed by the ingenuity of the apps students are creating, and we’re excited to see what the next round of the challenge will bring,” said Apple’s vice president of Worldwide Developer Relations, Susan Prescott.
Submissions will open in February 2025, with 350 Swift Student Challenge winners selected based on “innovation, creativity, social impact, or inclusivity”. Among this group, 50 will be named Distinguished Winners and receive invitations to Apple’s headquarters in Cupertino. All winners will be awarded a one-year membership to the Apple Developer Program, plus a “special gift” from Apple.
For all the challenge hopefuls out there, here are some tips from Swift Student Challenge 2024 winners:
- Kai Quan Tay (16 years old):
“Work smart. Swift Student Challenge submissions are judged in under 3 minutes, and you should use that to your advantage. Especially if you’re short on time, prioritise parts that judges will interact with first. Select your app’s idea wisely – is it something that you could fully demonstrate within a single elevator ride?” - Xuan Han Tan (17 years old):
“Start early. By starting early, you’ll have more time to design, plan, code, test and refine your app, so your app will be more complete. Often, towards the end of development, we realise some fundamental issues in the features of our app, and it’s important to leave enough time to resolve these issues and show your app’s full potential.”
The next Apple Swift Student Challenge will begin applications in February 2025.
Kevin is a reformed PC Master Race gamer with a penchant for franchise “duds” like Darksiders III and Dead Space 3. He has made it his life-long mission to play every single major game release – lest his wallet dies trying.
Natalie
