Swift Student Challenge: Apple's programming competition enters the hot phase
Since 2020, Apple has been organizing an annual programming competition for pupils and students. Submissions are possible until February 23.
(Image: Apple)
Apple has launched its annual programming competition for pupils and students, the Swift Student Challenge. Interested parties can submit their projects created with the Swift Playgrounds app until February 23, 2025. Apple will select 350 winners from all submissions worldwide. Apple will also invite 50 of the winners to California to attend the Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) at Apple headquarters.
In 2024, several winners from Germany were also given the chance to attend in Cupertino. In an interview with heise online, they reported that they met Apple executives on site and were given an insight behind the scenes at the iPhone manufacturer. Some had even successfully taken part in the challenge several times before. The winning projects included apps for tracking whether you are drinking enough water during the day, music programs or for using social media.
Springboard for young app developers
The Swift Student Challenge was introduced in 2020. The competition is designed to promote young programming talent and help them network with each other. A positive side effect for Apple is that the young programmers often later become self-employed with their apps in the App Store or are hired by companies that develop software for Apple's platforms.
All winners receive a one-year free membership in the Apple Developer Program, which allows them to publish apps in the App Store, for example, a voucher for the certification exam for app development with Swift and a “special gift” from Apple.
Note the minimum age
Apple has provided materials specifically for the competition in the Swift Coding Club to help pupils and students prepare for the competition. The focus is on Apple's Swift programming language and SwiftUI for designing user interfaces.
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Anyone wishing to take part in the competition must not already be a full-time developer. Apple therefore recommends that you read the terms and conditions of the competition before taking part. In Germany, students must be at least 16 years old to take part in the challenge; in Austria, students must be at least 14 years old. Young Swiss people must be at least 18 years old. In addition, those interested must either attend an accredited educational institution, be enrolled in an educational programme of a STEM organization or have obtained a high school diploma or similar within the last six months.
(mki)
