Apple announces Swift Student Challenge 2025 for student programmers to showcase their app ingenuity to win Apple prizes
Apple has announced the Swift Student Challenge 2025 for student programmers to showcase their app design and programming skills to win prizes from Apple, including an Apple Developer Program membership and other gifts. Applications will commence in February 2025. Interested students can sign up for notifications here.
A total of 350 Swift Student Challenge winners will be selected. From this group, fifty Distinguished winners will be invited to spend three days at Apple HQ networking with peers and meeting Apple staff.
Apple has always been a small player in the worldwide computer and smartphone market, making up just 17% of global mobile phone shipments in the first quarter of 2024 and 9% of global computer shipments in 2023. Because of this, Apple depends on sales of digital apps and goods in their App Store to drive significant revenue growth. A necessary factor for this growth is programmers skilled in using the programming tools and languages unique to Apple app development, including Xcode, Objective-C, Swift Playgrounds, and Swift.
Apple hopes the Swift Student Challenge will encourage students to learn how to create apps for the Apple ecosystem and to later become Apple developers. The company is providing guidance and tutorials for students to get started learning and developing their apps. Students who need a Mac to start learning Apple app programming can use a MacBook Air (like this one on Amazon), a Mac Mini (like this one on Amazon), or even an iPad (like this one on Amazon).
Teachers are encouraged to help their students get ready for the Swift Challenge by using educator resources such as the Everyone Can Code Projects and Swift Coding Club plans.
Announcing the Swift Student Challenge 2025
October 8, 2024
We’re thrilled to announce the Swift Student Challenge 2025. The Challenge provides the next generation of student developers the opportunity to showcase their creativity and coding skills by building app playgrounds with Swift.
Applications for the next Challenge will open in February 2025 for three weeks.
We’ll select 350 Swift Student Challenge winners whose submissions demonstrate excellence in innovation, creativity, social impact, or inclusivity. From this esteemed group, we’ll name 50 Distinguished Winners whose work is truly exceptional and invite them to join us at Apple in Cupertino for three incredible days where they’ll gain invaluable insights from Apple experts and engineers, connect with their peers, and enjoy a host of unforgettable experiences.
All Challenge winners will receive one year of membership in the Apple Developer Program, a special gift from Apple, and more.
To help you get ready, we’re launching new coding resources, including Swift Coding Clubs designed for students to develop skills for a future career, build community, and get ready for the Challenge.
