Apple's WWDC 2025 Swift Student Challenge Now Live

Apple's 2025 Swift Student Challenge kicked off today, which means that students from around the world can showcase their coding skills and creativity by developing app concepts using Swift Playground or Xcode.

2025 Swift Student Challenge
Students have had time to prepare because Apple announced that the challenge would be held in February 2025 way back in October 2024, plus Apple gave an exact date in January. Apple also hosted an online session to provide students with info on participating in the challenge, with tips from former Challenge winners and Apple engineers.

Apple holds the Swift Student Challenge each year. In past years, it has been timed with the Worldwide Developers Conference, but in 2024, Apple began holding it earlier in the year. Students are tasked with creating an app concept, with Apple providing Develop in Swift tutorials to help students learn the foundations of coding.

Apple plans to select 350 winners based on "innovation, creativity, social impact, or inclusivity." 50 of the winners will be invited to spend three days at Apple Park in Cupertino, California this summer. The trip is expected to coincide with the 2025 Worldwide Developers Conference.

Submissions are open as of today, and will remain open for a three-week period before judging begins. Students can learn more through Apple's developer website.

Popular Stories

iPhone 17 Pro 3 4ths Perspective Aluminum Camera Module 1

New iPhone 17 Pro Details: Brighter Display, Best Battery Life, and More

Wednesday September 3, 2025 5:33 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max models will feature a number of significant display, thermal, and battery improvements, according to new late-stage rumors. According to the Weibo leaker known as "Instant Digital," the iPhone 17 Pro models will feature displays with higher brightness, making it more suitable for use in direct sunlight for prolonged periods. The iPhone 16 Pro and...
iPhone 17 Pro Iridescent Feature 2

iPhone 17 Pro Clear Case Leak Reveals Three Key Changes

Sunday August 31, 2025 1:26 pm PDT by
Apple is expected to unveil the iPhone 17 series on Tuesday, September 9, and last-minute rumors about the devices continue to surface. The latest info comes from a leaker known as Majin Bu, who has shared alleged images of Apple's Clear Case for the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max, or at least replicas. Image Credit: @MajinBuOfficial The images show three alleged changes compared to Apple's iP...
iPhone 17 Pro Iridescent Feature 2

iPhone 17 and iPhone 17 Pro Prices Estimated Ahead of Apple Event Next Week

Tuesday September 2, 2025 1:50 pm PDT by
Just one week before Apple is expected to unveil the iPhone 17 series, an analyst has shared new price estimates for the devices. Here are J.P. Morgan analyst Samik Chatterjee's price estimates for the iPhone 17 series in the United States, according to 9to5Mac: Model Starting Price Model Starting Price Change iPhone 16 $799 iPhone 17 ...
iphone 16 pro ghost hand

iPhone 17 Pro: 5 Reasons Not to Upgrade This Year

Monday September 1, 2025 4:35 am PDT by
Apple will launch its new iPhone 17 series this month, and the iPhone 17 Pro models are expected to get a new design for the rear casing and the camera area. But more significant changes to the lineup are not expected until next year, when the iPhone 18 models arrive. If you're thinking of trading in your iPhone for this year's latest, consider the following features rumored to be coming to...
iPhone 17 Pro Dark Blue and Orange

iPhone 17 Release Date, Pre-Orders, and What to Expect

Thursday August 28, 2025 4:08 am PDT by
An iPhone 17 announcement is a dead cert for September 2025 – Apple has already sent out invites for an "Awe dropping" event on Tuesday, September 9 at the Apple Park campus in Cupertino, California. The timing follows Apple's trend of introducing new iPhone models annually in the fall. At the event, Apple is expected to unveil its new-generation iPhone 17, an all-new ultra-thin iPhone 17...
Apple Watch Ultra 2 Complications

Apple Watch Ultra 3 Coming Next Week: Eight Reasons to Upgrade

Thursday September 4, 2025 7:38 am PDT by
We're only days away from Apple's "Awe dropping" fall event scheduled to take place on Tuesday, September 9 – and along with the new iPhone 17 series, we're going to get a new version of the Apple Watch Ultra for the first time since 2023. By the time the Ultra 3 is unveiled, it will have been two years since the previous model arrived. The intervening period has left plenty of room for...

Top Rated Comments

macduke Avatar
8 months ago
I lost my job as a web developer a few weeks ago before Christmas. A couple weeks ago I decided to learn Swift and started building a simple game for fun and to do something productive to take my mind off of the bad situation I'm in. Since then the game has taken on a life of its own with deeper complexity, multiple modes advanced features, and I have been doing playtesting with my kids and their friends and taking notes to balance everything.

This is some of the most fun that I've ever had as a developer, and I feel like I may have found a new calling. The game is actually pretty fun, and my kids are becoming addicted to it, lol, and they're just playing the iPhone build on their iPad. I still need to add iPad support. And the game has such simple controls that I think I may also add Apple TV support, although latency may become an issue with the remote since it requires such fast reflexes. It's a great little mobile time killer that is a lot of fun too, with simple satisfying graphics and sound, and a gameplay loop that keeps you wanting to come back to beat your high score over and over again.

Swift is an amazing language. It's fairly easy to work with and understand, and Xcode is a great IDE that does a really good job with giving feedback about different issues. I hardly have issues that make it through to the build and crash the game. The SpriteKit/GameKit/GameplayKit stuff is really great. I love that it can just handle physics interactions simply and easily. The code is very cleanly structured and concise as well. Xcode itself can be a bit overwhelming, but I'm getting the hang of it. I'm still very early, and part of me kinda hopes I have a bit longer before one of these places decides to hire me because I'm having so much fun learning this.

My goal is to get this thing onto the App Store by the end of next month! I'm just concerned about how crowded the store is nowadays—my app will probably get lost in the sea of apps. I'll probably give out a bunch of codes for it here when it launches, maybe even do some beta testing in the forums with people. Wish I was eligible to submit to this contest! But I'm just somebody's dad.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
emmab2006 Avatar
8 months ago
Cant wait to see all those Vision Pro Apps ! ...
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
usersince86 Avatar
8 months ago
Sure wish this existed back in the 80's when I was a kid... glad it exists now!

(Also, cool logo.) :cool:
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)