Apple today announced that it plans to hold its next Swift Student Challenge in February 2024, marking the first time the company has provided advanced notice to give students time to prepare. The Swift Student Challenge tasks students with creating an innovative coding project using the Swift Playgrounds app.

This year’s Swift Student Challenge will have 350 winners, and there will be a category that recognizes a total of 50 Distinguished Winners for standout submissions. All of the Distinguished Winners will be invited to Apple’s headquarters in Cupertino, California, where they will be able to connect with their peers and the Apple team, while all winners will be granted a free one-year membership in the Apple Developer program.

“At Apple, we believe that everyone can learn to code and build apps, and we’re proud to support and recognize aspiring student developers with the Swift Student Challenge each year,” said Susan Prescott, Apple’s vice president of Worldwide Developer Relations and Education & Enterprise Marketing. “We know that students are eager to learn coding skills to solve challenges they care about — whether it’s building an app to help peers identify mental health resources or supporting sustainability efforts on campus — and want to know how to get started. Apple is releasing new coding resources for students and educators, working with our community partners on dedicated Swift programming, and sharing advance notice of the Swift Student Challenge timeline for 2024. We can’t wait to see the app playgrounds students submit next year.”

Apple has been holding an annual Swift Student Challenge for several years now, but it is typically announced when the dates for WWDC are announced, and past winners have been invited to attend the Worldwide Developers Conference. Apple says that this year’s 50 Distinguished Winners will be invited to Cupertino “next summer.”

Starting in February 2024, students will have three weeks to submit their app playgrounds to Apple. Apple judges entries on technical accomplishment, creativity of ideas, and content of written responses explaining the project. Students can sign up on the Apple Developer website to be notified when submissions open.

Along with the Swift Student Challenge, Apple is launching for new Everyone Can Code projects that students can use to learn to create apps and refine their app development skills. The new projects task students with designing a simple app, building with stacks and shapes, building custom shapes, and designing an app icon.

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