It was an eye-opener to attend Apple Swift Student Challenge Showcase and meeting the winners. Each year, as part of the Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple issues a challenge to students across the globe: create an original app playground using the Swift coding language and share your passions with the world. It was heartwarming to see the students address topics closer to everyone’s heart via their apps.
The response to Apple’s Swift Student Challenge Showcase was so overwhelming that Apple increased the number of winners from the 350 awarded in previous years to 375 so even more students could be included in the event and get recognition for their artistry and ingenuity.
Students combine passion with coding to create the winning app playgrounds
Coming from more than 30 countries and regions, this year’s winners worked on topics ranging from healthcare, sports, entertainment and the environment.
Meet the winners and their apps
City Night by Jiang Tongyu, 17
Jiang Tongyu says:
“Life is a constant struggle against the weight of expectations to always be productive and successful, and sometimes we fall under the pressure — it’s difficult to remember to slow down and take care of ourselves. In the app project that I created, titled “City Night”, I hope to remind the player that it’s okay to take a break and accept help from others when things get tough, and it’s the small moments of love that makes life worth living.
In this hand-drawn experience coupled with a self-composed soundtrack, the player lives through the eyes of a stressed student on her way home through the rain, completing challenges such as drag-and-drop Math problems and multiple-choice questions to keep up with her busy schedule. When she falls and slips on the wet pavement, a friend with an umbrella finds her in her breakdown and offers a shelter from the storm. It is during this moment of connection and vulnerability that the student learns to take a step back and take care of herself, and that it’s okay to lean on her friends for support.”
StudyLog by Tristan Chay, 15
Tristan Chay says:
“The main inspiration behind StudyLog is the issue of ineffective studying and frequent distractions that I personally experience when trying to study. The app offers a variety of useful features to enhance the studying experience. These include count-up timers which enable students to monitor their study time effectively, and countdown timers so students can keep track of the amount of time they have left if they are attempting a timed practice paper. Additionally, the app provides valuable tips for students to improve their study management and organisational habits. It also includes a built-in assignment tracker, allowing students to stay on top of their pending assignments. Moreover, there is a convenient built-in notes system that enables students to jot down their online notes directly within the app.
Additionally, StudyLog offers a visual representation of students’ work progress in the form of a pie chart, showing the student the amount of ongoing and overdue assignments they have left. This feature enhances students’ awareness of their workload, enabling them to catch up on tasks more efficiently. Overall, StudyLog aims to empower students with effective studying techniques and help them to be able to study better.”
Earth Laundress by Gilbert Goh, 14
Gilbert Goh says:
“My app submission, Earth Laundress, is an educational laundry app focusing on environmentally sustainable laundry practices. It has a compilation of laundry guides on the Internet, unit convertors and a laundry to-do checklist which make it a helpful companion in doing laundry. Designed to be accessible with the use of familiar native iOS components. Alt text are provided for images, and decorative images are hidden from the accessibility tree. Dark Mode is supported.
I was inspired to make an app about sustainable laundry after seeing an article about common laundry mistakes. Leaving laundry in the washing machine for an extended period of time after the cycle ends, overfilling the machine, and incorrectly inserting the laundry soap into the machine are some of these mistakes, and I find myself occasionally making them too. These mistakes are wasting water and energy. Sometimes, the clothes can be damaged too. To prevent further mistakes and wastage of resources, I decided to create an app that shows people how to do laundry properly, and in a way that saves the environment and their pockets.”
Culture Speedrun by Tay Kai Quan, 15
Tay Kai Quan says:
“My winning playground is a game named Culture Speedrun. The inspiration for Culture Speedrun is my childhood, when my family would move between countries every few years, experiencing the culture of many regions. I centred the app around three minigames based on the countries I felt had the most significant impact on me. The player is given 30 seconds per game to get as many points as possible. In the first game, based on Vietnam’s food, the player drags a bowl around the screen, solving the maze and collecting food ingredients for the dish Bun Cha. The second game is based on pandas issues in Chengdu, China. Pandas face habitat loss due to infrastructure projects such as roads and rails. Therefore, in this game, the player controls a panda trying to navigate around various vehicles in a crossy-road style game. Finally, the player answers a few questions for the last game based on Thaiand’s temples. The playground is also full of animations, like a plane flying across the screen to transition between games or cutscenes based on my dad’s conversations with his bosses. Overall, Culture Speedrun aims to teach the user about the cultures of those regions, similar to how I learned about them during my childhood.”
Graph Theory by Wang Zerui, 16
Wang Zerui says:
“Ever had a headache learning about complex concepts like graph theory? When I was learning graph theory, I certainly did as most of the materials provided were text based with no images. Hence, I created this app in hopes to help other visual learners like me to make it a more engaging experience for others. By allowing the users to add nodes and simulate a searching algorithm by themselves, it allows visual learners to quickly grasp the concept unlike in a traditional classroom.”
Read more about Swift Student Challenge winners from the region on the App Store
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