Apple Announces WWDC21 Dates

Today Apple announced that they will be holding their annual World Wide Developer Conference, or WWDC, again this year. The theme for this year is "Glow and Behold". WWDC21 will be held in an all-online format starting June 7th and going through June 11th. Apple's WWDC20 was also held in an all-online format. While last year's was due to Covid-19, and the reluctance to gather so many people in one place, there has been no mention as to why Apple is having an all-online conference.

Even though there is no mention for the reason, the all-online format is somewhat better for all developers because everyone can see the exact same sessions as the same time and there is no lottery for tickets, no rushing to be the first, and just like WWDC20, this is a free conference which provides more accessibility for all developers to attend. Everyone can see the same conference no matter where in the world they are.

Swift Student Challenge

Just as was the case last year, there is a "Swift Student Challenge". The Swift Student Challenge, an opportunity for young developers to demonstrate their coding skills by creating a Swift playground, is now accepting submissions. These submissions are due by April 18th and all of the information, including the application to apply, can be found on the Swift Student Challenge website.

Some of the requirements for the application are:

To be eligible for the Challenge, you must:

• Be 13 years of age or older, or the equivalent minimum age in the relevant jurisdiction (for example, 16 years of age in the European Union);
• Be registered for free with Apple as an Apple developer or be a member of the Apple Developer Program; and
• Fulfill one of the following requirements:
  • Be enrolled in an accredited academic institution or official homeschool equivalent;
  • Be enrolled in a STEM organization’s educational curriculum;
  • Be enrolled in an Apple Developer Academy; or
  • Have graduated from high school or equivalent within the past 6 months and be awaiting acceptance or have received acceptance to an accredited academic institution.

Apple will be releasing more information in the next couple of months. As has become my tradition, I will be making predictions of what we might see at WWDC once it is closer to the start of WWDC.

Source: Apple