Announcing the Swift Student Challenge 2026

Question

Community Moderator OP

Apple

Created 4w

Replies 6

Boosts 3

Participants 6

Announcing the Swift Student Challenge 2026

Every year, Apple’s Swift Student Challenge celebrates the creativity and ingenuity of student developers from around the world, inviting them to use Swift and Xcode to solve real-world problems in their own communities and beyond.

Learn more → https://developer.apple.com/swift-student-challenge/

Submissions for the 2026 challenge will open February 6 for three weeks, and students can prepare with new Develop in Swift tutorials and Meet with Apple code-along sessions.

The Apple Developer team is here is to help you along the way - from idea to app, post your questions at any stage of your development here in this forum board or be sure to add the Swift Student Challenge tag to your technology-specific forum question.

Your designs. Your apps. Your moment.

Answered by Community Moderator in 865250022

@ieung Thanks for checking in! 👋

You can create your project in Xcode 26, Swift Playgrounds 4.6 or later, but for the final submission, it should be packaged as an app playground (.swiftpm) in a ZIP file.

This format ensures it can run offline and meet the review requirements. You can find all the details on the Eligibility and Requirements page for future reference.

Happy to help if you have more questions!

Boost

Answer 1

ieung OP

4w

If working in Xcode, are you still requiring the submissions to be App Playground (.swiftpm) files?

The Get Ready page has been updated to say "For your submission to the Swift Student Challenge, submit an app built in Xcode or Swift Playground that can be experienced within three minutes."

Thank you for the clarification!

0

Answer 2

Community Moderator OP

Apple

3w

Recommended

@ieung Thanks for checking in! 👋

You can create your project in Xcode 26, Swift Playgrounds 4.6 or later, but for the final submission, it should be packaged as an app playground (.swiftpm) in a ZIP file.

This format ensures it can run offline and meet the review requirements. You can find all the details on the Eligibility and Requirements page for future reference.

Happy to help if you have more questions!

1

Answer 3

lijiaxu OP

3w

Hello,

I have a question regarding the SSC evaluation device. I am writing to inquire about the compatibility of the device with Apple Intelligent functions, such as the foundation model and image creator. These functions are crucial for the functionality of my application.

I would appreciate it if you could confirm whether the SSC evaluation device can typically evaluate these intelligent functions. Your response would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

1

Answer 4

Community Moderator OP

Apple

3w

Hi @lijiaxu 👋

Love that you are exploring Apple Intelligence, keep going.

Since submissions are reviewed offline, everything must run locally on device without relying on a network connection. On-device Apple Intelligence frameworks and other Apple technologies may be used as long as they work fully offline.

Pro tip: you can leave a quick note in your submission letting reviewers know where Apple Intelligence is being used.

Looking forward to seeing what you create.

—

Christa

Community Engagement Coordinator - WWDR

2

Answer 5

feeltheber OP

19h

Hello!

Iv'e been having trouble locking my app into horizontal/landscape mode. Since Playgrounds doesn't let me set an app orientation what would be a good work around ?

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Answer 6

DTS Engineer OP

Apple

13h

I recommend that you put this question into a new thread. That way it’s more likely to attract the attention of folks with expertise in this area.

Use the UI Frameworks > SwiftUI subtopic and apply any relevant tags, like Swift Student Challenge and maybe Swift Playground.

Good luck with your code efforts.

Share and Enjoy
—
Quinn “The Eskimo!” @ Developer Technical Support @ Apple
let myEmail = "eskimo" + "1" + "@" + "apple.com"

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