I am currently developing my submission for the Swift Student Challenge 2026. My project focuses on financial literacy for children ("Canteen Hero"), and I want to ensure it runs flawlessly during the judging process. I have two specific questions regarding the environment:
Which iOS/iPadOS version do judges typically use for testing? Should I assume they will be using the latest stable release (e.g., iOS 19/iPadOS 19) or a specific beta version?
Device Compatibility: Is it a requirement to design the app for all previous iOS versions (backward compatibility), or is it acceptable to target only the latest APIs (iOS 18/19+) to utilize modern features like SwiftData and the latest SwiftUI animations?
Thank you for your guidance!
iOS 19/iPadOS 19
There is no iOS 19 O-:
You can assume that your playground will be run on a released version of iPadOS 26 / macOS 26 [1].
AFAICT the fine print doesn’t specify what type of device will be used for testing, other than to confirm that on-device intelligence will be available [2].
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—
Quinn “The Eskimo!” @ Developer Technical Support @ Apple
let myEmail = "eskimo" + "1" + "@" + "apple.com"
[1] See my response here to the equivalent question from last year.
[2] See this thread.