Hi everyone, I am working on my submission for the Swift Student Challenge 2026 using a Swift App Playground (.swiftpm). The default project was set to iOS 16, but I manually edited the Package.swift file to change the minimum version to iOS 18.0 so I can use the latest APIs. I also modified the supportedInterfaceOrientations to lock the app to Portrait mode only. I know the file contains a warning saying "Do not edit it by hand," so I am worried about two things: Disqualification: Will manually changing the iOS version from the default 16.0 to 18.0 cause any issues with the submission validator or the judging environment? Orientation: Is it acceptable to strictly force .portrait mode for the challenge, or are we required to support landscape/responsive layouts for the judges' iPads? I want to make sure these manual changes won't technically invalidate my playground. Thanks for your help!

Can I use external Swift Package Dependencies for the challenge, or will my app just not run as the testing environment is offline? I have a couple dependencies which are crucial to the running of my submission

Hi, I am planning to apply for the Apple Swift Student Challenge. Is it acceptable to use Vietnamese names (proper nouns) within the app, provided all other text, code, and UI elements are in English? Will this still be considered valid?

Hi, I recently built an app and I’m planning to publish it on the App Store. Since the Swift Student Challenge (SSC) is coming up, I’m also considering submitting the same project by converting it into a Swift Playground (with some content trimmed to meet the rules). I believe both I and the project are eligible. My question: if I publish the app on the App Store first and then submit it to SSC, could that violate the rules or lead to rejection? I also have a concern: because I’m a minor, Apple requires the App Store developer name to be my mother’s. However, the app was entirely developed by me. my mother and anyone else did not participate(My mother can't even use a computer.). I’m worried this might create confusion and make judges think I copied someone else’s work, which I did not. Would you recommend publishing on the App Store now, waiting until after SSC, or taking a different approach? Thank you.

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!

Hello!! I wasn't able to find a feedback form anywhere so I'm hoping this could reach the team that made the submission form for the challenge. I was really hoping the form could save our progress. Working on the longer response questions does take time, and it's incredibly frustrating when the site tends to reload, losing all progress and causing me to copy everything over again.

I was working on my challenge submission but when I created a iOS swift playground through Xcode, the playground generated get's defaulted to iOS 18, and I can't use latest features like the new glass design seemlessely without using #if available macro's everywhere so I manually changed iOS 18.0 to iOS 26.0 in the package.swift file. So far there have been no problems but as the package.swift file recommends not to change it manually so am I in any problem can someone give me advice of whether it's a legit option ??

Is anybody using Airbnb's Lottie-ios dependency inside your swift student challenge project? If yes can u please discuss about how did u approach using it ? Actually I wanted to use it so I downloaded the official repo maintained by Airbnb from GitHub but the package had too large size so I deleted many part's leaving just src files and some other files as it is and even modified it's package.swift file and finally deleted the .git folder which had been taking way too much space. And now I have been using it as local dependency which I can include it in my .zip submission ( as that's the rule I guess to include the packages our project depends on in our .zip submission file ). So far there have been no problems, I wanna know am I doing anything wrong here? Can someone advise me ?

My swift student challenge submission is an iPad app built in Xcode and I'm planning on selecting the Xcode 26 option for testing in the dropdown provided in the application. Just have to confirm that the run destination for the playground in Xcode will be an iPad simulator right? Recently I have seen many participants post their submission screenshot for iPhone renders so just wanted to confirm the run destination. Thank you👾

Hello! Because the compilers used by different versions of Xcode 26 may be different, and I find that my app may not be able to ensure that all versions of Xcode 26 are successfully compiled. For example, my app can run on Xcode26.3 but will report an error at 26.4 (I have fixed it now). So I want to confirm which version of Xcode the jury uses to run my app, whether it is a known version or the latest version in the future. Thanks!

Hi all, The SSDC states: Challenge submissions are due by Saturday, February 28, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. PST I am curious does this apply to local timezone? I am GMT+0, so would this mean the deadline for GMT+0 is on the 1st of March at 7:59AM? Kind regards, Adam

Hello! i developed an app for the Swift Student Challenge and submitted it, can I publish it to the app store before it is judged.

Hello, is it allowed to use Foundation Model in the app? Will it work when launched on the jury's device, or will it not work because the jury will not enable Apple Intelligence?

👋Hi, I want to ask what equipment the auditors in SSC will use to evaluate students' playground, whether it is iPad pro and mac with camera, or something else. And what system will they use, iPadOS/macOS 26 or something else? Looking forward to your reply. Thank you

Hello all! My name is Luke, and I'm a 14 year old with a idea for SSC. This is my first SSC submission ever. I would like some feedback concerning a question. My app is an AI powered academic planner that helps you and your life. I won't give too much away, but I believe it's a really helpful concept. It uses a mini on-device LLM (built with simple if this word typed then do this logic) to help organize assignments. This is a real business I am building, and I put inside of my app simulated features such as the app saying "scanning your Google Classroom..", would this go against any terms and make the app less likely to win? I also have my app fully polished, and feels like an actual app and finished product, with demo assignments pre-loaded, and most stuff is placeholders. Should the app be more like a guided simulator? Such as "click here to see how this will be simulated in a final release" or again should it be polished? I just want some feedback, since I only have 3 minutes, and the app needs to be offline, I just want to improvise. Hopefully I can get some feedback from the community, and/or ex-winners! Thanks all! And good luck! :) - Luke

Hello, I want to use the Speech framework in my app. However, I found that if I want it to work offline, it must be downloaded separately on the device. Do I understand correctly that it is not allowed to use it in a Swift Student Challenge submission if English (as the speech language) must be downloaded by the tester on their device using the internet beforehand?

Hello Everyone, I reviewed many previous year's submissions posted on swift's student's challenge distinguished winners section and noticed that most of them or all of them were designed and implemented for iOS devices only so is it a valid option to design our playground apps solely to run and function on macOS only?

Hello developers, i have a project for SSC that includes metal shader code. The project runs fine when I build and run it in Xcode, but it does not run in the Swift Playground app. The reason is that Swift Playgrounds doesn’t compile/build source files with the .metal extension the same way Xcode does (so the shader never gets built/loaded in Playgrounds). The requirements say: “Your app playground must be built with and run on Swift Playgrounds 4.6 or Xcode 26, or later.” Since it says “or” (not “and”), does that mean it’s acceptable if the project only builds/runs in Xcode?

My playground may require that the device has downloaded some resources in advance, such as Apple's advanced voice, translation language... But this is not necessary. It is just an incidental function. If it is not downloaded, the app will prompt that this function is not available and most of the other functions can continue to be used. But I want to know whether the judge's device will download these things in advance, and if not, will the judges think that there is a problem with my app that can't be used normally, which will cause my work to be rejected directly? Because my app uses the API of iOS 26, it needs to run in Xcode, and the competition allows the Apple intelligent function, but it is stipulated that if it runs with Xcode, the app will be tested on the simulator. However, my app involves image playground and cannot run on the simulator. Does anyone have a good solution? Thank you!

Recently, applications for the Swift Student Challenge opened up. I noticed, that when selected "where to run your app" (mine was developed in Xcode 26), and you select Xcode26, there is a note underneath it that basically says all Xcode projects will be run on the simulator. What if my project is dependent on AR? How would I let the judges test my submission?