Apple announces its annual WWDC20 will be hosted virtually starting June

Apple has announced it will host its annual Worldwide Developers Conference virtually, beginning June 22, in the Apple Developer app and on the Apple Developer website for free for all developers. The company also announced the Swift Student Challenge, an opportunity for student developers to showcase their love of coding by creating their own Swift playground.

Now in its 31st year, WWDC20 will be an opportunity for millions of creative and innovative developers around the world to get early access to the future of iOS, iPadOS, macOS, tvOS, and watchOS, and to learn from Apple engineers as they work to build app experiences that enrich the lives of Apple customers around the globe.

“WWDC20 will be our biggest yet, bringing together our global developer community of more than 23 million in an unprecedented way for a week in June to learn about the future of Apple platforms,” said Phil Schiller, Apple’s Senior Vice President of Worldwide Marketing. “We can’t wait to meet online in June with the global developer community and share with them all of the new tools we’ve been working on to help them create even more incredible apps and services. We look forward to sharing more details about WWDC20 with everyone as we get closer to this exciting event.”

“Students are an integral part of the Apple developer community, and last year WWDC saw attendance from more than 350 student developers spanning 37 different countries,” said Craig Federighi, Apple’s Senior Vice President of Software Engineering. “As we look forward to WWDC 2020, although our gathering will be virtual this year, we want to recognise and celebrate the creative contributions of our young developers from around the world. We can’t wait to see this next generation of innovative thinkers turn their ideas into a reality through the Swift Student Challenge.”

Swift Playgrounds is a revolutionary app for iPad and Mac that makes learning the Swift programming language interactive and fun. Now through 11:59 p.m. PDT on 17 May/ 07:59 a.m BST on 18 May, student developers from all over the world can submit to the Swift Student Challenge by creating an interactive scene in a Swift playground that can be experienced within three minutes. Winners will receive an exclusive WWDC20 jacket and pin set. For more information, visit their website here.

Developers are encouraged to download the Apple Developer app where additional WWDC20 programme information — including keynote and Platforms State of the Union details, session and lab schedules, and more — will be shared in June. Information will also be made available on the Apple Developer website and by email.

The Apple App Store, now in 175 countries and regions, is the world’s safest and most vibrant app marketplace, with more than half a billion people visiting each week. It is the best place for users to discover new apps and allows developers of all sizes to distribute their apps to customers around the world. The App Store features many ways for developers to build their businesses, and since its launch in 2008, developers have been creating innovative apps that influence culture and change lives.

Apple revolutionised personal technology with the introduction of the Macintosh in 1984. Today, Apple leads the world in innovation with iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, and Apple TV. Apple’s five software platforms — iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, and tvOS — provide seamless experiences across all Apple devices and empower people with breakthrough services including the App Store, Apple Music, Apple Pay, and iCloud. Apple’s more than 100,000 employees are dedicated to making the best products on earth, and to leaving the world better than they found it.