To whoever is bothered enough to help (trust me, I get the feeling if you're not), I want to enter the swift student challenge either this year or next year, depending on how things play out. Anyway, I just wanted to know two things: 1) how long on average it takes to build a project which won distinguished winner and 2) whether any distinguished winners could send me the playgrounds they built. To be clear, I do not want the code, I just want to know what you did, what you called the playground, a list of some features it had, how long it took, just to help me prepare, because YouTube doesn't have much of that. Thanks :)

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!

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. It uses a mini on-device LLM 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. You can check out the basis of my app at my website. https://whiteb0x.me Hopefully I can get some feedback from the community, and/or ex winners! Thanks all! - Luke

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 everyone, I am currently developing an app for my Swift Student Challenge submission that focuses on human motion analysis using the Vision framework. To effectively demonstrate the app's technical capabilities during the review process, I need to include a sample video showing a person performing specific movements. However, I want to ensure that my submission strictly adheres to all intellectual property guidelines. Instead of using existing copyrighted videos or public social media clips, I am considering using Generative AI to create an original, royalty-free sample video. This video would feature a character performing movements designed specifically to test my app's pose estimation and feedback logic. I have a few questions regarding this approach: Is it acceptable to use AI-generated sample assets (like video clips) to demonstrate technical features when it's difficult to record high-quality personal footage due to environmental constraints? If I clearly disclose the tools used and the reason for using AI-generated content in my written response, would this be considered a professional approach to asset management? Are there any specific guidelines I should follow to ensure that the use of AI-generated samples doesn't overshadow the original coding and design work of the project? My goal is to showcase a polished and technically sound implementation using Xcode 26 while respecting all copyright requirements. Thank you for your time and advice!

Hey there! I have a few questions about the Swift Student Challenge: Is it acceptable to include placeholders for features that aren’t supported by Swift Playgrounds, or features I planned but didn’t have time to fully implement (as long as the core experience works)? My app relies a lot on user inputs. Is it okay to include a button that loads sample data for reviewers, or is there a preferred approach for this? Besides the known constraints (< 25 MB, experienceable within ~3 minutes), are there any other limits, e.g. lines of code or overall app complexity Can AI-generated assets (e.g. images) be used if they’re clearly labeled as such inside the app? Do we need to explicitly document where AI was used (assets, code, etc.) as part of the submission? My app uses the Foundation Model: On what device is the submission evaluated and should the usage of the Foundation Model be explicitly marked for reviewers? Thanks a lot, and sorry for the many questions!

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?

The app idea I had in mind for my swift student chalange submission relies on data on the users phone(e.g. photos, contacts or files) How would I simulate that data in the swiftpm package? is it enough to just have a class with dummydata?

Hey guys! I am planning on join this year's SSC. I only have a iPad to do so. With that Apple says we can use Swift Playground. I am 14. And have the experience to code Swift since some years ago. I cant wait to... Make stuff!! ^•^. I don't know what else to say...

Hi, I’m working on my Swift Student Challenge submission using iOS 26 APIs (FoundationModels) along with AVFoundation + Vision to capture user input and generate feedback. Since Swift Playgrounds doesn’t support FoundationModels framework, I’m using an Xcode App Playground, but I heared that submissions are reviewed in the Simulator, which doesn’t support live camera feed. I’m unsure how to handle this. Looking for guidance on the recommended approach. Thanks!

👋Hi This problem is related to SSC. I remember that the form submitted last year needed to be filled in with Xcode or Playground test, and it seems that it was also mentioned: • If you use Xcode, the judges may use Simulator to run. • If you use Playground, it's a real machine. But my work this time will encounter two limitations: It will use the framework/API only available in iPadOS 26 (so if it is a Playground environment, it may not run, playground can't use iPadOS 26 SDK) It will also use some content that must be real to run (such as ARKit), which means that Xcode Simulator is not good. So I would like to ask: Does this year's review allow you to compile and connect the iPad to the real machine? Or did I misremember last year's regulations? If the judge's environment is fixed (for example, only Playground or only Simulator), how should I adjust the submission method or implement the scheme? Looking forward to your reply, thank you.

What OS will a Swift Student Challenge submission run on? I want to use iOS 26 features but the version history for Swift Playground doesn’t show it being updated past the iOS 17.5 SDK. So, can I still use features from the iOS 26 SDK?

Hi, I was looking at the SSC website and registered for the "Get ready for the Swift Student Challenge" online session taking place on the 15th of January. I am unsure what this session entails and is wondering if anybody could clarify what it is about? Thanks

Hi, the rules of the '26 swift student challenge state that i may not "track and/or insert analytics code in your app playground meant to identify or track judges' activity while they review your app playground". My app (with permission) uses offline CLlocation to grab location data, with improves the functionality of the app. Is this acceptable? or do i run the risk of disqualification. Thank You!

My app uses Foundation Models and Apple Pencil. The app runs great through Xcode; however, due to Apple Pencil support, it has to be run on a physical device. However, Swift Playgrounds on iPad doesn't support iOS 26. I was just wondering if this is something that can be mentioned in submission notes. eg. The app needs to be compiled in Xcode but run on a physical device.” Or should we expect iPadOS 26 support for Swift Playgrounds by the time of submission? Thank you!

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?

Hey, I am looking to participate in the upcoming SSC 2026. I am confused whether I am allowed to submit an idea which is for watchOS. I know the fact that submission would be xcode project and playground correct me if I am wrong but as far as I know, we can develop prototypes for watch on playground. If anyone of you knows about this, please let me know!

This is probably a silly question, but I just want to make sure. The screenshot submission states: "Upload three screenshots of your app playground that best represent the user experience as .png or .jpg files. Do not upload handwritten notes, sketches, or outlines." For an Apple Pencil based app, can I sketch in the canvas to show the abilities of the app in the screenshots? I assume yes and that this only refers to submitting mock-ups of apps, but I wanted to be super sure I won't be going against the rules.

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?