
# How it started

When my father complained, about the many plastic cards in his physical wallet, i wanted to code a solution. The solution should be digital and as he is an iPhone user it should be in the Apple Wallet App. One of his plastic cards was his Rotary membership card. And because Rotary is pretty big and has some impact in the world, i thought making the digital pass for Rotary would be the biggest challenge. I was definitely right on that ;)

# What did i create

The best way to make this accessible to many with a good UX, is an App. This is because adding a pass to things like Apple Wallet is most intuitive on a native iOS App. So i started with a tech stack of Swift, SwiftUI, Node.js and Express.js to deliver an experience where the user would just have to enter his Rotary member information like first name, last name, member id, ... and then he could create the pass and add it to Apple Wallet. I published 
the App (RO.Pass) on the App Store and many members are already using it. Currently i am also actively working on an Android version. Through its high demand the App was 
[featured by the official Rotary Blog](https://rotary.de/clubs/distriktberichte/der-digitale-clubausweis-da-a-22347.html) and in a monthly Rotary magazine.

My App was featured on Rotarys blog and a magazine.

I volunteered to design and implement the whole digital infrastructure needed for digital membership passes.

Creating Digital Passes for Rotary Germany


So I am one of the winners of the challenge and I am more than happy about it. The journey of creating my app for the submission was filled with fun, learning, but also doubts that my 
app wasn't good enough to win. In this article I will try my best to explain to you what the Swift Student Challenge is and how I won :-)

# What is Apple Swift Student Challenge?
The Apple Swift Student Challenge is (as the name suggests) a challenge hosted by Apple. In the Challenge, 
Apple encourages students around the world to create apps that are creative, technically impressive, and have a social impact.

# Requirements to enter
Basically, Apple has a few requirements for your app. The first is that the app should be written in Swift in an app called "Swift Playgrounds" (you can also code the app in Xcode, which is much more convenient, trust me). The final package should be less than 25mb. This is it! Now you have to be creative and choose an idea that is unique and has a special connection to you personally.
So after choosing your idea, you basically start coding your app. Except for a deadline, you are free.
How much time you invest depends on how complex your idea is, how much time you have, ... But the most important thing is: Submit! Even if you don't think your app is good enough, at least give it a try! And participating in a challenge can be really motivating, so maybe it will give you the kick to go the extra mile and win the challenge!
If you are new to coding, I encourage you to check out Apple's tutorials, or if you have more time, definitely check out ["100 Days of SwiftUI" by Paul Hudson](https://www.hackingwithswift.com/100/swiftui) (this is how i started).

# My submission
I created an app to help you keep track of your lost loved ones. The theme was "Memento Mori" and i called my Playground "Memorize". The goal of Memorize is to help people
people handle grief, but also to make us remember that we have to die someday and thus should live our lifes filled with gratitude and do what we love.

Swift Student Challenge Winner graphic

I am really happy to share, that i am an Apple Swift Student Challenge Winner!

My recent projects ↗

Creating Digital Passes for Rotary Germany

I won Apples Swift Student Challenge

View all of my projects.