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↗ (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.