KUALA  LUMPUR, May 6 ― We reported earlier that this year’s Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC 20) will be presented in an online format, and without a live audience for this year due to the current Covid-19 outbreak. Apple has just announced the official date for the virtual conference — and it begins on June 22.

Now in its 31st year, WWDC 20 will let developers around the world get early access to the future iOS, iPadOS, macOS, tvOS, and watchOS developments, but this time online instead of in a live conference setting. They’ll also get to learn from Apple engineers as they work to build new app experiences of Apple customers.

"WWDC 20 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. 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,” said Phil Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing.

According to Apple, there are 23 million registered developers in more than 155 countries and regions. Developers are encouraged to download the Apple Developer app to get additional WWDC20 programme information, including keynote and Platforms State of the Union details, session and lab schedules, and other information to be shared in June. Information will also be made available on the Apple Developer website and by email.

Apple also announced the Swift Student Challenge, a worldwide opportunity for student developers to showcase their love of coding. You can use the Swift Playgrounds app for the iPad and Mac that makes learning the Swift programming language interactive. Now through 2.59pm Malaysia time on 18th May, student developers from all over the world can submit to the Swift Student Challenge.

They’ll need to create an interactive scene in a Swift playground that can be experienced within three minutes. Winners will receive an exclusive WWDC 20 jacket and pin set. For more information, including requirements and rules, you can look through here.

"As we look forward to WWDC 20, 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,” said Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of Software Engineering.

The Covid-19 outbreak has also delayed the release of the iPhone 12, besides this change to a virtual WWDC 20 with no live audience. Apple is also teaming up with Google to develop a Covid-19 contact tracing platform that will help to reduce the spread of the virus with the use of technology. ― SoyaCincau