Student developers wow Apple's Tim Cook at Swift Explorers Singapore celebrations
PHOTO: Twitter/Tim Cook
PUBLISHED ONNovember 08, 2022 3:29 AMByA'bidah Zaid
You're never too young to create your own app. At least, that's what Apple believes.
Earlier this year, Apple made coding accessible with Swift, which was later adopted into the inaugural Swift Explorers Singapore initiative.
Organised by Crescent Girl's School using resources from Apple, and supported by Tinkercademy, an Apple Professional Learning Provider, Swift Explorers Singapore is a series of free coding-related activities that allow students from Primary Schools to Junior Colleges to learn app design and coding on iPad using Swift.
As part of the Swift Explorers Singapore initiative, participants learn basic coding skills using Swift Playgrounds and learn how to create their own virtual world, before turning their app designs into fully built utility apps.
Over 58 schools participated at the start of the initiative in March 2022, and 16 schools presented their winning app ideas at the Swift Explorers Singapore Celebrations at the Apple Marina Bay Sands outlet.
Tim Cook wrote a Tweet expressing his awe at some of the presented apps.
"Congratulations to the first graduating class of Swift Explorers Singapore! Students in the programme learned the basics of coding and developed creative apps that solve issues they're passionate about – from helping people care for their families to improving mental wellness," wrote Cook.
[embed]https://twitter.com/tim_cook/status/1585435349467430913[/embed]
Some of the winning apps include:
- Elderly Care: An app with special features that helps caregivers, family members or the elderly themselves to manage the elderly's daily life as well as journal beautiful memories
- Apples: An elderly-friendly befriending app aimed at reducing loneliness and increasing social interaction between the elderly. It is inclusive and user-friendly, with the added zest of incorporating various challenges and games – to grow trees
- Screen Master: An app which allows students to monitor how much time they are spending on their phone
- Mentor Meet: An app meant to serve as a way for students to get fast answers to tough questions they encounter in their studies, be it homework or practice papers
- Medit: An app that aims to remind people suffering from chronic illnesses to take their medicine regularly.
Other apps can be found listed below:
| App Name | Description |
|---|---|
| ExpressWay |
ExpressWay is an app that helps to digitalise your Ez-Link card and one cool feature is that it helps to discover popular places to go to in Singapore. The features available in this app allows you to search for everything you need when travelling and exploring around Singapore. Hence, this app saves you a lot of trouble. |
| Rirakkusu |
Rirakkusu will help people improve their mental health by providing stress-relieving entertainment and media. This app is unique as users can get a wide variety of media in one place. It is inclusive and welcomes a wide variety of users. |
| Target |
Target is an exercise app designed to motivate people to exercise more frequently. The app offers in-app currency for exercising, which can be exchanged for rewards such as vouchers and equipment. This app also customises exercise goals based on each user’s abilities, allowing them to exercise easily, enthusiastically and efficiently. |
| Study Cheese |
Study Cheese is an app that allows students to set targets, create notes and keep track of the dates of their exams all in one place. The app also allows students to keep track of the amount of time they have spent studying. By having all these features in one app, students no longer need to switch between multiple ones which can affect the flow of their studying. |
| Project Routely |
Routely is the perfect app to use when taking public transport. It allows you to plan out all your trips, recommend routes along with a plethora of other useful features to make the user’s experience more convenient. |
| Mind Habit |
Mind Habit is an app where users, especially students, can use to practice healthy habits of relieving stress. The habits consists of mindfulness, breathing techniques and reflection. |
| A Book of Scrap |
Our app will help people remember things. The app includes scrapbooking, note taking and even a recording function. Search up ideas for inspiration, and save to remember later on. |
| Chater | Chater is a simple app that aims to help people improve their communication skills and boost their confidence through one-on-one lessons. |
| SimpleNav |
SimpleNav is a navigation app designed with the needs of the elderly in mind. With SimpleNav, anyone and everyone has a friend to provide clear and simple directions to guide them to their destination via the safest route with the help of features like calling emergency numbers, saving favourite locations and text-to-speech. |
| MediaFly |
MediaFly is built to tackle the problem of making friends! We have noticed that a lot of people nowadays are too shy to make friends face to face and are a lot more comfortable making friends online. |
| Focus |
Focus is a social productive application which rewards users to stay off their phones. Created as a social application, Focus is a competitive environment which encourages our users to keep one another in check. |
ALSO READ: Coding for Apple's Swift Student Challenge: Q&A with 2 young Singaporean coders
This article was first published in Geek Culture.