There are experiences that you will not forget for the rest of your life. Our reader recently showed us one of these, but especially the very talented young programmer Peter Hafner, who managed to succeed in the competition thanks to his extraordinary skill Apple Swift Student Challenge, which secured him an incredible trip to Apple Park at the time of the event WWDC and with a program that every fan dreams of Applu. There was no shortage of meetings with Tim Cooker, testing Vision Pro or disassemble AirPods Max under the supervision of experienced engineers. And because Peter's story is truly fascinating, we decided to publish it exactly as he sent it to us without any editing on our part, so that you too can enjoy the joy that radiates from the text.
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How I got to SSC (Apple Swift Student Challenge)
My first contact with Apple technologies came when my big sister Miška was visiting me with her boyfriend Peter, who had iPhone 3G. I was fascinated that in App Store we found applications for everything I could think of - from a spirit level to a piano. Later, my sister gave me an iPod Touch for my birthday, which served as my personal computer for several years.
ProI started studying grammar already in high school, but applications for iOS I devoted myself fully to the University of St. Cyril and Methodius. About the competition Swift I learned about the Student Challenge from a magazine Letem svetem Applem, and after studying the rules I decided to sign up. I was inspired by the "boids" algorithm to simulate the flight of birds, which I extended with interactive controls and other algorithms that I learned about during my studies.
This project was also based on my diploma thesis, where I dealt with interaction with a computer - specifically, controlling a piano pedal using face detection. The result was the MouthPedal app, which is available for free at App Store and allows you to control the piano pedal using your face, making playing the piano accessible even to people who cannot operate a classic piano pedal.
Arrival in California and visit Apple Visitor Center
My parents and my girlfriend Sofi accompanied me to the airport. From then on it was up to me. It was my first flight in my life. I have to admit that I was scared, but I really enjoyed it. At the same time I landed in California, Freddie, another winner I had contacted before the trip, also arrived. We got together and drove together to the hotel, which is located right next door Apple Park.
When we checked in, we had a demo booked on Vision Pro directly at the Visitor Centre. First, however, we enjoyed the interactive model Apple Park displayed in augmented reality.
After the AR experience, we moved on to the demo Vision Pro, which completely blew us both away. I was surprised by the reality of the depiction of just a mere view of the real surroundings. It was something I had never experienced before - a new level of augmented reality.
Before leaving, we had a coffee at the well-known cafe in the Visitor Centre. They will even create them for you upon request Apple logo directly onto the foam in the coffee, although they do so with the small risk that they may not always succeed. Gentlemen from the editorial office LSA they had the opportunity to show a slightly more colorful decoration of coffee in a recent article. As we enjoyed the atmosphere on the terrace, where we even saw a few familiar faces from YouTube, it began to dawn on us what an extraordinary experience we were in for.
Day. 1 program: Experiences from the Infinity Loop
The first day of the program started in the morning when the bus took us to the Infinity Loop, the original grand mansion Apple. Upon arrival, we were given merch and welcomed by the people who worked on the organization of the whole thing Swift Student Challenge (SSC). I was surprised that there were more of them than us students - to see so much energy and effort put into it was very inspiring. A big surprise awaited us at the very beginning when he arrived Tim Cook with a warm welcome and we all took a group photo with him. It was incredible, I was standing right next to Sussan Prescott, whose signature is on our diplomas.
The first session was about development Apple Vision Pro, where they presented us with how the development of this ground-breaking device took place. It was fascinating when they told us that alone Tim Cook came to see the very first prototype Vision Pro. This device was so technologically demanding at the time that it required a supercomputer in one room to operate, while glasses were in the other room. They were still in such an early stage of development that they couldn't even be put on the head - everything worked only through cables and prototype solutions. This behind-the-scenes look at development showed just how much effort and time it takes to create technology that pushes the boundaries of what's possible.
Subsequently, we moved to the Piano Room, where there is a famous piano that Steve Jobs once bought for engineers as motivation. My animator Rob, who was one of the many "champions", pointed this out to me. I didn't get to play, but just standing next to such a legendary symbol of the company was fascinating.
This was followed by a session where we discussed AirPods Max. It was the first ever public teardown in history Apple! We were divided into groups and together we disassembled the headphones based on the diagram. By the way, we also received these as part of the prize. As tools, we were given a set of tools from the iFixit brand. It was interesting to work with students both within and across teams.
After intensive work with the hardware, we had a snack break. The quality of the food was really top notch - every detail was thought out and the menu was varied and tasty. As we were enjoying our food, we were pleasantly interrupted by workers who were rehearsing their shout "DUB! OAK! DC!” (link to WWDC – Worldwide Developer Conference). This energetic shout only enhanced the atmosphere of enthusiasm and belonging.
The beautiful weather, excellent food, friendly people and the legendary Infinity Loop environment were literally impressive magicky.
The very fun session was called UI/UX Design Essentials. They had it ready for us website prototype, who was behaving very strangely. The task was to identify all the mistakes that the developers of the site made on purpose. Some of the students' works were also shown, which we were tasked with assessing and identifying problems with the user interface.
Afterwards, all the students had to move to the developer reception. It was here that I made an interesting maneuver - I left the building myself through the side door and returned through the main entrance intended for developers. When I arrived, they asked me with a smile if I had come for more, although I hadn't actually been there yet, but I already had a pass, which they only receive at the reception. In addition, I got an extra dose of "developer HYPE!", which was a great experience.
The entire reception was organized with amazing effort and it was the touch with the people who worked on the event that was truly special. Their enthusiasm was downright contagious. One of the "cheerleaders" even shouted at me from the crowd: "Cool backpack!” I was wearing a Nike Jordan backpack given to me by my girlfriend.It immediately attracted attention as Nike and Apple they have been closely linked for years.
The first person I spoke to at the front desk was Paul Hudson, the guy who creates the guides for the Swift a SwiftUI. His site Hacking with Swift and his courses are very popular and a big part of the community, so he soon had a lot of interest.
One of the most valuable meetings was with the founders of the Oko application, which solves navigation for the blind. I was intrigued by their demo, in which when you pick up the phone, a camera is activated, which detects a traffic light and uses machine learning to detect whether it is red or green. It then provides both visual and haptic feedback to the user. I was charmed by this interaction, so I am not surprised that they won prestigious awards this year Apple Design Award in the Accessibility section.
After the program, one of the winners drove us in a Tesla, or did Tesla drive us? In San Franciscu of course it works, and I had the chance to experience it for the first time. It was scary at first, but I would get used to it. Tesla took us to a burger, and of course, in front of the legendary garage.
Subsequently, we decided for a night walk around Apple The park where we played Apple pexeso purchased at the Visitor Centre. Then, at around midnight, we saw an employee leavingancand, who was leaving in a car. We thought that since it was late, they were definitely still preparing things for WWDC. The car came back after a while and it turned out that the guy just went to get food :)
Day 2 WWDC
The second day, the day of the conference, we were again taken by bus, but this time we went to Apple Park. We had a hearty breakfast and were able to walk around some parts of the premises. While exploring the premises, we saw Steve Wozniak with our own eyes :) Very decent positions were reserved for the students at the conference itself. Before the start, many familiar faces appeared in front of the stage Apple, but also Sam Altman. Watching the conference was one of the magical moments. Hummingbirds flew above the audience, a butterfly sat on the screen and everyone laughed, always and everywhere :)
This was followed by lunch, where there were many types of food to choose from, I guess from all cultures. I chose the grill. We had lunch in the reserved section for students, where he himself came to greet us Craig Federighi. I kind of guessed the way Craig would go with his SBS and got a very smiling photo :)
The second presentation, dedicated to developers, had a little less audience interest, which we took advantage of and sat right behind Craig Federighi. These moments are very difficult to describe, but they are and will be my motivation.
A community conference was also held on this day Swift Student Stars. Students had the opportunity to present their stories and works. Paul Hudson, whom we already met on the first day, was also a special guest. I also met a guy there who was working on unlocking the door with the help Apple Watch in a large hotel company where we even stayed. I later found out that he is also the author of the app SwiftEncounters, which serves to remember people from conferences. I already had it installed, so we exchanged our cards.
3rd day
On the third day we returned to Apple Park, but this time during a classic working day. At the beginning, a lecture was prepared for us about the newly introduced artificial intelligence functionalities for developers. The engineers were funny and we also experienced the first live demo of the functionality with them Swift Assistant This functionality is still not available even for developers, but I can assure you that it really works and it will be a big thing for mobile app development.
The second presentation was about accessibility, where we all promised Gus Shitam that we would implement accessibility into our applications. He showed us how they think about this aspect of development Apple right from the beginning of the development of each software and hardware product. As a gift, we received special accessibility themed pins from him. I'll come back to that later.
Subsequently, we were all divided into groups according to what we were doing venuwe eat, and we were assigned pairs of engineers and experts. We had the opportunity to introduce ourselves to them and show them our winning works. They told us what it's like to work in Apple. They modestly boasted about the merch they receive on various occasions. Although they do not work directly in Apple Park, but they go there to eat. I'm not surprised at all
It was after this section of the program that we went for lunch. We ate during a classic working day between jobsancami! This time we had buffets, where again there was a choice of food from different cultures. As a true gourmet, I tasted almost everything. A nice moment was when one of the champions/animators, not from our group, took the used plates away from the table.
During the last section of the program, we had the opportunity to talk and connect with all the people who prepared the program or were part of it. I had the opportunity to speak with the engineers from the presentation about Apple Vision, competition judges, director of developer experience and other experts.
After the end of the program, we were all in the zhone, because we needed to get to the California Theater in San Jose, which also hosts the John Gruber show every year, where they were guests this year Craig Federighi, Greg Jozwiak and John Giannandrea. It was event full of energy and emotion. You can't hear it so much from the recording on YouTube, but for example, whenever a new functionality was discussed, the person responsible for it made himself known clearly. It was a wonderful cultural conclusion to this extraordinary trip.
After returning from a trip
Already in the summer, I joined the University of St. Cyril and Methodius in Trnava as an assistant professor at the Faculty of Natural Sciences. I was preparing a new computer classroom for students with my colleagues, and while I was waiting for their arrival, I decided and dared to contact the author of the Oko application and offer myself to help with the development. Also on the day of the first call I put on the aforementioned accessibility pin from Gus and something amazing happened.
One of the authors, Vincent, created an internship for me where he made sure that I helped develop potential future functionality, but also that I learned many new skills and gained experience that I can benefit from in the future. Today, I am fully teaching our talented first-year students to program, create websites, and I try to help them find their way in computer science. Interestingly, all students who have a Mac or an iPad expressed an interest in Swift Student Challenge and they will work on their project as part of the semester work.
For students
If you are a student, definitely try to create something and send it. There is quite a lot of time for it even if you don't have experience yet.
Check out last year's work on this one page. There are many resources available to learn everything you need to know. For example, the one already mentioned HaskingWithSwift. Even on official website for Swift Student Challenge are links to sources directly from Apple.
I wish everyone a lot of joyful creation, programming and success.
Peter Hafner
Once again, Peter, thank you for submitting your very inspiring story. We are very happy to be read by such geeks as you, and we believe that we will hear a lot more from you in the future!
Wow, thank you for a wonderful article 🙌 after a long time a great article that brought a completely different perspective on WWDC 💪