Apple to host its 2020 Worldwide Developers Conference virtually, beginning June 22

Apple has announced that its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC20) will kick off as from the 22nd of June and it will be free for all developers. This is the first time in its 31 year history that it will hold virtually, in the Apple Developer app and on the Apple Developer website.

The online-only format is due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, which has led to the cancellation of major industry events including Mobile World Congress, Google Cloud Next conference, and the Game Developers Conference.

According to Phil Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing;

“WWDC20 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.”

The company also announced the Swift Student Challenge, an opportunity for student developers to showcase their love of coding by creating their own Swift playground.

“Students are an integral part of the Apple developer community, and last year WWDC saw attendance from more than 350 student developers spanning 37 different countries,” said Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of Software Engineering. “As we look forward to WWDC20, although our gathering will be virtual this year, we want to recognize 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.

”Swift Playgrounds is a revolutionary app for iPad and Mac that makes learning the Swift programming language interactive and fun. Now through 11:59 p.m. PDT on May 17, student developers from all over the world can submit to the Swift Student Challenge by creating an interactive scene in a Swift playground that can be experienced within three minutes. Winners will receive an exclusive WWDC20 jacket and pin set. For more information, visit developer.apple.com/wwdc20/swift-student-challenge.

Developers are encouraged to download the Apple Developer app where additional WWDC20 program information — including keynote and Platforms State of the Union details, session and lab schedules, and more — will be shared in June. Information will also be made available on the Apple Developer website and by email.