Hi, I have a question regarding the Swift Student Challenge submission requirements. I’m planning to use the glassEffect API introduced in iOS 26 and build my .swiftpm app to support iOS 26 only. Is it acceptable to submit a project that runs exclusively on iOS 26? Currently, I am developing and building the project in Xcode. However, it seems that the current Swift Playgrounds app does not provide a preview or runtime environment for iOS 26 yet. I would like to confirm whether this could cause any issues during the review process, especially if reviewers are using Swift Playgrounds for evaluation. Thank you for your clarification.

I'm making my app in Xcode (as an app playground). I understand that the app will be run in a simulator when being evaluated if I choose the Xcode option on the submission form. However, my app looks significantly better on iPhones than on iPads. Is there a way for me to specify which device to use that will be respected by judges? What about device orientation? Thanks.

I am looking through the rules and terms and it just says Xcode submissions will be run on a simulator. Does this mean Mac Catalyst or can it be run on a iPad VM? Or more so should we specify in the comments on where to run it. Thank you!

I’m building a Swift Playgrounds app (.swiftpm) in Xcode 26.2 and I consistently see this warning, even on brand-new Swift Playgrounds apps created from the default template: “Skipping duplicate build file in Compile Sources build phase: /Users/.../.swiftpm/Media.xcassets” Everything builds and runs normally and all images/assets appear correctly, so it seems like it’s just an annoying warning. I’ve checked for duplicates and don’t see the asset catalog listed twice, but the warning still appears whenever I add an asset catalog to any playground project in Xcode. Is this warning safe to ignore for submission, and it won’t affect Swift Student Challenge eligibility?

Hello Apple Developer Community, I am planning to participate in the Swift Student Challenge 2026. However, while reviewing the application form, I noticed that my country of residence is not listed in the address dropdown menu. I would like to clarify the correct way to proceed in this situation to avoid disqualification: Is it permissible to use the address of a relative who lives in a supported region as my contact address? Is filling out the shipping address mandatory for the initial submission, or is there an option to proceed without it? I want to ensure I fully comply with the Terms and Conditions. Any guidance or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

Hello everyone, I have already submitted my app playground for the Swift Student Challenge. After submission I noticed a few things I would like to improve and fix. Is it possible to withdraw my current submission and then immediately resubmit an updated version? Any clarification (especially from Apple staff or anyone who has done this before) would be very helpful. Thank you!

Hello, I built my app in Xcode and used IOS 26 latest frameworks like Foundation Models. But some of this frameworks don't work properly in Swift Playground(MyApp.swiftpm) and cause crashes. My question is can I submit a MyApp.xcodeproj file and choose Xcode 26 as a software to run my app ? Thank you in advance.

Hi all, The SSDC states: Challenge submissions are due by Saturday, February 28, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. PST I am curious does this apply to local timezone? I am GMT+0, so would this mean the deadline for GMT+0 is on the 1st of March at 7:59AM? Kind regards, Adam

Hello, I recently submitted my Swift Student Challenge app playground and realized after submission that I accidentally selected Swift Playgrounds as the software to run it, instead of Xcode 26 or later. My project builds and runs successfully in Xcode 26 using the iOS 26 SDK and simulator. However, when opening the same .swiftpm project in the Swift Playgrounds app on iPad, it does not compile because Swift Playgrounds currently only supports up to iOS 18 SDK and does not support iOS 26 APIs. The submission itself is complete, builds correctly in Xcode, and was submitted before the deadline. The incorrect selection of Swift Playgrounds was an honest mistake during the submission process. I wanted to ask whether reviewers are able to run the submission using Xcode 26 in cases like this, or if there is anything I should do. Thank you very much for your time.

Hello, I recently submitted my Swift Student Challenge app playground (“Crest”) and realized after submission that I accidentally selected Swift Playgrounds as the software to run it, instead of Xcode 26 or later. My project builds and runs successfully in Xcode 26 using the iOS 26 SDK and simulator. However, when opening the same .swiftpm project in the Swift Playgrounds app on iPad, it does not compile because Swift Playgrounds currently only supports up to iOS 18 SDK and does not support iOS 26 APIs. The submission itself is complete, builds correctly in Xcode, and was submitted before the deadline. The incorrect selection of Swift Playgrounds was an honest mistake during the submission process. I wanted to ask whether reviewers are able to run the submission using Xcode 26 in cases like this, or if there is anything I should do. Thank you very much for your time.

Hi, I submitted my Swift Student Challenge 2026 app and I'm worried about a build error I got when testing. I have both PlateClassifier_2.mlmodel and PlateClassifier_2.mlmodelc in my Sources folder. Only the .mlmodelc is listed in my Package.swift resources. When building I got: PlateClassifier_2.mlmodel: No predominant language detected. Set COREML_CODEGEN_LANGUAGE to preferred language. Build failed — 1 error Will judges hit this same error? Does having an unlisted .mlmodel alongside the .mlmodelc cause a hard build failure on other machines too, or is this specific to my setup (Xcode 26.2 beta, building to physical device)? Will this get me instantly disqualified? Any help appreciated.

With AI getting so powerful, do you think Swift Student Challenge will change a lot next year? Will Apple update the rules or change what they're judging? Would love to hear thoughts from anyone who's followed SSC for a while.