Apple’s Swift Student Challenge has often been pitched as a student coding competition, but Apple increasingly wants it to represent something much broader: a place where young developers can combine technology with creativity, culture, and personal passion.
That approach was at the heart of Apple’s messaging this year Susan Prescott, Apple’s Vice President of Worldwide Developer Relationsshedding light on Shaurya Sharma, Technology Editor, Hindustan Times DigitalIn an exclusive conversation about how the company wants to make students from different backgrounds feel included in app development and technology.
“We really want to engage and inspire youth to find the things, passions, and interests they love in their personal lives, in their community, or even more broadly, and feel like they have the power to make an impact,” Prescott said.
“The Swift Student Challenge is designed to do just that. It’s not only about how well you can code. Of course there are the technical aspects, but it’s also about critical thinking, problem solving and how you can use technology to make your world and the world a better place.”
Apple announced 350 winners globally this year, including 50 prestigious winners from 37 countries. According to Prescott, India performed “brilliantly” in both submissions and wins.
India was among the standout winners this year Ananya Babu Prasad, Creator of Mandala ArtAn app inspired by traditional mandala art that blends gesture controls, audio input, and digital drawing tools into a more accessible creative experience. She joins the growing group of young Indian developers recognized by Apple, which also includes Gayatri Goundadkar, whose childhood memories of making Warli paintings with her grandmother ultimately inspired Steady Hands, an app that uses Apple Pencil stabilization to help individuals with tremors create art more comfortably.
Apple announced 350 winning submissions from 37 countries this year. According to Prescott, India performed “brilliantly” in both submissions and wins.
Transforming traditional mandala art into an interactive experience
For Prasad, the idea behind mandala art came from a deeply personal place.
“I have been interested in various forms of arts and crafts throughout my life,” Prasad said. “Mandala art is something I connect with because it’s traditionally Indian, and my mom still does it.”
Traditional mandala art is known for its symmetry and detail, but it can also seem intimidating for beginners. Ananya wanted to remove that obstacle.
“Traditionally, it’s done on paper. It’s symmetrical patterns, and it takes a lot of patience and time to try and do it. You also need a lot of experience,” she said. “But I wanted to make it inclusive for everyone, where you can start with a blank page and still create something that looks really good.”
The app accesses mandala creation through multiple input methods. Users can create shapes using hand gestures, with different postures producing petals, circles or triangular patterns. The longer a pose is held, the larger the visual element becomes.
Another standout feature is what Prasad calls “audio-to-Mandala”. The app can listen to speech, music or ambient sounds and transform those audio patterns into layered mandala designs.
“It also includes a drawing mode where you can draw whatever you want traditionally,” he said. “If you just make a segment, it repeats as a circle.”
According to Prasad, the overarching goal was to ensure that anyone without an artistic background could participate comfortably.
“A lot of people think, ‘Will I be able to do this? I’ve never done this before,'” Prasad said. “That was the main idea behind the app, so anyone is able to create a mandala with it.”
Where AI helped, and where human creativity mattered more
Like many young developers today, Prasad also experimented with AI tools during development. But she was quick to distinguish between technical support and the creative foundation of the app.
“I use AI tools, but mainly for debugging,” she said. “I’m new to Swift. I’ve never developed a project in Swift before, so to understand Swift and its framework, and while reading the documentation on Apple’s developer website, I used AI to understand it all.”
He said AI became useful in troubleshooting coding errors or understanding implementation details that were difficult to find elsewhere.
“Whenever I came across errors that I couldn’t figure out through Google, I used AI,” he added. “But the whole ideology behind the app is mainly my own, experimenting with different techniques and when one idea fails, trying to implement it in a different way.”
The balance between AI-assisted development and human creativity is something Apple itself readily acknowledges.
Prescott said that the use of AI is “obviously part of how students are using technology today” and clarified that such tools are not discouraged within the challenge.
“AI is clearly part of how students are using technology today,” Prescott said. “What actually happens may change slightly, but the goal of the program remains very strong and very concrete.”
Why Apple believes creativity matters as much as coding
A recurring theme throughout the discussion was Apple’s efforts to make software development accessible even to students without traditional computer science backgrounds.
Prescott said Apple wants students studying in fields like art, biology or design to feel equally welcome in the ecosystem.
“Even if their major isn’t computer science, even if their passion is art or biology or something else, they can also participate by using technology to do great work and make the world a better place,” Prescott said.
According to him, the Swift Student Challenge works best when projects come out of genuine personal interest.
“When students take their individual passions and connect them to technology, it helps make connections for them,” Prescott said.
Interestingly, when asked what differentiates the many Indian winners, Prescott did not first point to coding expertise.
“You can expect deep coding expertise from me,” Prescott said, “but passion and strong problem solving are probably the most important things we hear.”
They also highlighted curiosity and experimentation as recurring qualities among outstanding participants.
“We heard Ananya talk about trial and error on certain things, discovering tools that helped her do more,” he said. “Passion and curiosity are characteristics of many people who stand out.”
Benefiting the Apple Ecosystem and Lowering Barriers to Entry
Ananya Babu Prasad credits the many Apple frameworks and hardware integrations for helping shape the Mandala art experience.
“What I really liked was Apple’s framework called PencilKit.”
“It integrates very well with the Apple Pencil and captures strokes wonderfully.”
He also pointed to easier access to hardware features like cameras and microphones, both of which played a key role in enabling gesture- and audio-based interactions.
For Apple, expanding reach across its ecosystem is part of a larger strategy.
Prescott highlighted new low-cost hardware, education discounts and the increasing capabilities of devices like the iPad as important steps.
“We really want to get our products out to as many people as possible,” Prescott said. “Hopefully you will see us working to ensure that the value and capabilities of our products continue to meet different people where they are.”
At a time when AI tools are changing how students learn and create software, Apple is leaning toward a more human-centered narrative: where coding is not just about engineering skills, but also about creativity, storytelling, experimentation, and cultural identity.
And that philosophy is especially visible in the case of mandala art, a traditional Indian art form that has been reimagined through gesture, sound, and software by a student developer finding her voice in technology.
