Two young men recently represented South Africa on the global stage as leading app developers. 13 year-old St John’s College student, Ben Anderson and third year University of Pretoria student, Jason Mayo were recently selected as Swift Student Challenge winners – a competition where students from all around the world are tasked with using the Swift programming language from Apple to develop innovative applications which solve real-world problems. iStore Education facilitated the two students’ participation in this year’s Swift Student Challenge, supporting them from concept to submission. Ben’s app navigates the school day with scheduling periods, textbook management and school day prep. Jason’s app, Study Guard (formerly Regret Guard), converts screen time for university students into study time by requiring them to answer AI-generated flashcards based on their study notes before accessing their social media feeds. Out of the thousands of students around the world, Ben and Jason were selected in the final group of 350 winners whose apps demonstrated excellence in innovation, creativity, and social impact, or inclusivity. Ben had the unique opportunity of being selected to attend a special event for this year’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC 2025) at Apple’s headquarters in Cupertino, California.  They have both received exam codes to gain international certification for Swift, a year’s license to the Swift developer programme, and a pair of AirPods Max.
Two young men recently represented South Africa on the global stage as leading app developers. 13 year-old St John’s College student, Ben Anderson and third year University of Pretoria student, Jason Mayo were recently selected as Swift Student Challenge winners – a competition where students from all around the world are tasked with using the Swift programming language from Apple to develop innovative applications which solve real-world problems. iStore Education facilitated the two students’ participation in this year’s Swift Student Challenge, supporting them from concept to submission. Ben’s app navigates the school day with scheduling periods, textbook management and school day prep. Jason’s app, Study Guard (formerly Regret Guard), converts screen time for university students into study time by requiring them to answer AI-generated flashcards based on their study notes before accessing their social media feeds. Out of the thousands of students around the world, Ben and Jason were selected in the final group of 350 winners whose apps demonstrated excellence in innovation, creativity, and social impact, or inclusivity. Ben had the unique opportunity of being selected to attend a special event for this year’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC 2025) at Apple’s headquarters in Cupertino, California.  They have both received exam codes to gain international certification for Swift, a year’s license to the Swift developer programme, and a pair of AirPods Max.
Two young men recently represented South Africa on the global stage as leading app developers. 13 year-old St John’s College student, Ben Anderson and third year University of Pretoria student, Jason Mayo were recently selected as Swift Student Challenge winners – a competition where students from all around the world are tasked with using the Swift programming language from Apple to develop innovative applications which solve real-world problems.
iStore Education facilitated the two students’ participation in this year’s Swift Student Challenge, supporting them from concept to submission. Ben’s app navigates the school day with scheduling periods, textbook management and school day prep. Jason’s app, Study Guard (formerly Regret Guard), converts screen time for university students into study time by requiring them to answer AI-generated flashcards based on their study notes before accessing their social media feeds.
Out of the thousands of students around the world, Ben and Jason were selected in the final group of 350 winners whose apps demonstrated excellence in innovation, creativity, and social impact, or inclusivity. Ben had the unique opportunity of being selected to attend a special event for this year’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC 2025) at Apple’s headquarters in Cupertino, California.  They have both received exam codes to gain international certification for Swift, a year’s license to the Swift developer programme, and a pair of AirPods Max.