Apple’s online WWDC 2020 kicks off June 22

Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference 2020 will kick off June 22 in a virtual format in the Apple Developer app and on the Apple Developer website. This year’s annual developer conference, for the first time ever, will be free for all Apple developers.

Apple moved to an entirely online format for WWDC 2020, as announced in March citing COVID-19 concerns, making this year’s conference an ‘online experience.’ The company, however, didn’t mention a particular date for the conference back then which changes now.

“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,” said Phil Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “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.”

As part of WWDC, there’s a Swift Student Challenge for young developers around the world who are at least 13 years old. The challenge typically gets winners WWDC scholarships, but this year’s online format will land them an exclusive WWDC20 jacket and pin set instead. Submissions are open through May 17, more information available here.

“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.”

Traditionally, Apple WWDC kicks off with an opening keynote from CEO Tim Cook and other Apple executives previewing the future of Apple softwares, including iOS, watchOS, macOS, tvOS, and now iPadOS. In some surprise turn of events, we might see some hardware product announcements as well.

The annual Worldwide Developers Conference normally takes places in San Jose for a week-long gathering of Apple’s developer community, and requires a paid ticket through a lottery system to attend. Going all-online this year means it’s free for all Apple developers.

Apple says developers should download the Apple Developer app where additional WWDC program information will be shared in June. The details for keynote, Platforms State of the Union, lab sessions, and more will be available in the app as well as on the Apple Developer website and by email.