over 10 years ago
Starter Kit
Welcome to the RIT iOS App Challenge 2016!
You are now confirmed as a participant. We will be revealing more details at the kick-off event and training sessions, but this event challenges you to learn Swift if you don't already know it or to hone your skills if you've used it before.
Complete your Devpost profile
If you have not already done so, make sure your profile on Devpost contains your real e-mail address and your full name. I also strongly recommend that you include some more details about yourself including a photo and what other projects you've worked on. Make sure that you check the e-mail address that Devpost sends notifications to since that's how you'll get notified of the workshop, food, and rules.
Download Xcode and sign up as a free developer
Download the latest version of Xcode from the Mac App Store then sign up as a free developer at https://developer.apple.com if you have not already done so. You can register for free to get basic access to the documentation and WWDC videos. You only need to pay the $99 fee if you want to ultimately publish your app to the App Store. You can now deploy your apps to your personal devices for free using Xcode 7. If you have any questions on how to do that, come see us during office hours.
Starting reading and watching videos now!
You want to hit the ground running with Swift on day one so we highly recommend reading up on the documentation before the kick-off event. Once you have your free developer account, check out Start Developing iOS Apps Today.
Sign up for a Workshop
If you've never developed for iOS before or are a beginner, sign up for the Introduction to iOS Development Workshop. You should have some experience with another object-oriented programming language but we'll show you how to do iOS development in Xcode using Swift. This is a 6-hour hands-on course. You can attend on EITHER Tuesday, January 26th or Wednesday, January 27th in the evening.
Schedule
Coding will begin immediately following the kick-off presentation on Thursday night, January 28th, 2015. You'll have until Sunday night to finish your app. Apple engineers will be on-site every night and throughout the weekend to help answer technical questions if you get stuck. We'll also have snacks and meals.
At the kick-off event, we will reveal a secret requirement of the app. You can start coming up with ideas for your app in advance but keep in mind that this requirement might make you change your direction a bit. No coding should start prior to the kick-off ceremony. Attendance at the kick-off event is not required to participate, but it is highly recommended that at least one member of your team attend. Ideally everyone will want to go to the kick-off so you can learn the rules and the secret API.
On Friday night, January 29th, office hours will be held from 6pm to Midnight. On Saturday and Sunday, office hours will be from Noon to Midnight.
Put the next day on your calendar too -- Monday, February 1st will be our final awards ceremony and demos in the Ingle Auditorium. Invite all of your friends and family and professors to cheer you on. We'll have raffle prizes and they'll be able to vote for you to win the Audience Choice award. The judges will also be there to make their selection for first and second place.
On Tuesday, February 2nd, Apple will host a networking event which will give you a chance to talk to additional hiring managers and recruiters looking to hire RIT students for co-ops or full-time positions. Bring several copies of your latest resume including your iOS App Challenge project to discuss your experience and what you learned.
Finding a team
If you don't already have a team, you can start looking now. Check out the Participants tab on DevPost or post a message on the Discussions tab. If you still don't have a team at the kick-off ceremony, we'll have a team finding session but we've found that most people like to form their team in advance. Make sure that all of your team members are registered with their own account on DevPost. Teams are limited to 3 people. It is strongly recommended that each team member compliments the others -- for example, you may want to have an experienced coder, a beginner coder, and a designer.
We're excited to have you participating. If, for some reason, you are no longer able to participate, please click the "Unregister for this hackathon" link on the DevPost site to give other students an opportunity and help us plan food accordingly.
- The iOS App Challenge Team <challenge@apple.com>