Swift Playgrounds is an educational tool and

development environment In software deployment, an environment or tier is a computer system or set of systems in which a computer program or software component is deployed and executed. In simple cases, such as developing and immediately executing a program on the same m ...

for the

Swift Swift or SWIFT most commonly refers to: * SWIFT, an international organization facilitating transactions between banks ** SWIFT code * Swift (programming language) * Swift (bird), a family of birds It may also refer to: Organizations * SWIFT, ...

programming language developed by

Apple Inc. Apple Inc. is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, United States. Apple is the largest technology company by revenue (totaling in 2021) and, as of June 2022, is the world's biggest company ...

, initially announced at the WWDC 2016 conference. It was introduced as an

iPad The iPad is a brand of iOS and iPadOS-based tablet computers that are developed by Apple Inc. The iPad was conceived before the related iPhone but the iPhone was developed and released first. Speculation about the development, operating s ...

application alongside

iOS 10 iOS 10 is the iOS version history, tenth major release of the iOS mobile operating system developed by Apple Inc., being the successor to iOS 9. It was announced at the company's Apple Worldwide Developers Conference, Worldwide Developers Conf ...

, with a

macOS macOS (; previously OS X and originally Mac OS X) is a Unix operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc. since 2001. It is the primary operating system for Apple's Mac computers. Within the market of desktop and lapt ...

version introduced in February 2020. It is available for free via Apple's

App Store An App Store (or app marketplace) is a type of digital distribution platform for computer software called applications, often in a mobile context. Apps provide a specific set of functions which, by definition, do not include the running of the co ...

for

iPadOS iPadOS is a mobile operating system developed by Apple Inc. for its iPad line of tablet computers. It is a rebranded variant of iOS, the operating system used by Apple's iPhones, renamed to reflect the diverging features of the two product l ...

and

Mac App Store The App Store (also known as the Mac App Store) is a digital distribution platform for macOS apps, often referred to as Mac apps, created and maintained by Apple Inc. The platform was announced on October 20, 2010, at Apple's "Back to the Mac" ...

for macOS. In addition to publishing the Swift Playgrounds application itself, Apple also produces a series of educational lessons teaching programming and debugging skills. The application can also subscribe to lessons and other content published by third parties, including lessons allowing users to control educational toys such as

Lego Mindstorms EV3 LEGO Mindstorms EV3 is the third generation robotics kit in LEGO's Mindstorms line. It is the successor to the second generation LEGO Mindstorms NXT kit. The "EV" designation refers to the "evolution" of the Mindstorms product line. "3" refers t ...

and

Sphero Sphero, Inc. (formerly Orbotix) is an American consumer robotics and toy company based in Boulder, Colorado. Their first product, the Sphero, is a white spherical robot launched in December 2011 capable of rolling around under the control of a sm ...

robots. Apple publishes a curriculum guide for educators wishing to incorporate Swift Playgrounds into their teaching.

Features

Swift Playgrounds was designed to be a development environment and an education tool simultaneously. The app allows users to download lessons and challenges. Once stored on the iPad, these can be copied and modified without the need of an active internet connection. Apple's initial lessons, available for all Swift Playgrounds users to download, introduce three characters: Byte, Blu, and Hopper. In each challenge, young coders are asked to assist these characters achieving simple goals by coding simple instructions. As challenges become more difficult, more complex algorithms are required to solve them and new concepts are introduced. Advanced lessons in Playgrounds introduce users to more complex features such as Apple's

Bluetooth Bluetooth is a short-range wireless technology standard that is used for exchanging data between fixed and mobile devices over short distances and building personal area networks (PANs). In the most widely used mode, transmission power is limi ...

and Augmented Reality development platform (ARKit)

API An application programming interface (API) is a way for two or more computer programs to communicate with each other. It is a type of software interface, offering a service to other pieces of software. A document or standard that describes how ...

s. In addition to Apple's own educational content, Swift Playgrounds can download third-party lessons through its subscriptions feature. Some third-party lessons allow the app to control robots (such as

and

educational toys) and

drone Drone most commonly refers to: * Drone (bee), a male bee, from an unfertilized egg * Unmanned aerial vehicle * Unmanned surface vehicle, watercraft * Unmanned underwater vehicle or underwater drone Drone, drones or The Drones may also refer to: ...

s (such as the

Parrot Parrots, also known as psittacines (), are birds of the roughly 398 species in 92 genera comprising the order Psittaciformes (), found mostly in tropical and subtropical regions. The order is subdivided into three superfamilies: the Psittacoid ...

). Apple also offers coding classes using Swift Playgrounds at

Apple Store The Apple Store is a chain of Retail, retail stores owned and operated by Apple Inc. The stores sell various Apple products, including Macintosh, Mac personal computers, iPhone smartphones, iPad tablet computers, Apple Watch smartwatches, Apple ...

s. Swift Playgrounds was designed to be fully

accessible Accessibility is the design of products, devices, services, vehicles, or environments so as to be usable by people with disabilities. The concept of accessible design and practice of accessible development ensures both "direct access" (i.e ...

to users with disabilities. It supports Apple's

VoiceOver Voice-over (also known as off-camera or off-stage commentary) is a production technique where a voice—that is not part of the narrative (non-diegetic)—is used in a radio, television production, filmmaking, theatre, or other presentations. ...

screen reader technology, and at

WWDC 2020 The Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) is an information technology conference held annually by Apple Inc. The conference is usually held at Apple Park in California. The event is usually used to showcase new software and technologies in th ...

Apple introduced a series of lessons called "Swan's Quest" which use accessibility features to help students solve puzzles.

History

The Swift Playgrounds application was announced on June 13, 2016 at WWDC 2016 as an iPad exclusive app to help people learning to code with Apple's Swift programming language. A beta version for Apple developers was released on the same date, followed by a public beta version in the following month. The app was presented as a teaching tool for students, introducing the core concepts of coding using an interactive environment designed for touch. The application's name is an apparent reference to Xcode's earlier

Playgrounds A playground, playpark, or play area is a place designed to provide an environment for children that facilitates play, typically outdoors. While a playground is usually designed for children, some are designed for other age groups, or people w ...

feature, introduced in 2014. Along with iOS 10, the app was officially released on September 13, 2016. Apple also published
curriculum guide
recommending the iPad app for middle school students and up. In January 2018, Apple introduced subscriptions to the iPad application, allowing users to subscribe to playgrounds developed by third parties. On February 11, 2020, Apple released a macOS version of Swift Playgrounds on the

, built using Apple's

Catalyst Catalysis () is the process of increasing the rate of a chemical reaction by adding a substance known as a catalyst (). Catalysts are not consumed in the reaction and remain unchanged after it. If the reaction is rapid and the catalyst recyc ...

technology. Subsequent versions of the application have supported both iPadOS and macOS, with most of Apple's curriculum available on both platforms. For WWDC 2020, Apple published a session instructing third-party developers on how to support both platforms in their subscriptions.

Development

The iPad version of the Swift Playgrounds (1.0) was released on September 13, 2016.

Chris Lattner Christopher Arthur Lattner (born 1978) is an American software engineer, former Google and Tesla employee and co-founder of LLVM, Clang compiler, MLIR compiler infrastructure and the Swift programming language. , he is the co-founder and CEO ...

was also one of the few core people who drove Swift Playgrounds for iPad, including conception, design, implementation, and iteration. Simultaneously with its release, Apple published guides on the

iBookStore Apple Books (formerly known as iBooks between January 2010 and September 2018) is an e-book reading and store application by Apple Inc. for its iOS and macOS operating systems and devices. It was announced, under the name iBooks, in conjunctio ...

to teach users how to navigate and use the application. The launch coincided with a large Silicon Valley campaign to press public schools to teach coding and was followed by Apple's announcement of the "Everyone Can Code" initiative, a program that provides computer science curriculum to help kids learn how to code. Swift Playgrounds is included in this program as free coding curriculum and Apple provides detailed guides to walk teachers through teaching

. Apple also released "App Development with Swift", a year-long curriculum for teaching Swift software development and later introduced a Swift certification program to validate coding skills for students. In May 2018, Apple announced the extension of "Everyone Can Code" initiative to US schools serving blind and deaf students. In January 2017, Apple partnered with RNIB (Royal National Institute of Blind People) to provide braille versions of the Swift Playgrounds graphics used in its coding course.

Version history

Reception

Upon release, Swift Playgrounds reached the first place in the top free iPad education apps in nearly 100 countries. The app received generally positive reviews from users (4/5 rating score on the App Store) and from the press. The app's ability to make serious coding accessible to young students was praised, as well as the fact that it was not excessively focused on

but rather in teaching good coding practices.

Common Sense Media Common Sense Media (CSM) is an organization that reviews and provides ratings for media and technology with the goal of providing information on their suitability for children.

rates Swift Playgrounds with a 5/5 ranking score.

References

External links

* {{official website, https://www.apple.com/swift/playgrounds/ Apple Inc. software Educational software Integrated development environments IOS software MacOS programming tools Freeware