Apple opens Developer Academy in Naples to new applications

Apple says the students have already devised more than 400 app ideas of which more than 50 are available at the App Store

Participants from Russia and Hong Kong at Apple's Developer Academy in Naples (Apple)

The slogan “there’s an app for that” has been around for a long time, but there’s still no shortage of new apps arriving on smartphones, tablets, computers and smartwatches.

Apple, responsible for the first gold rush of apps after the App Store arrived for the iPhone, has a Developer Academy in Naples, part of the city’s University of Federico II. It’s been open since 2016 and the current intake of students come from 30 countries, including the UK. Since it opened its doors, almost 1,000 students have been trained there.

Today, the academy has opened the application process to new students and is keen to see UK students among the new entrants. Applications should come from students with a keen interest in careers in the app economy. Apple says there’s a strong emphasis on collaboration in the course, which includes extensive hands-on experience.

The course lasts one year and is free to attend, with Apple supplying the hardware and software needed for the course, including an iPhone and Mac. Up to 400 places are up for grabs and some of the students attend the annual World Wide Developers’ Conference, held this year in early June in San Jose.

According to Apple, the Academy students have already devised more than 400 app ideas of which more than 50 are available at the App Store. These include Hear Me Well, which turns the iPhone into a hearing aid device.

Students currently at the Academy talk about how they regard it as “a perfect educational environment to develop an insatiable thirst and curiosity for development” or that it “gives you a toolbox to take your idea and turn it into reality”.

The academy is part of Apple’s commitment to making coding accessible to everyone. Apple’s connection to the Malala Fund has also been a way that the company has helped spread education, including coding, to girls around the world. Apple is committed to reaching 100,000 girls worldwide through coding. The academy news came on the same day as Apple announced a partnership with Simplon in Paris.

Simplon is a social enterprise in France focused on communities that would otherwise find it difficult to access training - and the training is offered at no charge.

Simplon has a network of organisations in France and elsewhere, which has trained more than 2,000 trainees in the digital sector since 2013. The collaboration is to teach Swift, Apple’s coding language, with a new focus on refugee and displaced young women, and women from underserved communities.