UPDATE
May 12, 2021
The first Apple Developer Academy opened in Brazil in 2013, with the goal of providing the tools and training for aspiring entrepreneurs, developers, and designers to find and create jobs in the thriving iOS app economy. Since then, the company has opened more than a dozen academies across the world with two more on the way: one in Korea, and one in Detroit, Michigan, the first-ever US location. The program has empowered students around the world with app development and entrepreneurial training, many of whom have gone on to start their own businesses, create and sell apps on the App Store, and give back to their communities. With the expansion plans underway, thousands more students worldwide will now have access to these opportunities each year.
The new academy programs in Detroit and Korea will join more than a dozen other sites in Brazil, Indonesia, and Italy. Across the world, whether students are in Naples, Italy, or Jakarta, Indonesia, academy participants learn the fundamentals of coding as well as core professional competencies, design, and marketing, ensuring graduates have the full suite of skills needed to contribute to their local business communities. The curriculum also incorporates Apple’s values throughout the coursework, encouraging students to design inclusively and make a positive impact in the world.
Arthur Motelevicz, 36, met his future business partner at the Apple Developer Academy in Curitiba, Brazil, in 2013 — and now counts 11 academy graduates among his 25 employees. Formerly the lead singer and guitarist of a band, Arthur knows first hand how the academy encourages creativity and collaboration, skills that are as important in business as they are in music. After graduating from the academy, Motelevicz decided to quit his full-time job to dedicate himself to entrepreneurship in pursuit of a new way to mix coding with music. Super Pads, a fun and easy-to-use DJ app, was born out of that dream. “I love being able to work with amazing people, learn every day, and experiment with combining coding and music,” said Motelevicz. “The Apple Developer Academy gave me the strength to pursue and implement my ideas into something that I will spend my life working on.”
For Aisyah Widya Nur Shadrina, 23, her experience at the Developer Academy in Jakarta, Indonesia, introduced her to those resources. At the academy, Shadrina and her all-women team used the front-facing camera and machine learning on iPhone to create Hearo, an app that can translate sign language into voice and text, providing a more seamless way to communicate with friends who are deaf. The team was subsequently selected for Apple Entrepreneur Camp in 2020, where they received code-level guidance from Apple experts and engineers, facilitating significant improvement to in-app navigation and user experience. This year, Shadrina and her team will attend Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference virtually. She says she looks forward to learning more about new Apple technologies, frameworks, and tools that can help developers build more innovative and inclusive apps.
Images of Apple Developer Academy Graduates