Tech major Apple on Tuesday introduced Ask Apple, a new series of interactive Q&As and one-on-one consultations that will provide developers with even more opportunities to connect directly with Apple experts for insight, support, and feedback.
Developers participating in Ask Apple can inquire about a variety of topics, such as testing on the latest seeds; implementing new and updated frameworks from Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC); adopting new features like the Dynamic Island; moving to Swift, SwiftUI, and accessibility; and preparing their apps for new OS and hardware releases. Ask Apple is free of charge and registration is open to all members of the Apple Developer Program and the Apple Developer Enterprise Program.
This series will enable developers to ask questions to various Apple team members through Q&As on Slack or in one-on-one office hours. Q&As allow developers to connect with Apple evangelists, engineers, and designers to get their questions answered, share their learnings, and engage with other developers around the world.
Office hours are focused on creating and distributing compelling apps that take advantage of the latest in technology and design.
Developers can ask for code-level assistance, design guidance, input on implementing technologies and frameworks, advice on resolving issues, or help with App Review Guidelines and distribution tools. Office hours will be hosted in time zones around the world and in multiple languages.
“We’ve been listening to feedback from developers around the world about what will be most helpful to them as they build innovative apps, and we’ve seen an increased appetite for one-on-one support and conversation with Apple experts,” said Susan Prescott, Apple’s vice president of Worldwide Developer Relations and Enterprise and Education Marketing. “Our team is committed to continuously evolving our support for our diverse global developer community, and we’re excited to offer Ask Apple as another new resource.”
Ask Apple builds on successful programs like Tech Talks and Meet with App Store Experts, which have offered developers more than 200 live presentations and thousands of office hours over the past year.
Jordi Bruin, an iOS developer from Amsterdam, has launched over 20 apps on the App Store and has attended more than 50 Apple developer sessions and labs including Tech Talks and during Apple’s annual WWDC. One of his latest apps, Posture Pal, aims to help users improve their posture by leveraging the motion sensors in AirPods. He recounts how his conversations with Apple experts guided him on his app-building and refinement process.
“Early on in the development of Posture Pal, I attended a Tech Talk focused on the motion sensors in the AirPods. I spoke to a technology evangelist who not only helped me understand the parameters and possibilities of the technology, but who also helped me brainstorm more advanced features and use cases that I had not considered before,” said Bruin. “A designer at Apple also did a complete rundown of Posture Pal’s onboarding experience, highlighting the aspects that could be improved. Based on the feedback, I removed redundant information and simplified the design of key screens in the app. Hearing from an expert in UX design has helped me in coming up with design guidelines for my projects overall.”
Ondine Bullot is the CEO of Better Kids and the founder of educational app Wisdom: The World of Emotions, which teaches young children social and emotional skills like managing feelings and resolving conflict through games and augmented reality (AR). Bullot and her team members from around the world have participated in multiple engagement series including Tech Talks, Meet with App Store Experts, and WWDC’s digital lounge discussions.
“I vividly remember attending one-on-one office hours. It was one of the most creative sessions in terms of imagining new features and use cases for our app. One idea that emerged, which we are currently working on, is integrating Siri to our app so kids can say ‘Hey Siri, I need help with my emotions,’ which would prompt Wisdom — our app’s main character — to guide them through different calming strategies,” Bullot said. “Our app offers a plethora of content: interactive games, AR, guided meditations, practice activities, printables, parenting tips, teaching resources. Thanks to Apple experts’ feedback, we recently redesigned our app’s navigation to create separate paths for children, educators, and parents which helped clarify which resources are relevant to each one of them. We also redesigned our meditation section to make it more visual and user-friendly for children.”
Ask Apple will be an ongoing series, with the first round of opportunities coming October 17-21. Current members of the Apple Developer Program and the Apple Developer Enterprise Program can register and find information on the schedule by visiting developer.apple.com/events/ask-apple.
In addition to the Ask Apple series, hundreds of hours of sessions are available on demand on the Apple Developer website and in the Apple Developer app, enabling developers to hear directly from Apple about the latest technologies and important news all in one place, all year long, whenever and wherever is most convenient.
Developers can access a robust library of timely, relevant, and practical content from Apple experts and engineers, including news about everything from API and framework changes to Apple’s human interface guidelines, program announcements, and technical articles, as well as a technical and design video library. Apple also offers all members of the Apple Developer Program the opportunity to receive one-on-one code-level support with technical support engineers who can help troubleshoot an app’s code or bring solutions to fast-track development.
Apple provides a wide variety of cutting-edge tools and end-to-end support for developers to build, test, market, and distribute their apps to more than 1.5 billion Apple devices. An extensive suite of free tools and frameworks — including software development kits (SDKs) and developer services with more than 250,000 APIs — support developers building apps for iOS, iPadOS, macOS, tvOS, and watchOS.
These tools enable developers to add new functionalities to their apps easily and quickly, and harness powerful capabilities like machine learning, AR, and many more. Programs such as Apple’s Developer Academies, Entrepreneur Camps, App Accelerators, and WWDC student scholarships, as well as open access tools like Everyone Can Code and Swift Playgrounds, ensure the power of coding technology is accessible and inclusive.
The App Store, which launched in 2008, is the world’s safest and most vibrant app marketplace, currently home to 1.8 million apps and visited by more than half a billion people each week across 175 regions. It helps creators, dreamers, and learners of all ages and backgrounds connect with the tools and information they need to build a brighter future and a better world.
