Apple's WWDC 2016 keynote: as it happened

Swift Playgrounds is a new app that'll be offered both as part of iOS 10 and a standalone option later this year, designed to help the world learn to code.

It's a simple app that brings lessons and real-world uses of basic coding to give children (and adults) a deeper understanding of coding.

11.55 - Tim Cook: "We hope that this gift to kids around the world will help make recording a part of the school day. That is Swift Playgrounds."

TIm Cook

11.54 - Swift Playgrounds will be going when iOS 10 ships in the fall, but also it'll be free. It's going to come to the App Store, and will be part of the public betas and developer previews that are coming today or in July.

11.49 - It's very basic, but all the lessons are very simply set out. It'll be interesting to see how this helps kids move forward and work out coding in the real world. I'm more worried that we're into 'Loops' and I'm already lost. I'm going to be so out of touch soon.

11.46 - Swift Playgrounds - coding on your iPad - has been launched. To this room of developers, they were pretty excited indeed.

Cheryl Thomas is onstage now to talk through it. Challenges, lessons and fundamentals are all part of the process. It looks very animation-based... but I'll be honest, I've always wanted to code and this looks about my level. Moving a little blob-dude around the screen with words? I can do that. Just.

11.45 - He's talking about the love for developers (Apple has paid them $50bn already) - Swift is being talked about. Open source released in December, and Cook is happy with the uptake so far.

11.44 - Tim is back!

Gareth Beavis
Formerly Global Editor in Chief

Gareth has been part of the consumer technology world in a career spanning three decades. He started life as a staff writer on the fledgling TechRadar, and has grown with the site (primarily as phones, tablets and wearables editor) until becoming Global Editor in Chief in 2018. Gareth has written over 4,000 articles for TechRadar, has contributed expert insight to a number of other publications, chaired panels on zeitgeist technologies, presented at the Gadget Show Live as well as representing the brand on TV and radio for multiple channels including Sky, BBC, ITV and Al-Jazeera. Passionate about fitness, he can bore anyone rigid about stress management, sleep tracking, heart rate variance as well as bemoaning something about the latest iPhone, Galaxy or OLED TV.

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