In Apple’s world of code, India’s young creators are finding their voice | HT Technology Insider

This vision is at the heart of Apple’s messaging this year, Susan Prescott, Vice President of Worldwide Developer Relations at Applehighlight this Shaurya Sharma, Digital Technology Editor, Hindustan Timesin an exclusive interaction, learn how the company wants students from diverse backgrounds to feel engaged in app development and technology.

“We really want to engage and inspire young people to find things, passions and interests that matter to them in their personal lives, in their communities and even more broadly, and feel they have the power to make an impact,” Prescott said.

“The Swift Student Challenge is designed to do just that. It’s not just about your coding abilities. There’s certainly a technical aspect to it, but it’s also about critical thinking, problem solving, and how you can use technology to make your world and the world a better place.”

Apple this year announced 350 winners worldwide, including 50 outstanding winners from 37 countries. Prescott said India had put in a “wonderful performance” both in terms of entries and winners.

This year’s outstanding recipients from India include Ananya Babu Prasad, Creator of Mandala Kalaan app inspired by traditional mandala art that combines gesture controls, audio input, and digital drawing tools into a more accessible creative experience. She joins a growing group of young Indian developers recognized by Apple, including Gayatri Goundadkar, whose childhood memories of creating Warli paintings with her grandmother eventually inspired Steady Hands, an app that uses Apple Pencil stabilization to help people with tremors create art more comfortably.

Apple announced this year’s 350 winning entries from 37 countries/regions. Prescott said India had put in a “wonderful performance” both in terms of entries and winners.

“I have been interested in different forms of art and craft all my life,” Prasad said. “Mandala art resonates with me because it is a traditional art of India and my mother does it even now.”

Traditional mandala art is known for its symmetry and detail, but it can also be intimidating for beginners. Ananya wants to remove this obstacle.

“Traditionally, it’s done on paper. It’s a symmetrical pattern and it takes a lot of patience and time to sit down and do it. You also need a lot of experience,” she said. “But I want it to be inclusive to everyone, where you can start with a blank page and still come up with something that looks really good.”

The app creates mandalas through multiple input methods. Users can create shapes using hand gestures, producing patterns of petals, circles or triangles through different gestures. The longer the pose is held, the larger the visual elements become.

Another standout feature is what Prasad calls “Audio to Mandala”. The app listens to speech, music, or ambient sounds and converts these audio patterns into layered mandala designs.

“It also includes a drawing mode where you can draw anything you want in the traditional way,” she said. “If you just draw a fragment, it will repeat itself like a circle.”

Prasad said the broader goal is to ensure that even people without an arts background can easily participate.

“A lot of people think, ‘Can I do this? I’ve never done this before,'” Prasad said. “That’s the main intention behind the app, so anyone can create mandalas with it.”

“I do use AI tools, but mostly for debugging,” she said. “I’m new to Swift. I’ve never developed a project in Swift before, so in order to learn about Swift and its frameworks, I used AI to understand it all while reading the documentation on the Apple developer site.”

She added that AI becomes useful in troubleshooting coding errors or understanding implementation details that are difficult to find elsewhere.

“Whenever I encounter a bug that I can’t solve through Google, I use AI,” she added. “But all the ideologies behind the app are primarily my own, by trying different techniques and when an idea failed, trying to implement it in different ways.”

The balance between AI-assisted development and human creativity seems to be one Apple itself is happy to embrace.

Prescott noted that the use of artificial intelligence is “clearly part of how students use technology today,” and clarified that the use of such tools is not encouraged in the challenge.

“Artificial intelligence is clearly part of the way today’s students use technology,” Prescott said. “Exactly what happens may change a little bit, but the goals of the program remain very strong and steadfast.”

Prescott said Apple wants students in fields such as art, biology or design to feel equally welcome in the ecosystem.

“Even if their major isn’t computer science, even if their passion is art or biology or whatever, they can be involved in using technology to do great things and make the world a better place,” Prescott said.

According to her, the Swift Student Challenge works best when projects stem from genuine personal interests.

“When students take their personal passions and connect them to technology, it helps create connections for them,” Prescott added.

Interestingly, when asked what differentiates many of the Indian winners, Prescott didn’t first point to coding expertise.

“You might think I’d say deep coding expertise,” Prescott said, “but passion and strong problem-solving skills are probably the most critical things we hear.”

She also highlighted curiosity and experimentation as recurring characteristics of outstanding participants.

“We heard Ananya talk about trial and error on something and discovering tools that helped her do more,” she said. “Passion and curiosity are characteristics of many who stand out.”

“What I really like is Apple’s framework called PencilKit.”

“It integrates very well with the Apple Pencil and captures strokes brilliantly.”

She also noted the easy access to hardware features like cameras and microphones, both of which play an important role in enabling gesture and audio-based interactions.

For Apple, expanding accessibility across its ecosystem remains part of a larger strategy.

Prescott stressed that newer, lower-priced hardware, education discounts and the increasing functionality of devices like the iPad are important steps.

“We really want to make our products as accessible to people as possible,” Prescott said. “Hopefully you’ll continue to see the things we’re doing to ensure that the price points and features of our products continue to meet the needs of different groups of people.”

At a time when artificial intelligence tools are changing the way students learn and create software, Apple appears to be leaning toward a more human-centered narrative: Coding is about not just engineering skills, but creativity, storytelling, experimentation, and cultural identity.

This philosophical feel is especially evident in the case of Mandala Kala, a traditional Indian art form reimagined through gesture, sound, and software by a student developer who found his voice in technology.