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Apple has opened a registration lottery for its annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) so that developers who want to attend can seek the chance to buy tickets to the event, which will be held from June 8 to 12 in San Francisco.
Attendee hopefuls must register for the ticket lottery on the company’s Website before 1 p.m. EDT on April 17 to be eligible, and then will hear from Apple by 8 p.m. April 20 to learn whether their application has been accepted through a random selection process that is used for WWDC registration, the company announced.
To register, developers must sign in with their Apple developer account credentials and submit their information through an online form, according to the company. Developers must also be a current member of the iOS Developer Program, iOS Developer Enterprise Program or Mac Developer Program at the time of registration. Developers whose applications are accepted in the random ticketing process will be immediately charged for their conference fee of $1,599 by 8 p.m. EDT on April 20.
The WWDC features more than 100 technical sessions, over 1,000 Apple engineers, hands-on labs and the Apple Design Awards presentation. Development tracks will deeply dive into iOS, OS X and just about everything related to the Apple ecosystem. The WWDC will be held at the Moscone Center West facility in San Francisco.
Developers who are not able to obtain tickets for the event will be able to watch many of the conference events online through live-streamed presentations. Up to 350 WWDC scholarships will be made available to students and members of participating STEM organizations around the world, according to Apple. Scholarship applications must be received from 1 p.m. April 22 to 8 p.m. EDT on April 26. Scholarship applicants will be notified of their ticket standing by May 8.
The WWDC event will include sessions on a wide range of development opportunities, including the latest advancements in Apple technologies such as user interface design across the Apple platform. Developers will gain insights into making their apps and games more intuitive, usable, beautiful, engaging and entertaining, as well as design tips on best practices in typography, animation, navigation and more, according to Apple.
Attendees will also be able to learn more about building modern apps with a comprehensive set of platform-optimized frameworks, while taking advantage of the latest APIs, including the essential UIKit and AppKit frameworks that iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and Mac are built upon. Details will also be shared about how to conserve battery power, improve launch times, making the best use of system resources and more.
Development strategies for the new Apple Watch will be very prominent, including how to use Apple’s WatchKit to create Apple Watch apps that complement iPhone apps, while enabling fast and focused interactions for users. Developers will be able to learn how to customize notifications and optimize communications with their iPhone apps, while properly incorporating fundamental principles of typography, layout and color, according to Apple.
Health and fitness apps will also be covered extensively at WWDC, as Apple experts show how HealthKit and ResearchKit open exciting possibilities for the development of health and fitness apps.
Games and entertainment apps will also be covered, as well as audio, video and other content apps, Apple tools and languages (including Swift and Xcode and others).
Special tracks on Apple use in the enterprise will also be featured as the company dives deeper into business security, privacy, secure networking and more in the workplace, according to Apple.
Developers will also be able to bring and test their code in code labs where their designs will be evaluated and given input from Apple experts and peers.
The WWDC event is a place where Apple often makes big announcements about strategies and new ideas. In March, rumors circulated widely that Apple’s revamped Beats Music service plans are expected to be unveiled at this year’s WWDC event, according to an earlier eWEEK report. The Beats Music service is expected to be launched as part of an upgrade to a future iOS app and will also be offered through a stand-alone Android app, which would be the first such app built internally by Apple. Beats Music’s streaming service will reportedly be priced at $7.99 a month, which is less than several competing streaming services, including Spotify and others, according to reports.