Taiwan students win Apple coding honors with apps tackling mental health, aging and accessibility

Eight students from Taiwan were named winners in Apple's 2026 Swift Student Challenge, highlighting the island's growing pool of young software talent with projects focused on mental health, elderly care and accessibility.

Among them, Yi-Lun Fu, a sophomore in information management at National Taipei University of Nursing and Health Sciences, was selected as Taiwan's only Distinguished Winner, placing him among 50 students worldwide to receive the top honor.

Fu developed an app called "ReMinder," inspired by counseling activities on campus. The app turns a therapeutic exercise of tearing paper and rebuilding it into a digital experience, allowing users to symbolically release stress by breaking objects on screen before reconstructing them into a star representing hope.

Another winner, Hao-Wei Wu, a computer science student at National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, created "LifeRings," a digital memoir app designed to help older adults preserve personal memories and life stories.

The app uses tree rings as a visual metaphor for the passage of time. Users can record stories by voice, while a "time capsule" feature allows memories to be reopened at a chosen future date.

Hung-Yu Chou, a student at Feng Chia University, focused on mobility challenges faced by visually impaired people. He developed "WayFinder_AI," which combines on-device image recognition and LiDAR technology to identify road crossings and zebra stripes where guidance infrastructure may be lacking.

This year's Taiwanese entries reflected a broader trend of students using technology to address real-world social challenges, ranging from emotional well-being to aging populations and inclusive urban mobility.