Three Year 11 students from St Andrew’s Anglican College on the Sunshine Coast have earned international recognition after being named winners of Apple’s 2025 Swift Student Challenge, a prestigious global competition that celebrates innovation in app development.
Twins Oscar and Edward Mann, along with their friend Noah Moller, are among only eight Australians and 350 global winners chosen by Apple. In an even rarer honour, Edward was named one of just 50 “Distinguished Winners” worldwide.
Their remarkable achievement puts St Andrew’s firmly on the global map for technology and innovation, with Principal Karen Gorrie hailing it as a reflection of the school’s “culture of curiosity, commitment and excellence.”
Each student created an app with a personal purpose. Noah’s app, Tremor Check, was inspired by his late grandfather’s struggle with Parkinson’s disease. Using voice analysis and machine learning, it tracks changes in speech to help users monitor symptoms.
“I just wanted to make something that would have helped him,” Noah said.
Oscar’s app, Nail Anxiety, was born from watching a friend deal with anxiety. It uses machine learning to detect fingernail damage—often an overlooked symptom of stress—encouraging self-awareness without diagnosis.
“People don’t always realise what their bodies are telling them,” he said.
Edward’s award-winning app, Graphic Handbook, helps users learn the basics of 3D computer graphics through interactive lessons and a built-in assistant. Remarkably, this was Edward’s first time entering the Challenge.
The trio’s journey wasn’t without setbacks. Both Noah and Oscar had submitted apps in previous years without success, but each used rejection as motivation to improve.
“Rejection helped me grow,” Oscar said. “Every attempt taught me something new.”
The students credited their success to persistence, strong mentorship from educators like Professor Daniel Woo and James Dale, and the collaborative learning environment at St Andrew’s.
Edward and Noah will travel to California in June to attend Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), where they’ll join a select group of young developers. The three will also speak to fellow student coders in Sydney in July, aiming to inspire the next generation.
Their message? “Build something you care about,” Edward said. “That’s what keeps you going.”
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