A Dream Come True
When I told Tim Cook about the 10 minute iPhone delivery by Blinkit his reaction was, “that’s crazy”, and all I could think about was talking to Tim cook, that’s crazy!
Being a part of the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference has always been a dream since I learnt about it at 16. Proud holder of the coding geek tag in school, the tech world always fascinated me. Apple’s innovative trajectory is something that every tech enthusiast wants to learn about and I was all in for it. Initially I couldn’t get through in 2019 for the student scholarship at WWDC, but I kept at it, working and applying consistently when March 28th’s email notification for the invite to WWDC 24 threw me off my feet. Representing Blinkit at my dream conference along with my project, this couldn’t get any better.
The Path To WWDC 24
While the consistent applying and setbacks made me learn a lot, my mentors along the way have impacted my journey immensely. From my teachers in school to a platform like Blinkit, Anuj Desai and the team who helped me prepare myself for this amazing opportunity.
The project that I prepared with limited time in hand while juggling life in a new city and internship was also one of the winners at WWDC 24. I single handedly worked on the project that revolved around drone simulation based on augmented reality.
The path to WWDC 24 was tough for sure but with such amazing mentors and resilience I made it through.
Days At Cupertino
My days at Cupertino, the home of high tech Apple Inc. were surreal. Meeting people in tech from around the world, engineers, developers, creators, was nothing short of exhilarating. The flow of ideas and fresh tech perspectives was just what I was looking for. I met many old and new friends from some previous conferences I had attended in Mumbai, Bangalore and Singapore, notable people from apple and of course the golden memory of meeting Tim Cook the CEO of Apple.
I was staying in an air BnB with some german folks and I was all set for the exciting days ahead. Day 1 at the infinite loop was where we connected and socialised over the Core Coffee session with a bunch of amazing people all here to attend the conference. Networking with other iOS and macOS developers while representing Blinkit turned into a really fun session. Following the core coffee session I had a chance to represent Blinkit at 1 infinite loop. After refreshments and games, came the part where we were introduced to these amazing designers and developers whose apps were recently selected for a feature in the app store. We were also addressed by the senior director of Worldwide developer marketing Esther hare and many other innovative individuals. Day 1 was just a teaser into all the amazing things that were about to unfold in the coming days.
Standing literally at the Apple Park on Day 2 was like something out of a dream, the iconic ring shaped building, with the best developers from around the world the 16 year old Ayush was jumping for real. As a winner my seat was reserved in the front rows allowing me to immerse into the amazing conference that was gonna commence. Tim Cook and Craig Federighi addressed the entire crowd initiating the discussions and announcements further. From a developer’s pov this conference was super insightful. We got first hand information about apple intelligence and other developments. Meeting Tim Cook and pitching him about the 10 minute delivery by Blinkit has got to be one of the most memorable moments ever. We even took a picture together realising I am finally living my dream.
The events that followed were one-on-one interactions with Apple engineers who assisted us with valuable solutions about various problems and a tour of the Apple Park which had some iconic spots to explore. We wrapped the day with a very energetic and enthusiastic send off from the Apple crew, connecting with apple engineers,innovators and other impactful people Susan Prescott, Josh Miller the CEO of Arc Browser, Sam Altman and so many more inspiring individuals.
The evening was super exciting bringing together young, enthusiastic winners from around the globe at the “Swift Star Students”. As one of the winners I was also selected to present my project and I even talked about Blinkit and all the exciting tech ideas we are bringing onboard. The energy in the room was unmatched, so many fresh ideas all melting at one place, an evening all about tech innovations.
Day 3 started off with the ‘One More Thing Conference’, which was super informative filled with loads of futuristic insights. The evening was packed with in-person technical sessions on Apple Intelligence, which were happening for the first time after the pandemic, making the experience even more unique. There was so much to learn throughout the session on Apple Intelligence, its system defined use cases, a demo and code walkthrough of a really interesting Vision Pro app and so much more. It really felt like stepping into the future. The day ended with the iOSHappyHour which was a fun meet and greet.
Insight Into New Developments in Blinkit
If you ask me which were the jaw dropping moments? It’s hard to decide which weren't! From the math notes to the privacy focused architecture of Apple Intelligence, just being present during these crucial moments was so humbling.
Representing Blinkit, a concept that the global population finds super fascinating was a one of a kind experience in itself. It became especially important as Blinkit is looking forward to incorporating several Apple Intelligence features with the launch of the iOS 18.
What's New On iOS 18 ?
What's New On WatchOS 11?
Live Activities are now supported on Apple Watch and appear in the Smart Stack automatically through this feature we can stay on top of the latest updates about our Blinkit order.
By using the double tap feature we can browse through previous orders either from watch
crown or from the gesture. We can even place the order without opening the app.
I left WWDC 24 feeling inspired and ready to continue innovating in the tech industry. The networking and socialising made me realise the plethora of new innovation and ideas that are out there. I witnessed the vast landscape of innovative tech and ever evolving Apple Intelligence in full force and I will surely cherish this forever.
We're always on the lookout for iOS enthusiasts to join the iOS team here at Blinkit. If interested, please reach out to us at [email protected]
