Apple’s annual global developer conference will be held the week of June 5th in 2023. Learn how to access WWDC content on iPhone using Apple’s developer app.
Apple’s Developer App is a central location for accessing most of Apple’s WWDC content dating back several years, as well as news and new videos that Apple releases for developers from time to time.
To use Apple’s developer app on macOS or iOS, first sign in to the App Store app on your Mac or iOS device with your Apple ID, then search for “” in the App Store app’s search box. Developer”. Run the app after downloading it.
There’s also a version of the app for tvOS, which we’ll cover in another article.
The two versions of the app – macOS and iOS – are essentially the same in terms of user interface, with a few minor differences. The main one is the Accounts section in the lower-left corner of the main window in the macOS version, or at the top of the list on the left in the iOS version:
The iPadOS version of the developer app.
Regardless of which version of the app you’re using, tap the “Account” section, then sign in to the app with your Apple ID.
You can use many functions of the app without registering. However, the Bookmarks section in particular requires a login so that the app remembers which videos you’ve downloaded and where you left off if you haven’t finished a video.
Tap the Accounts button to sign in to your Apple ID.
Once you’re signed in, most of Apple’s developer content appears in the sidebar on the left side of the app. To hide or show the sidebar on the main window, tap the small sidebar icon at the top of the window.
There are currently four sections in the sidebar:
Developers browse themed events
When you hover over any of the sidebar sections, a rotating arrow will appear on the right. When you click or tap on it, the section will alternately hide or show its contents.
developer area
When you click or tap the Discover item under Developers, the main window shows the latest developer content from Apple. This includes articles, videos, news and tips. Just click on an item to view its content.
The Discover section is usually updated by Apple weekly or monthly, or whenever news becomes available.
Under Discover is the WWDC, which displays a single pane of information about the next WWDC, special events, and other clues. Details about the Swift Student Challenge and additional notes will also appear as the WWDC conference dates approach.
Browse section.
In the next section “Browse” you will find four items:
Downloaded news bookmarks Continue watching news
Displays a feed of the latest Apple Developer News articles as they are published. Tap an item to view the message.
In the upper right corner of the window are the Bookmark and Share Sheet buttons. Tapping the Bookmarks button will add that item to the Bookmarks section below.
Tap the back button at the top of the window to return to the news feed.
The next item in the Browse section is Bookmarks. Tapping this item will bring up any items you have previously bookmarked in the main window, including the total time remaining if an item is a previously partially viewed video.
Bookmarks are definitely one of the most powerful features of the app and they come in very handy.
To automatically share your bookmarks across all Apple devices, you must be signed in to your Apple account with your Apple ID. The developer app remembers all your bookmarks and watch history across all Apple devices.
The next item – Downloaded – will only show items that you have previously downloaded to display in the main window. Videos can be listed in the other sections but not yet downloaded. Therefore, only videos that you have previously downloaded to your device will appear in the “Downloaded” section.
The last item in the Continue Watching section only shows videos you’ve previously started but haven’t finished yet. This is a quick way to resume unfinished videos so you don’t have to search for them in the “Downloaded” section.
Topics section.
Under the next section in the sidebar – Topics – you’ll find WWDC videos grouped by topic, subject and year – all the way back to 2014. This comes in handy if you want to master a specific topic in Apple development since you can in main window will display a list of all videos related to this topic.
Events section.
In the last section of the sidebar – “Events” – you’ll find Apple Tech Talks – short videos produced at Apple but not presented to an audience. There is also a Transcripts button below which will display a text transcript of the entire Tech Talk.
Below you will find archives of selected videos presented at all WWDCs since WWDC14, sorted by conference year.
Finally, there is an article called “Developer Insights,” which are short segments of tips and hints designed to help developers get the most out of the Apple Developer Program, as well as web links to pages on Apple’s website that are related relate to these findings.
If you are an Apple developer, the developer app is invaluable and a must-have. This allows you to review conference sessions that you may have attended, or if you were unable to make it to the conference, you can view sessions as if you were there.
