<s>
Swift	B-Operating_System
Playgrounds	I-Operating_System
is	O
an	O
educational	B-Application
tool	I-Application
and	O
development	O
environment	O
for	O
the	O
Swift	B-Application
programming	I-Application
language	I-Application
developed	O
by	O
Apple	O
Inc.	O
,	O
initially	O
announced	O
at	O
the	O
WWDC	O
2016	O
conference	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
introduced	O
as	O
an	O
iPad	B-Device
application	O
alongside	O
iOS	B-Operating_System
10	I-Operating_System
,	O
with	O
a	O
macOS	B-Application
version	O
introduced	O
in	O
February	O
2020	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
is	O
available	O
for	O
free	O
via	O
Apple	B-Application
's	I-Application
App	I-Application
Store	I-Application
for	O
iPadOS	B-Operating_System
and	O
Mac	B-Application
App	I-Application
Store	I-Application
for	O
macOS	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
addition	O
to	O
publishing	O
the	O
Swift	B-Operating_System
Playgrounds	I-Operating_System
application	O
itself	O
,	O
Apple	O
also	O
produces	O
a	O
series	O
of	O
educational	O
lessons	O
teaching	O
programming	O
and	O
debugging	O
skills	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
application	O
can	O
also	O
subscribe	O
to	O
lessons	O
and	O
other	O
content	O
published	O
by	O
third	O
parties	O
,	O
including	O
lessons	O
allowing	O
users	O
to	O
control	O
educational	O
toys	O
such	O
as	O
Lego	B-Application
Mindstorms	I-Application
EV3	I-Application
and	O
Sphero	O
robots	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Apple	O
publishes	O
a	O
curriculum	O
guide	O
for	O
educators	O
wishing	O
to	O
incorporate	O
Swift	B-Operating_System
Playgrounds	I-Operating_System
into	O
their	O
teaching	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Swift	B-Operating_System
Playgrounds	I-Operating_System
was	O
designed	O
to	O
be	O
a	O
development	O
environment	O
and	O
an	O
education	O
tool	O
simultaneously	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Once	O
stored	O
on	O
the	O
iPad	B-Device
,	O
these	O
can	O
be	O
copied	O
and	O
modified	O
without	O
the	O
need	O
of	O
an	O
active	O
internet	O
connection	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Apple	O
's	O
initial	O
lessons	O
,	O
available	O
for	O
all	O
Swift	B-Operating_System
Playgrounds	I-Operating_System
users	O
to	O
download	O
,	O
introduce	O
three	O
characters	O
:	O
Byte	O
,	O
Blu	O
,	O
and	O
Hopper	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Advanced	O
lessons	O
in	O
Playgrounds	B-Application
introduce	O
users	O
to	O
more	O
complex	O
features	O
such	O
as	O
Apple	O
's	O
Bluetooth	B-Protocol
and	O
Augmented	O
Reality	O
development	O
platform	O
(	O
ARKit	O
)	O
APIs	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
addition	O
to	O
Apple	O
's	O
own	O
educational	O
content	O
,	O
Swift	B-Operating_System
Playgrounds	I-Operating_System
can	O
download	O
third-party	O
lessons	O
through	O
its	O
subscriptions	O
feature	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
third-party	O
lessons	O
allow	O
the	O
app	O
to	O
control	O
robots	O
(	O
such	O
as	O
Lego	B-Application
Mindstorms	I-Application
EV3	I-Application
and	O
Sphero	O
educational	O
toys	O
)	O
and	O
drones	O
(	O
such	O
as	O
the	O
Parrot	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Apple	O
also	O
offers	O
coding	O
classes	O
using	O
Swift	B-Operating_System
Playgrounds	I-Operating_System
at	O
Apple	O
Stores	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Swift	B-Operating_System
Playgrounds	I-Operating_System
was	O
designed	O
to	O
be	O
fully	O
accessible	O
to	O
users	O
with	O
disabilities	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
supports	O
Apple	O
's	O
VoiceOver	B-Operating_System
screen	O
reader	O
technology	O
,	O
and	O
at	O
WWDC	O
2020	O
Apple	O
introduced	O
a	O
series	O
of	O
lessons	O
called	O
"	O
Swan	O
's	O
Quest	O
"	O
which	O
use	O
accessibility	O
features	O
to	O
help	O
students	O
solve	O
puzzles	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Swift	B-Operating_System
Playgrounds	I-Operating_System
application	O
was	O
announced	O
on	O
June	O
13	O
,	O
2016	O
at	O
WWDC	O
2016	O
as	O
an	O
iPad	B-Device
exclusive	O
app	O
to	O
help	O
people	O
learning	O
to	O
code	O
with	O
Apple	O
's	O
Swift	B-Application
programming	I-Application
language	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
application	O
's	O
name	O
is	O
an	O
apparent	O
reference	O
to	O
Xcode	O
's	O
earlier	O
Playgrounds	B-Application
feature	O
,	O
introduced	O
in	O
2014	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Along	O
with	O
iOS	B-Operating_System
10	I-Operating_System
,	O
the	O
app	O
was	O
officially	O
released	O
on	O
September	O
13	O
,	O
2016	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Apple	O
also	O
published	O
a	O
,	O
recommending	O
the	O
iPad	B-Application
app	I-Application
for	O
middle	O
school	O
students	O
and	O
up	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
January	O
2018	O
,	O
Apple	O
introduced	O
subscriptions	O
to	O
the	O
iPad	B-Device
application	O
,	O
allowing	O
users	O
to	O
subscribe	O
to	O
playgrounds	B-Application
developed	O
by	O
third	O
parties	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
February	O
11	O
,	O
2020	O
,	O
Apple	O
released	O
a	O
macOS	B-Application
version	O
of	O
Swift	B-Operating_System
Playgrounds	I-Operating_System
on	O
the	O
Mac	B-Application
App	I-Application
Store	I-Application
,	O
built	O
using	O
Apple	O
's	O
Catalyst	B-Operating_System
technology	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Subsequent	O
versions	O
of	O
the	O
application	O
have	O
supported	O
both	O
iPadOS	B-Operating_System
and	O
macOS	B-Application
,	O
with	O
most	O
of	O
Apple	O
's	O
curriculum	O
available	O
on	O
both	O
platforms	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
iPad	B-Device
version	O
of	O
the	O
Swift	B-Operating_System
Playgrounds	I-Operating_System
(	O
1.0	O
)	O
was	O
released	O
on	O
September	O
13	O
,	O
2016	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Chris	O
Lattner	O
was	O
also	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
few	O
core	O
people	O
who	O
drove	O
Swift	B-Operating_System
Playgrounds	I-Operating_System
for	O
iPad	B-Device
,	O
including	O
conception	O
,	O
design	O
,	O
implementation	O
,	O
and	O
iteration	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Swift	B-Operating_System
Playgrounds	I-Operating_System
is	O
included	O
in	O
this	O
program	O
as	O
free	O
coding	O
curriculum	O
and	O
Apple	O
provides	O
detailed	O
guides	O
to	O
walk	O
teachers	O
through	O
teaching	O
Swift	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Apple	O
also	O
released	O
"	O
App	O
Development	O
with	O
Swift	B-Application
"	O
,	O
a	O
year-long	O
curriculum	O
for	O
teaching	O
Swift	B-Application
software	O
development	O
and	O
later	O
introduced	O
a	O
Swift	B-Application
certification	O
program	O
to	O
validate	O
coding	O
skills	O
for	O
students	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
January	O
2017	O
,	O
Apple	O
partnered	O
with	O
RNIB	O
(	O
Royal	O
National	O
Institute	O
of	O
Blind	O
People	O
)	O
to	O
provide	O
braille	O
versions	O
of	O
the	O
Swift	B-Operating_System
Playgrounds	I-Operating_System
graphics	O
used	O
in	O
its	O
coding	O
course	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
+DateVersionDescriptionJune	O
2016Apple	O
announces	O
Swift	B-Operating_System
Playgrounds	I-Operating_System
for	O
iPad	B-Device
-	O
version	O
for	O
Apple	O
Developers	O
is	O
releasedJuly	O
2016Public	O
beta	O
version	O
releasedSeptember	O
20161.0First	O
version	O
is	O
releasedMarch	O
20171.2Language	O
support	O
for	O
Simplified	O
Chinese	O
,	O
Japanese	O
,	O
French	O
,	O
German	O
and	O
Latin	O
American	O
Spanish	O
;	O
</s>
<s>
Upon	O
release	O
,	O
Swift	B-Operating_System
Playgrounds	I-Operating_System
reached	O
the	O
first	O
place	O
in	O
the	O
top	O
free	O
iPad	B-Device
education	O
apps	O
in	O
nearly	O
100	O
countries	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
app	O
received	O
generally	O
positive	O
reviews	O
from	O
users	O
(	O
4/5	O
rating	O
score	O
on	O
the	O
App	B-Application
Store	I-Application
)	O
and	O
from	O
the	O
press	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
app	O
's	O
ability	O
to	O
make	O
serious	O
coding	O
accessible	O
to	O
young	O
students	O
was	O
praised	O
,	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
the	O
fact	O
that	O
it	O
was	O
not	O
excessively	O
focused	O
on	O
Swift	B-Application
but	O
rather	O
in	O
teaching	O
good	O
coding	O
practices	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Common	O
Sense	O
Media	O
rates	O
Swift	B-Operating_System
Playgrounds	I-Operating_System
with	O
a	O
5/5	O
ranking	O
score	O
.	O
</s>
