Top 10 iOS Conferences in 2017

Jan 6 2017

Check out the top 10 iOS conferences in 2017, including a handy flowchart to help you find the best match for you! By Cesare Rocchi.

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Top 10 iOS Conferences in 2017

20 mins

Also – as Ray said in one of his recent talks – good conferences give you a spark of motivation that burns even brighter even after you return home. Did you ever notice that upbeat attitude the days right after a conference?

There’s plenty of great iOS conferences out there, so choosing which one to attend can be difficult. This post will help you find the best matches for you in 2017.

Picking the top 10 is a hard task. This is why I reached out to the raywenderlich.com team and the entire iOS community to ask for their feedback in developing this list.

I’d love to hear from you too – please add a comment below if you think there’s an interesting conference missing in this list.

The Top 10 iOS Conferences

Let’s dive into the list!

Note: The conferences are listed in no particular order.

1) WWDC

wwdc

WWDC is Apple’s official conference. Tickets are usually sold using a lottery system, so getting one – even if you can afford it – is a matter of luck.

The content is top notch, and if you want to keep up with new APIs and frameworks watching the key sessions is a must.

However, in recent years Apple started releasing videos publicly a few hours after the presentations. So why should you attend if you can watch the same content on your comfy couch?

In my opinion, despite the availability of the videos, there’s still two good reasons to attend WWDC:

  • The labs: In the WWDC labs, you get a chance to talk to Apple engineers and ask them questions. The line can be long sometimes, but if you have a specific question about the use of an APIs or a framework you have a chance to talk to its authors. I suggest you ask questions as specific as possible, and prepare a sample project to help the discussion.
  • Meeting people: You won’t find such a high concentration of iOS developers anywhere else! This is a great way to meet people face to face and have a chat that is not limited to 140 characters.
Note: If the above two items are not critical to you, you can save time and money by watching the videos and attending some of the other conferences on this list instead.

“It was amazing, met so many great people , got more from speaking to people after the sessions than I did from the main contents . Everyone is in the same boat as all the content is new. Totally set me up for the next year of development.” —Russ Freeman

“WWDC is a deeply rewarding experience. Not only do you get to chat with the engineers who make your favorite (or least favorite) frameworks, but you get awesome lunch time talks. The year I went I saw talks from JJ Abrahams and Levar Burton. These are incredibly rewarding experiences. This is the toughest conference to get into and once you’ve been, you see why.” —Ish

2) AltConf

AltConf logoIn case you didn’t manage to buy a ticket for WWDC, you don’t necessarily have to stay at home!

During WWDC week, San Francisco is full of events related to the Apple ecosystem. Check out WWDCParties to have an idea.

The main event is AltConf, organized by the community for the community. While most of the presentations are focused on Apple’s ecosystem the topics are very diverse and include design, business, marketing and team management. Here’s the list of videos from the last edition.

“Free stuff can be hit or miss. When something is expensive, you kind of figure, it must be good, or else they couldn’t get away with charging so darn much for it. But when it comes to conferences, AltConf is the standout exception.” —Scott Gardner

“AltConf demonstrates the best of our community. Good people volunteer their time and skills to provide an inclusive, accessible event to everyone who wishes to take part in the frenzy that is WWDC week, but can’t get or afford a ticket to Apple’s event. One can only hope that Apple appreciates how much more enthusiasm and goodwill spreads throughout San Francisco every June because of AltConf’s continued presence.” —Joe Cieplinski

3) 360iDev

360iDevWhile WWDC has the highest concentration of iOS developers, 360 has the highest concentration of indie developers. 360iDev has been around for seven years and it’s very well organized.

To get an idea of the topics, here’s the videos from the previous edition.

“360iDev is my favorite large Apple conference. The community is fantastic. They are extremely welcoming and friendly. Every year I meet great new friends and see friends from previous years. I’ve learned so much from 360iDev. It has had a profound impact on my career.” —Ryan Poolos

“360iDev is probably my favorite iOS conference and the one I’ve reliably attended the past years. The organizers do a great job cultivating a great set of talks with a mix of well-known community leaders and those you may not have ever heard of. Everyone is super-approachable and the entire event is a lot of fun.” —Aaron Douglas

4) RWDevCon

RWDevCon-featureFor transparency: RWDevCon is a conference organized by our team. Expect some bias :]

RWDevCon is different form other conferences on this list, in that the focus is on hands-on tutorials. The idea is rather than just watching someone speak, you code along with them.

The speakers put a huge effort in preparing the presentations, which are edited and rehearsed multiple times to get a superb quality. To give you an idea, the next conference is this March and the speakers started preparing the presentations in November.

Developers seem to like the tutorial format of the conference, given than last two editions were sold out!

“We wanted to see what a live version of our favorite tutorials would be like. The conference led to several positive transformations in our lives, and we’ve never met so many interesting people at one event before.” —The Catterwauls

“RWDevCon was my first iOS Conference, and if I had to define it in one word I’d choose “Inspirational”. It’s so cool to travel 1,883 miles (Mexico City – Washington D.C.) to meet new and old friends, with excellent tutorial sessions, a great party and my favorites: the Inspirational Talks.” —Rich Zertuche