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Le Nhat Hoang, 22, was the sole Vietnamese participant among 50 top winners of Apple’s Swift Student Challenge this year, securing a trip to the company’s Worldwide Developers Conference in California for the student from Hanoi.

Apple selected the 350 winners of the Swift Student Challenge from 37 countries and regions, and then invited the top 50, including Hoang, a final-year computer science student at Hanoi University of Science and Technology, to a three-day event at Apple Park in Cupertino during WWDC 2026, which took place from June 8 to 12.

His successful application, HumMelody, captures a melody as the user hums it and transforms the audio into MIDI notes displayed on the screen in real time, which can subsequently be played back using instruments like guitar, piano, violin, or flute.

“Many music enthusiasts have great concepts but aren’t sure how to convey them, so I aimed to develop an app that serves as a connection, transforming the ideas in their minds into something they can listen to and experience,” Hoang stated.

The application employs a pitch-detection algorithm to interpret the humming of a melody, while a graphical editor allows users to manipulate individual notes by dragging, removing, or repositioning them before playing the composition again.

Hoang developed it using Swift, the programming language launched by Apple in 2014, and constructed it entirely with Apple’s native frameworks, avoiding any external libraries. To figure out how to edit notes post-recording, he examined how professional applications like GarageBand, Logic Pro, and FL Studio address this issue.

Having studied software but not audio, Hoang mentioned he relied on AI to develop the melody-conversion algorithm. “The primary features are finished, but the algorithm still requires refinement,” he stated, adding that the note-cutting isn’t yet seamless, which can result in a fragmented output. Improving this, particularly with regard to chord handling, is his upcoming objective.

Le Nhat Hoang stands at the entrance of Apple Park with his WWDC 2026 badge. Photo by VnExpress/Tuan Hung

Surprising ticket to the United States

The outcome arrived in Hoang’s email inbox during the early hours of March 27. Still half-awake, he mentioned that he opened his laptop and logged in multiple times to confirm it was genuine.

“Mom, I’m about to head to America,” he remembered saying to his mother when she came back at 7:30 a.m. after taking his younger brother to school.

She was shocked. Her son had never traveled outside the country, was still pursuing his studies, and she hadn’t been aware that he had signed up for the competition.

Hoang mentioned that he has been following the Swift Student Challenge for over five years, keeping track of Apple events since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, but he only participated this year as a personal experiment without any serious expectations.

“I never dared to imagine I’d be one of the 350 winners, but ultimately I managed to reach the top 50,” he said.

That evening, he had already started investigating his options in the U.S. and searching for flights to share with the organizers, despite not having a passport or a U.S. visa yet.

Vietnam at the WWDC stage

For Hoang, the standout moment was not just the journey itself, but witnessing his homeland featured multiple times at one of the largest gatherings in the technology sector.

“I was pleased to be at WWDC, but even more proud that Vietnam was frequently referenced, through pictures of Hanoi, pho, and the support for Vietnamese language in Apple Intelligence,” he said following the June 8 keynote.

Meeting Cook and Ternus, who is scheduled to become Apple’s chief executive on September 1, was “an unforgettable experience, as it’s not common to meet two leaders from a leading technology company at the same time,” Hoang stated.

He claimed that Apple’s extensive ecosystem and significant user community provide a promising environment for emerging Vietnamese developers. “For anyone aiming to develop apps within the Apple ecosystem, Swift is the best, user-friendly option and definitely worth mastering,” he stated.

Hoang now intends to concentrate on completing his degree, with the victory boosting his confidence in pursuing a career as a professional app developer.