“This is the biggest and most exciting WWDC to date.” These words of mouth from Susan Prescott, Apple’s vice president in charge of developer relations, show how important the annual developer conference will be for the company, which has been in a bit of a flurry of late, but should draw a big asset out of it. his pocket to attract even more developers with a possible new appropriate product.
During a visit to Station F a few weeks ago to celebrate Apple’s five years of involvement in the Parisian incubator, Tech&Co was able to speak with Susan Prescott to take the pulse of French creativity and her perception of the apple brand.
“A very fun French market”
“The French market is a lot of fun. There is a real entrepreneurial spirit in France. We like these small companies that have great ideas, a real passion and want to make them happen. It’s very exciting,” enthuses the Apple manager. In particular, he expects to see many of them gathered in Apple Park this week, but also many more behind their screens, to follow the annual Developer Conference dedicated to them.
This is where you’ll discover your future development and playing fields, from iOS 17 to the upcoming macOS 14 through tvOS 17 for Apple TV or watchOS 10 for Apple Watch. And most likely future mixed reality headsets and their new realityOS ecosystem too, just to roll out their treasure troves of imagination and future apps to show it off.
“Developers have the energy to carry it all. You have to listen to them and connect with them. I’m very excited about what’s in store for us at this conference, and I hope the developers we meet there are excited about everything we’ve got.” to share”, hopes Susan Prescott, who explains that she also came to France to “open her ears wide” and “take the temperature of what is happening there”. And to recognize: “It is very important not to believe that what is happening in Cupertino, sitting in our chairs, represents what is happening in the rest of the world. It’s not that at all.”
A vibrant and driving ecosystem
Since its creation five years ago, more than 300 startups have participated in the Apple Foundation at Station F program, whose goal is to help, advise, and support promising startups. Yuka, Mojo, Gotta Yoga and many others are among the apps that have also benefited from Apple’s stamped boost and throttle.
France has long been one of the countries where the App Store is most dynamic with several tens of thousands of developers and more than 300,000 jobs benefiting from it. It is also here that the Foundation Program began, now available in some thirty countries in Europe. “France is in a way the country that gave the idea flight, brought it to life,” recalls Susan Prescott. “France is a very important market for us.”
Beyond the business fabric, Apple also values ”very specific strengths, welcome initiatives such as Simplon’s, with which we collaborate enormously.” For several years, the Californian brand and the training institute have launched numerous programs to introduce computer code to the different computer professions and help people who are looking for work, reintegration or professional reorientation to train.
“We saw the power of training in French by attending a training in Simplon among students. They discussed to get ideas and think about them collaboratively. It was extraordinary and a good example of diversity in the game, a mix of men and women, of all ages,” says Susan Prescott. “It was very inspiring and very dynamic to see them all think together.”
Confidentiality, a “fundamental human right”
Creativity, dynamism, but also principles dear to Apple that France and Europe share, the manager wants to remind, especially when it comes to data confidentiality. An almost European specificity and a “subject that is close to our hearts”. “We see this as a fundamental human right,” he insists. “We do everything we can to protect user privacy, such as with App Tracking Transparency which requires developers to report when they track users and get their consent.”
In Cupertino, in the heart of Apple Park, where the WWDC 2023 keynote is being held, on Monday at 7:00 p.m. (Paris time), many French developers will be present to hone their knowledge of the Apple ecosystem and return to the fort. country of novelties that they will inject into their next applications or to enrich the current ones.
“What we want above all is to offer you the best technologies, tools, APIs and advice”, he summarizes, recalling the importance of these small and medium-sized companies that have brought the Apple Stores their highest growth in profits since 2019. (+122%) , in particular with the multiplication of services and sales of goods during the Covid period.
Source: BFM TV
