NEW DELHI: Blind users struggle with navigating unfamiliar indoor spaces, reading signs or understanding visual cues. And, most people take this for granted. This problem is what pushed 20-year-old Nimar Sharma, a student at Chitkara University on the outskirts of Chandigarh, to build Blind Bridge, an accessibility-focused app that aims to make everyday navigation easier for visually impaired users. His app uses intuitive vibration-based sensing and earned Sharma a place among the distinguished winners of Apple’s Swift Student Challenge 2026 — one of seven winners from India selected this year.But beyond individual recognition, Sharma’s story re-flects something larger that Apple is increasingly betting on: India’s rapidly growing developer ecosystem.Speaking ahead of WWDC (Worldwide Developer Conference) 2026, Susan Prescott, vice president, worldwide developer relations, Apple, said India has emerged as one of the company’s most vibrant developer markets, driven by a mix of global ambition, entrepreneurship and student participation.
“It’s been really exciting to see a big developer community in India now, that is still growing rapidly,” Prescott said.“What’s interesting is the global nature of what developers are doing in India. Many developers want to create impact locally, but also take advantage of the global reach of the App Store.”That global reach is becoming increasingly important for Indian developers. According to an Apple-backed study released in April, the App Store ecosystem in India facilitated Rs 44,447 crore in billings and sales in 2024, while global earnings of India-based developers have tripled over last five years. Close to 80% of earnings generated by Indian developers now come from users outside the country. More than 17,000 developers had been associated with the Developer Centre in Bengaluru. Back in 2023, Apple had claimed that one million jobs had been created around the developer ecosystem in India. These numbers, however, look small com-pared to China. There are reportedly close to two million iOS developers in China whereas the App Store billings were also ten times higher than that of India.However, Apple says the App Store ecosystem now spans 175 storefronts globally, allowing Indian developers to scale internationally far faster than before. In 2024 alone, apps developed in India were downloaded more than 755 million times worldwide through the App Store.A key part of Apple’s India push has been the Apple Developer Center, where Apple engineers work directly with developers. Prescott said the centre has become an important hub not just for technical guidance, but also for fostering a sense of community among developers.
