Swift Rockies
A retreat-style iOS developer conference in the heart of the Rockies
📍 Calgary, Alberta
📅 July 22-23, 2026
Regular pricing ends July 15 - save $100 before Last Minute →
Not Your Typical Conference
Designed for Real Conversations
There's a stage, and there are two large screens so every seat has a clear view. But instead of classroom rows, everyone sits at round tables. The energy feels closer to a dinner party than a lecture hall.
There's no speaker green room. Speakers join tables before and after their talks, asking questions, trading stories, and having the kind of unscripted conversations that change how you think about your work.
Between sessions, we encourage everyone to switch tables. By the end of day two, you won't just know names. You'll know the people behind the apps you use every day.
The best ideas at Swift Rockies don't happen on stage. They happen at the table, over coffee, between two people who would never have met at a 5,000-person trade show.
What You Leave With
Depth, not breadth
Single-track. No breakout rooms, no schedule conflicts. Every attendee sees every talk - built for practitioners, not executives. This year's topics include:
- Swift Concurrency's Pit of Success
- Swift beyond Apple: Making Software for the Physical World
- Faster Builds With Xcode Compilation Cache
- Scaling Swift Development
- ...and 15 more talks across 2 days
Access, not an autograph line
180 seats. No speaker green room. Speakers sit at round tables before and after their talks. By Day 2, you'll have had real conversations with people whose work you've shipped against for years.
A trip worth making
The Calgary Zoo in July. Round tables instead of classroom rows. The zoo's pathways are your hallway track - coffee break conversations in a setting unlike anything on the conference calendar. You'll remember this one.
Hi, I'm Raman.
Founder, Swift Rockies · Lead iOS Engineer, theScore Bet
11+ years on Apple platforms. I currently work on live streaming and advanced search infrastructure at theScore Bet. Before that, I built the DRM system that powers digital lending for the New York Public Library.
I started Swift Rockies because Canadian iOS engineers don't have a serious, single-track, retreat-style conference of their own. I'm not a professional organizer - I'm a working engineer (and a busy dad) who wanted this to exist. So I'm building it the way I'd want to attend it: 180 seats, round tables, no filler, and speakers I personally want to spend two days with.
2026 is our inaugural year. There's something special about being in the founding cohort - and I'd love for you to be part of it.
Save $100 vs. Last Minute.
180 seats total. Single track. Once they’re gone, they’re gone.
Need manager approval first? Generate a Request-to-Attend letter in 2 minutes →
50% refund until June 22 · Code of Conduct · Full Terms
Bringing your team?
Groups of 3 or more get special pricing - and everything your manager needs to say yes.
- Discounted group rate for 3+ engineers
- A Request-to-Attend letter ready to forward to your manager
- A dedicated Apple session - your team hears the biggest WWDC26 updates direct from Apple's Worldwide Developer Relations team
- Concurrency, Swift Macros, build performance - skills your team ships faster Monday
The Speakers
Engineers from Shopify, Figma, Wealthsimple, and the open-source Swift community, sharing what they've learned the hard way
Apple is presenting at Swift Rockies.
On Day 2, Apple's Worldwide Developer Relations team will deliver a dedicated 90-minute in-person session exploring the biggest updates from WWDC26, focusing on the why behind new technologies and how they translate into real-world use cases.
In Their Own Words
Why speakers chose Swift Rockies
Live Podcast Recording
A bonus live panel to close out Day 2, recorded for the Launched podcast.
Launched
Live at Swift Rockies
A live panel on Swift development in 2026, hosted by Charlie Chapman with Abbey Jackson, Krishna Satya, and Nick Wilkinson. Hear it live and ask the questions you've been saving up - you have to be in the room.
Host
Speakers in Progress
We're working on confirming these amazing speakers
Workshops
Small-group, hands-on sessions with the experts who built the tools you use every day
Labs
WWDC-style open sessions where you bring the code and the expert solves the problem, live, in front of you
Schedule
Four days of programming. Two days of single-track talks at the core, with optional workshops on either side.
Every slot in this schedule was chosen for a reason.
The 90-minute blocks align with the brain's natural focus cycle. The hardest content runs in the morning, when minds are sharpest. The afternoon dip is broken with dynamic formats, not dense talks. The day closes with the kind of talk you carry home, not the kind you forget by dinner. We didn't just stack speakers. We engineered the day.
Pre-Conference Workshops
Tuesday, July 21
-
9 AMuntil 4 PM
Daniel Steinberg What's New and Interesting in App IntentsC$349Regular
-
9 AMuntil 5 PM
Matt Massicotte Swift Concurrency Lab Full DayC$299Regular
- 9 AMuntil 5 PM C$649Regular
Day 1
Wednesday, July 22
-
8:00 AM
Doors Open & Breakfast
-
8:45 AM
Opening Remarks
-
9:00 AM
Dave DeLong Custom Styleable Containers in SwiftUI
-
9:30 AM
Francis Chary Faster Builds With Xcode Compilation Cache
-
10:00 AM
Mahmood Tahir Practical Guide to Swift Macros
-
10:30 AM
Coffee Break
-
11:00 AM
Joannis Orlandos Swift beyond Apple: Making Software for the Physical World
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11:30 AM
Adrian Eves Accessibility for the App You're About to Ship
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12:00 PM
Nick Wilkinson Roadmaps Without Regret: Shipping the Right Things More Often
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12:30 PM
Lunch
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1:30 PM
Krishna Satya & Robleh Jama More AI, More Human: Why the new tools demand more care, not less
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2:00 PM
Matt Massicotte Swift Concurrency's Pit of Success
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2:30 PM
Stewart Lynch The Myth of the Self-Taught iOS Developer
-
3:00 PM
Coffee Break
-
3:30 PM
Danijela Vrzan CloudKit Public Database as a Backend
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4:00 PM
James Dempsey Instruments: Profiling Your App in Practice
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4:30 PM
Daniel Steinberg The road to hell is paved with App Intent(ion)s
Day 2
Thursday, July 23
-
8:00 AM
Doors Open & Breakfast
-
8:45 AM
Day 2 Welcome & Announcements
-
9:00 AM
Ash Furrow My Slow Return to a Swift Career
-
9:30 AM
Abbey Jackson How I Bought My Way Into Tech
-
10:00 AM
Philippe Casgrain Keynote Karaoke
-
10:30 AM
Coffee Break
-
11:00 AM
Marek Fořt Scaling Swift Development
-
11:30 AM
Mikaela Caron Goodbye Simulator, Hello Device Hub
-
12:00 PM
Ellen Shapiro Arts and Crafts
-
12:30 PM
Lunch
-
1:30 PMuntil 3:00 PM
Apple Session Apple Discover what's next: The biggest updates from WWDC26 Join Apple in-person as they explore the biggest updates from WWDC26, focusing on the why behind new technologies and how they translate into real-world use cases.
-
3:00 PM
Coffee Break
-
3:30 PMuntil 5:00 PM
Charlie Chapman Live Podcast Recording: Launched with Abbey Jackson, Krishna Satya & Nick Wilkinson A live panel on Swift development in 2026. Hear it first and ask the questions you've been saving up.
-
5:00 PM
Break
-
5:30 PMuntil 7:00 PM
James Dempsey Live Musical Performance James Dempsey and the Breakpoints perform live. Included with your conference ticket.
Post-Conference Workshops
Friday, July 24
-
9 AMuntil 5 PM
Joannis Orlandos Building Local AI Systems with Swift and WendyOS Full DayC$649Regular
-
9 AMuntil 5 PM
Marek Fořt Scaling Swift Development Full DayC$649Regular
Final times subject to minor adjustments.
Live Musical Performance
To close out Day 2 - an evening with James Dempsey and the Breakpoints.
James Dempsey and the Breakpoints
After a full day of talks, James Dempsey takes the stage. His technically precise songs about iOS development have been a beloved WWDC tradition for years - now he brings the show to Swift Rockies. Stick around after the podcast recording for a night to remember at the Calgary Zoo.
Venue
Calgary Zoo
Travel & Stay
Our Sponsors
Frequently Asked Questions
Get in Touch
Questions about tickets, speaking, sponsoring, or anything else? We respond to every message.
Contact Information
Email:
info@swiftrockies.com
For sponsorship inquiries:
sponsors@swiftrockies.com