About the challenge

Build intelligence people can hold. Mobile AI Build Weekend is a two-day, in-person build weekend for developers, designers, founders and first-time hackers creating AI-native experiences for Apple platforms.

The premise: the smartest app in the room should still work when the cloud leaves it. Put intelligence where it matters — inside the device, close to the camera, voice, sensors and the person using it. This is a weekend for ideas that feel instant, private and genuinely useful.

• 30 hours from hello to demo
• 20+ projects expected

When: August 29–30, 2026
Where: Stone & Chalk Melbourne, Melbourne CBD, Australia

Three tracks — every track ends with a working demo:

• Enterprise — Solve a real business problem with AI. Internal tools, productivity, the unglamorous workflows a company would actually pay to fix. Built for iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS or visionOS.
• Community Impact — Build for social good and real human impact.
• visionOS — Spatial computing experiences for Apple Vision Pro.

Saturday, August 29

• 08:30 — Check-in & registration
• 09:30 — Opening ceremony (Main stage)
• 10:15 — Team formation & mixer
• 11:00 — Hacking begins
• 12:30 — Lunch
• 14:00 — Workshop
• 16:00 — Mini-event
• 17:00 — Workshop & check-ins
• 18:30 — Dinner
• 20:00 — Venue Close

Sunday, August 30 — Building continues through the day, wrapping up with demos on stage.

• 08:00 — Breakfast
• 12:00 — Lunch
• 13:30 — Judging
• 15:00 — Closing Ceremony

Schedule is subject to change before the weekend.

We take care of meals, coffee, fast Wi-Fi, power and a room full of people who want to help you ship.

Get started

Coming solo is normal — we make team formation easy. Saturday morning is built for meeting teammates, finding a problem and getting into motion. Every kind of builder belongs (engineering, design and product all matter), and beginners have a lane, with mentors and a dedicated prize keeping the door open.

What to bring:

• Your laptop & charger, plus any dongles, test devices or peripherals you build with
• Photo ID for check-in at the door on Saturday morning
• A device to ship on — iPhone, iPad or Vision Pro
• An idea (optional) — if you don't have one, the mixer will sort you out
• Teammates (optional) — up to 4 people; flying solo is fine, we'll match you up Saturday morning

Get your ticket — all ticket options are on our Luma page: luma.com/ixdnpvby. Spaces are limited to 100, so don't wait.

Still unsure? Email events@theappblueprint.io.

• Core ML / Core AI / Apple Intelligence
  How well the project puts intelligence on-device — using Core ML, Core AI, Apple Intelligence, or local models — to feel instant, private and genuinely useful. This is the basis for the Grand Prize.
• Enterprise Value
  For Enterprise track submissions: does the project solve a real business problem — an internal tool or unglamorous workflow a company would actually pay to fix? Winner takes home the Best Enterprise Use Case prize.
• visionOS / Spatial Design
  For visionOS track submissions: quality, creativity and craft of the spatial computing experience built for Apple Vision Pro. Winner takes home the Best visionOS Experience prize.
• Community & Social Impact
  For Community Impact track submissions: how meaningfully the project addresses a real human need or does social good. Winner takes home the Most Impactful — Social Good prize.
• Execution & Craft
  Is the app fully working and well built by the end of the 30-hour weekend — a real, demoable product rather than a slide deck? Weighted especially for first-time hackers going for the Best Beginner Hack prize.
• ElevenLabs Voice AI Integration
  How effectively the project uses ElevenLabs' voice AI — text to speech, agents or dubbing. This is the basis for the partner prize, Best Project Built with ElevenLabs.