How a Saskatoon teen's app got Apple CEO Tim Cook's attention

Drake Jordan is well on his way to becoming a big name in the world of technology, as the youngest winner of Apple’s worldwide Swift Student Challenge.

“At first I was really shocked,” the 13-year-old told CTV News.

“I was really excited to find out if I won or not and it was really relieving to find out that I did.”

The Swift Student Challenge sees students around the globe showcase their skills in coding to create an app on the topic of their choice.

Jordan created an app called Sway, which allows people to experience synesthesia, a phenomenon where two senses get combined in the brain and trigger each other.

“I experienced synesthesia myself, so I really wanted to make something that could help people like see what that like,” said Jordan. “I have a form of synesthesia where sound turns into feelings, like tactile feelings.”

Jordan describes it as feeling like a tickle, but without the tickle.

“What Sway does is it shows a moving gradient on the screen which is supposed to imitate what it feels like, and the gradient changes depending on how you move your device. Sway isn't the same kind of synesthesia that I have, I just wanted people to have a way to experience it,” he said.

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“The more people can learn about synesthesia, the more widely known it is, the more they can understand how it affects people.”

For winning, Jordan received a prize package with Apple products as well as a surprise Zoom meeting with Apple CEO Tim Cook.

“They said they were holding a student challenge event for all the students. We went through the process of making a script and rehearsing it, and then on an actual day it was a complete surprise when Tim Cook showed up,” said Jordan.

Apple CEO Tim Cook joined Jordan and other winners during a virtual meeting, (Courtesy Drake Jordan)

“Since I was the youngest person on that call, that's how the moderator introduced me to him, and he said it's amazing what I've been able to do at such a young age and he's excited to see where I go from here.”

Jordan’s mom Tanya says he’s always loved technology and this level of acknowledgement for her son’s passion has been extremely exciting.

“He explained (his app) and I thought 'That's kind of brilliant," she said.

“I loved the idea of what he chose to do, I thought it was original and different and something he knows personally about, so I was really proud of him for the concept and how he executed.”

Perhaps even more impressive than this level of success at a young age is that Jordan has only been writing code for the last two years.

“It's a huge learning curve, but once you get the basics down, it's pretty easy because it starts to seem like a second language almost the way you write it,” he said.

“Once you understand it, you're able to write it pretty easy.”

“He will sort of disappear into his room and come out with 'What's your line total of code?' and it'll be in the thousands, tens of thousands,” said his mom.

Jordan sees himself making a career out of creating apps here in Saskatchewan or wherever the tech industry takes him.

“Whatever app that could help people the most is what I want to work on,” he said.