Alexander Reinicke - App Development

Alexander is not your typical 19-year-old. As a young boy growing up in Ukraine, his family encouraged him to explore a range of creative pursuits — from studying piano and composing music to playing competitive chess and learning to speak five languages.

At secondary school, he began to harness that ingenuity by designing websites and working with local start-ups. This sparked his passion to learn the fundamentals of developing, launching and scaling up an idea. “I chose to study Business Management at university so I could learn how to create a business that brings my ideas to life,” he says.

He quickly realised that writing code and building apps are essential for business leaders today. So, ever the entrepreneur, Alexander taught himself Swift by reading the Develop in Swift books. “I love how Swift is led by user experience. It’s so motivating to think about how someone will use a solution.”

Only two weeks later, he built the first prototype for “Just Cook” in Xcode. This versatile recipe and cooking app features an AI assistant and won a university award. “My professors are amazed at how quickly I can develop a prototype using Swift. It’s a game changer.” Alexander and his student team continue to improve the app, recently building a visionOS beta version. They enjoy using Freeform and Messages to collaborate, communicate and mind map in true start-up fashion.

Using Swift, Alexander continues to translate his creative ideas into apps that make a real impact — like improving eye health. His “Blink Your Eyes” app tracks eye blinking during device usage and provides screen break alerts and eye exercises. This forward-thinking app won him global recognition with a Swift Student Challenge Award in 2023.

“Winning the Swift Student Challenge and being recognised at Apple Park was incredibly inspiring,” he says. “It’s unbelievable how much feedback is coming in on my app!” For Alexander, the ability to also connect with developers from around the world has been just the network he needs to stay inspired and continue improving his skills.

“Coding is kind of a superpower — it’s definitely worth learning how to change the world with iOS apps.”