Top 10 iOS Conferences in 2014

5) Cingleton

Cingleton is one-of-a-kind conference. You probably won’t find any technical presentations, but if you’re looking for inspiration it’s definitely a worth attending. Check out last year’s videos to get an idea.

“The third installation of Cingleton was held in Montreal, where it’s always been. There were a lot of big-name speakers that gave talks on the conference theme of Core Values. The sessions are one-tracked and usually geared more towards the community topics instead of getting technical. The very limited number of tickets (about 150) sold out in about 30 minutes!” –Ryan Nystrom

• When: TBA — but usually in October
• Where: TBA — but usually in Montreal, CA
• Team members planning to attend: Ryan Nystrom, Cesare Rocchi
• Website: http://çingleton.com

6) mdevcon

mdevcon is not specific to iOS, but it’s about everything mobile. 2014 is its third edition.

Here are the notes from one of our our team members:

“mdevcon is a nice little conference, held in a classy movie theater in Amsterdam. The talks are in English and the audience is very diverse. There were two tracks, covering both iOS and Android. It was a two day conference, with workshops on the first day, but I only went the second day. There wasn’t really a lot of time to chat with other attendees in between the talks, which was a bit of a shame, and no vegetarian food. But you’re in the center of Amsterdam so finding food isn’t a big problem, and everyone heads out to nearby bars afterwards for socializing. I’d recommend this conference if you’re in the neighborhood (getting to Amsterdam from most places in Western Europe is pretty easy).” –Matthijs Hollemans

“As an iOS developer, I am entirely focused on the new things coming from Apple every year. However, it’s worth keeping an eye on the other players in the mobile development area. Mdevcon is a great event for mobile developers of all persuasions to meet each other . There is a friendly exchange of ideas and content. As an iOS developer, I can wander into an Android talk and follow along. Likewise, developers from other platforms can see what is required of iOS developers to create quality apps. This cross pollination of information will help you no matter which platform for which you develop apps. And not all talks are platform specific either, as some topics, such as security, design, marketing and user experience apply to everyone.
Mdevcon has one of the best venues and cities of any conference I’ve attended. The Tuschinski Theater is a fantastic open space to attend talks, and the lobby is cosy enough for everyone to talk about the sessions afterward. The Tuschinski Theater is also right in the middle of Rembrandtplein in the heart of Amsterdam, so the sights and sounds of Amsterdam are right outside. The event hosts at Egeniq also introduce a bit of classic Dutch cuisine for you at lunch time. Be sure to grab a bitterball before they are gone. And don’t forget the after event drink up at the Three Sisters pub just down the street!
If you want a friendly environment to learn what is going on in other mobile platforms, in an amazing venue and a terrific world city, then mdevcon should be on the top of your list of events to attend.” –Saul Mora

• When: March 7th-8th
• Where: Amsterdam
• Team members planning to attend: Cesare Rocchi, Marin Todorov
• Website: http://www.mdevcon.com

7) iOSDevUK

iOSDevUK is a three day conference that is very focused on iOS, usually with two tracks: one technical and one on business/design.

Here’s what a couple of our team members had to say about it:

“I attended, and gave a talk at, iOSDevUK ’13. And I thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience. The organisers where incredibly friendly, as were all the attendees. There was a good mix of beginner, intermediate and advanced sessions, with even an Arduino workshop thrown in for good measure. The accommodation was great, and since you stayed on the university campus you were only a short walk from the lecture theatres were the sessions were held. ’13 had a great lineup of speakers, including a keynote from Alan Cannistraro of Facebook and both a session and workshop on Core Data with Mr Core Data himself, Marcus Zarra.” –Mic Pringle

“iOSDevUK is held at the rather remote location of Aberystwyth, Wales (U.K.), which takes quite a long time to reach regardless of how you travel, or where you’re traveling from! However, those that attend are rewarded with a very sociable conference where people live together, have breakfast together and enjoy some really high quality talks and presentations. Considering the very low cost, this is definitely a conference I will be returning to next year.” –Colin Eberhardt

• When: September 2nd-4th
• Where: Aberystwyth, Wales U.K.
• Team members planning to attend: Ricardo Rendon Cepeda, Colin Eberhardt, Mic Pringle
• Website: http://www.iosdevuk.com

8) UIKonf

UIKonf is a very nice, new conference. 2013 was the first edition and the organizers made the commitment to bring in new speakers every year. Another peculiarity of UIKonf is that you can vote on the proposals. See the website for more info.

Here’s what I thought about the event:

“UIKonf was really well organized. The single track helped the attendees to stay focused on presentations without having to choose one track. In spite the fact that it was the first edition, it was very well organized, with pre-conference lightning talks and a post-conference hackthlon. Berlin is pretty easy to reach from anywhere in Europe and the iOS community is pretty vibrant. Definitely a conference to check out if you can.” –Cesare Rocchi

• When: May 14th-16th
• Where: Berlin
• Team members planning to attend: Marin Todorov, Orta Therox
• Website: http://www.uikonf.com

9) GDC

Games, finally! GDC is not a specific conference for iOS, but if you’re a game developer you should consider buying a ticket. Not convinced? Read on…

“If you’re a game developer, GDC is the best conference to attend bar none. The talks are super high quality and are on a breadth of topics, from technical aspects to design to marketing and the business of making games. There are so many great talks going on at once you feel like a kid in a candy store, not to mention getting to meet and hang out with other game developers in the industry and even show-off your game if you want to get a booth. Highly recommended!” –Ray Wenderlich

“2013 was my first year attending GDC. I was going to be speaking in the iOS Games in a Day track of the conference along with Ray Wenderlich, Rod Strougo, Gareth Jenkins and others. The show is enormous with multiple tracks running in parallel. If your involved in games in any way then there is something at this conference for you. For me the technical tracks were the most interesting. Listening to how specific elements of both indie AAA games were developed, how they solved problems and even approached problems was fantastic. I particularly enjoyed a talk by the guys at CodeMasters on how they wrote the AI for the F1 racing game. I was able to enhance some autonomous steering code straight after their talk in my talks demo code which was most useful. While GDC is not focused on iOS, if your developing games then the energy and ideas flying around is something you have to experience at least once.” –Mike Daley

• When: March 17th-21st
• Where: San Francisco
• Team members planning to attend: None this year unfortunately!
• Website: http://www.gdconf.com