Top 10 iOS Conferences in 2015

8) MCE

MCE is a relatively new conference in Warsaw, Poland – its first event was in 2014. The 2015 edition has several tracks on both deign and programming topics and appears to be very well organized and received.

“If you are planning a visit to Europe, you’re probably thinking about Berlin, but if you’ve never been to Berlin, you’re actually thinking about Warsaw. If you have been to Berlin, you’ll feel you’ve gone back in time 10 years. Either way, there’s no travel like business travel, and there’s no better excuse to visit Warsaw than MCE. Be sure to visit the museum of the Warsaw resistance while you’re there to learn some things about World War 2 they left out of your textbook.” –Mike Lee

“Easy location in Warsaw, impressive first edition organized in cinema, good lineup of cross discipline speakers and after party;)” –Krzysztof Zablocki

• When: February 4-6, 2015
• Where: Warsaw, Poland
• Team members planning to attend: N/A
• Websites: MCE

9) NSNorth

NSNorth is Canada’s premier iOS developer and designer conference, with a mix of both technical and non-technical talks. Attendance is usually kept small for an intimate feel.

“NSNorth is one of the best conferences I have ever been to. You are likely to meet every single attendee, including the presenters, when you’re there. I’ve personally made some great friends in our community every time I attend. If top-notch speakers weren’t enough, the organizers usually plan some wonderful social events like drinks in a dinosaur museum or ‘find-the-iBeacon’.” –Ryan Nystrom

“For the last two years, I’ve attended NSNorth, an iOS conference held in Ottawa (Canada). It is a single-track conference that combines traditional talks with short blitz talks all centered around one main goal: bringing together independent iOS and Mac developers as well as designers to discuss the business of app development as well as creating new friendships and hopefully new business relationships. Both organizers of NSNorth go above and beyond to ensure everyone enjoys their experience at the event.” –Pierre Rochon

“NSNorth was a terrific conference, attended both so far. 2014 was really a big step up — a really interesting lineup of speakers, with a few well-known speakers from our community as well as some great lesser-known and local speakers — it makes for a nice balance since you’re not just hearing from the same voices as other conferences. They balance technical talks with inspirational and business topics, so you get a nice mix. They seem to achieve about a 50/50 mix of men and women speakers.” –Chris Saldanha

• When: April 10-12, 2015
• Where: Québec, Canada
• Team members planning to attend: Tim Mitra, Ryan Nystrom, Pierre Rochon, Jack Wu
• Websites: NSNorth

10) Yow! Australia

Last but not least, Yow! is a great mobile conference for anyone in Australia!

“If you’re in Australia and you’re into technology, Yow! is a no-brainer, but I am going to sing their praises anyway. I’ve never been so humbled to meet another speaker, or so honored to be in the presence of an conference organizer, as I have been with Yow! It’s not just impressive. It’s a reason to go to Australia.” –Mike Lee

“I attended and spoke at the Yow! conference for the first time last year. I had a lovely time. Melbourne is a great city that I enjoyed a lot. The conference was very well conceived. The keynote, about an open source satellite, blew me away. I really liked the cozy environment, many of the presentations and all the satellite events organized after the conference. If it’s always like that I am back any time :).” –Cesare Rocchi

• When: TBD
• Where: TBD
• Team members planning to attend: Neil North
• Websites: YOW! Conference

Honorable Mentions

As I mentioned, it was very difficult (and subjective) to put together the top 10 list this year as there are so many great conferences. I felt it would be amiss if I didn’t also include a few honorable mentions.

• CocoaLove: CocoaLove is a new conference that focuses more on the people behind the tech.
• Cmd-R: Cmd-R is a relatively new conference in London that had some great speakers and I’ve heard good things about their first edition.
• NSScotland: NSScotland is small, but well liked – worth checking out if you’re in the UK.
• NSSpain: Another relatively new conference, with a single track and focus on meeting new people.
• RWDevCon: We’re also running our own conference for the first time this year. The focus is on hands-on tutorials, inspiration, team coordination, and friendship.

Which Should I Choose?!

If you’re unsure which to choose, here’s my advice – in a handy flowchart!

[Click to see full-size version]

Again, note that this article is my personal opinion only and is based on what I’ve heard from team and community members who have attended these conferences.

Huge thank you to all who took the time to send me their thoughts and quotes about the conferences you attended in 2014 for this post – I really appreciate it! :]

We’d love to hear your opinion too! Please let us know about your experiences at any iOS conferences you attended in 2014 – it will be really helpful for those trying to decide which to attend.

We hope to see you at some iOS conferences this year!