Apple App Store review process hits a traffic jam

Whatever the task, there's an app for that… Except for the process of reviewing those apps, apparently.

There are a growing number of reports on Apple's developer forums that developers are waiting a long time for their apps to be reviewed before they’re listed on the App Store.

Subjects include 'Unusually long Apple 'waiting for review' time", "Stuck in Waiting for Review for about 3 weeks", "Stuck in 'Waiting for Review' since October 8", and so on, including a "Waiting for Review Megathread." To pick an example at random, D1 Tech say they've been waiting since September 19.

There are also reports on Reddit, such as "My app has been waiting for App Store review for almost a month. Is this normal?"

The typical review time is a day or two. Apple's own App Review guidelines say:

App Review works around the clock, typically reviewing at least 50% of submissions in less than 24 hours and 90% in less than 48 hours."

This isn't the first time this has happened. A thread of similar complaints is still visible from back in February, with at least 74 developers complaining of multi-week delays. Some of them noted that these were not new app submissions, but merely bug-fixes for existing, approved apps. In March, Business Insider reported on similar delays, suggesting that it was due to a large and rising influx of AI-coded apps. In April, The Information reported that submissions were up 84 percent.

We have asked Apple if it has any explanation or comment to make about the delay. So far, the company has not replied, but we will update this story if we receive any more information.

Saying that, though, long-term readers of The Register may remember vulture Kieren McCarthy’s three-month effort to attend Apple's iPhone 7 launch party, a decade ago. (Spoiler: he did not, in fact, get to join the party.) It is just conceivable that El Reg is not Cupertino's favorite news outlet. ®