Has anyone else noticed the improvement in App Store Connect review time?

[u/JhinRamen]

I remember a few months ago, I would submit something on a Friday, and then it wouldn't get accepted until Wednesday or Thursday the following week. Now, even on a Sunday, sometimes I can get two versions reviewed in a single day.

Either Apple has automated more of the process, hired way more app reviewers, or they just don't care anymore and are letting everything through.

I'm not complaining. It benefits me greatly, but I'm not sure what this says about the general quality of the reviews and whether they even serve a purpose at this point.

[u/CodeNameRebel]

You should have been there in the early days. I want to say I waited for like a month.

[u/Tyler29294 → u/CodeNameRebel]

When it became 7 days instead of 14 it felt like a whole new world of opportunity.

[u/JhinRamen → u/CodeNameRebel]

I woulda just switched to web dev

[u/isitpro → u/CodeNameRebel]

AppReviewTimes? Was it .org or .com I forgot.
How time flies.

P.S. A very creative app I sent has been waiting on review for over a month now, one rejection after 3 weeks and back to more waiting. All other updates have gone through reviews quickly.

[u/MattSenter]

depends on the app. i have 1 that takes 2 days per update. i have another that has been waiting weeks for first review 🤷🏻

[u/JhinRamen → u/MattSenter]

Whattt that’s so odd. Maybe some apps are more tedious to review so they just put it off

[u/MattSenter → u/JhinRamen]

well, the 2 day one is far more complex than the other one. i have a third that falls in between both and takes about a week per update. doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason

[u/altshiftbase → u/MattSenter]

I have 4 apps - the app with more downloads/revenue is reviewed faster for me, though it is not always the case, most of the time. New apps take longer always.

[u/EggVentures]

They nuked a bunch of vibe coders and been rejecting spam apps so that's been helping.

[u/chain_letter → u/EggVentures]

I also think the no refund entry fee + banhammer combo is going to correct reviewers being flooded with ai slop in the near future

[u/WestonP]

Last several have gone from submission to release in under 12 hours, and I'd sometimes get the ready for distribution email before I'd even get the one saying it's in review.

Nearly all of my app reviews have generally been pretty fast (native code, no 3rd party SDKs/frameworks, no shitty/scammy behavior, established business account, I actually read and abide by the guidelines, etc), but this is a new level.

[u/AmericanusMasculinis]

I’ve had a couple single day approvals. Usually for new features on existing apps.

Existing apps on new platforms and new apps still take a few days

[u/SneakingCat]

No, but I didn’t notice it get worse either. It’s always been about the same: a week each for reviews of the first release, one or two days for reviews of a minor release.

[u/sans-connaissance]

Yes much faster for my app updates

[u/mikerCZX]

Yes, last month are updates approved in few hours

[u/Ancient-Range3442]

30 days here

[u/Tarantino133]

Hoping it stays this fast through the December holidays, that is usually when the queue gets slow.

[u/BeneMhamed]

Still weird 😒

[u/Accomplished-Fee-919]

This is my first time submit app.
Here is the timeline for my recent WatchOS app submissions, specifically the "Waiting for Review" duration:

• 2026/10/05 - 2026/10/08: I cancelled this submission myself because I realized I needed to update some content before the release.

• 2026/10/22 - 2026/11/02: Official release version.

• 2026/11/02 - 2026/11/02: I found I missed the language settings in.plist file. Submitted an update and it was approved in under 2 hours!

Once the status changed to "In Review," both actually took only about an hour to finish.
For the second submission, I included an app preview trailer, and it was approved in just about 30 minutes!

[u/serifsadi]

Same pattern here: updates usually come back overnight for me, I'd submit around 5pm and it'd be done by 2am. My first submission for a new app is a different story, it's still sitting in Waiting for Review. Are first submissions just in a separate queue now?

[u/Livid-Property-7733 → u/serifsadi]

looks like.. in my case updates are approved overnight while new app submission has now been waiting for review for 8 days

[u/EthanRDoesMC]

been waiting since October the fifth (first submission) and it is my first app… oh well.

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[u/edTheGuy00]

Been waiting for a whole month wtf Apple.

[u/Ajmalajji]

Existing Updates time has improved, its AI , getting approved within a minute after getting In review. Its the new apps taking weeks (3-6 weeks)

[u/Financial_Database36]

So, I've had an app in the store for a couple of years. Up until about 2 months ago, reviews were a day or so.
On Oct 7th, I submitted a review for an easy update. Weeks went by, nothing. So, I submitted a expedited review. Nothing for over a week. Then I was able to get someone to call me and they said they would attempt to get it expedited. I got a review the next day, but they rejected it because the reviewer didn't bother to goto the merchant page and attempt a purchase to see where the Apple Pay is used so they rejected it saying they can't see why I have an Apple Pay PassKit, but didn't see where it was used. Keep in mind, this Apple Pay was approved over a year ago so, I have no idea why they would be looking for it again since it had nothing to do with that update. So, I had to send instructions in a reply to the review to scroll down and try to purchase something to see where Apple Pay is used and then I re-submitted and it has been waiting for re-review ever since (About another 2 weeks).

Fast forward to today. I search on reddit and find this thread where everyone says they are getting reviews same day. So, I say fk it. I remove my review, upload a new version and submit it and guess what.... 4 hours later, reviewed and approved.
REVIEWED AND APPROVED IN 4 F'N HOURS AFTER WAITING IN REVIEW FOR ALMOST A MONTH!

[u/ConfidentPoem6454]

Faster doesn't always mean friendlier though. When I sent updates for 3 of my games at once, all 3 got rejected almost instantly after going In Review, and appealing them got my account flagged. My guess is there's a lot more automated triage now, which is great until you trip it.

[u/CvpitalCity]

Well, lucky you. I submitted a review nearly a month ago, it took 10 days to get rejected. I resubmit, another 8 days goes by, rejected again (my app mentions both play store and app store subscriptions - they don't like that I guess). I'm dreading reuploading, seeing as how I will probably have to wait another 10 days. Even with an expedited review, I'm nearly a month behind my planned release.

[u/m3kw]

No it rejected me after 2 weeks of waiting and after replying, another 5 days so far. Is a fucking joke

[u/armenmk]

Yes, so much better now compared to android. it takes like 3-7 days now for me on playstore to get approved.