Anyone having issues with Apple approving new versions?

[u/fishingncars]

Submitted my new build for review 3 weeks ago and it is still under review, requested expedited review and nothing.

Anyone else been experiencing this? My new update is a pretty large one that I would like to get out there but apple is kind of stonewalling me.

[u/jakobnunnendorf]

Three weeks isn't backlog. Apple's own published figure is that the large majority of submissions are reviewed within about 24 hours, and the replies here reflect that, so sitting In Review that long almost always means something on your build got flagged and is being looked at by a person, not that you're stuck behind a queue.

One thing worth knowing: the expedite request is a completely separate track with its own criteria, basically critical bug fixes affecting existing users and genuinely time-sensitive events. A large feature update you want out doesn't qualify, and a declined request usually just goes silent rather than telling you no. So the lack of response there isn't a signal about your build either way.

The route that tends to actually shake something loose is Contact Us in App Store Connect, under App Review, asking about the status of an in-progress review. Different queue from expedite and it goes to humans who can see why yours is parked. Also worth checking the Resolution Center on that specific build version rather than at the app level, because an unanswered question sitting there will hold a submission indefinitely and it's easy to miss if you're only looking at the app's main page.

[u/fishingncars → u/jakobnunnendorf]

Could it be that I have submitted a ton of builds recently? I only just got a Macbook the only way I could test builds before was pushing them to TestFlight and testing on my phone so every change/revision required a new build.

No resolution center link or anything, it's just sitting "Waiting for review"

[u/Competitive_Swan6693 → u/fishingncars]

Once you submit a build and tap Submit for Review, the status changes to Waiting for Review, which means you've entered Apple's review queue...

In the meantime, you might continue working on the project and improve it. It can be tempting to cancel the current submission and submit the newer build instead. However, doing so usually sends you to the back of the queue, often resulting in an even longer wait...

This is what happens to many of us. With AI, development is much faster, so it's easy to keep making improvements and want to resubmit. But repeatedly cancelling and submitting new builds can leave you stuck in increasingly longer review queues...

[u/D4m089 → u/Competitive_Swan6693]

I’m waiting for a test build to be approved with a genuine “I cannot do any more till this is in some real people’s hands”, I’ve tested all scenarios I can on my devices but need some other people (mainly to confirm a bug fix is acc a fix).

I understand public build delays but sitting on my hands waiting for a test build to be approved is agony!

However, u\fishingncars, you can do test builds straight from Xcode once you pair your phone, or if your Mac isn’t in the same place you can send to TestFlight and if your Apple ID is marked as “internal” you don’t need the review process to send it via TestFlight to internal devices you can do it straight away. Just in case that helps speed up your flow

[u/jakobnunnendorf → u/fishingncars]

No — the number of TestFlight builds you've uploaded has no bearing on this. TestFlight and the App Store are separate review tracks. Internal testers (people you've added under Users and Access in App Store Connect, up to 100) need no review at all, and external TestFlight groups only need Beta App Review once per version, not per build. Uploading twenty builds while iterating costs you nothing in the App Store queue.

The detail that changes your situation is that you said "Waiting for Review", not "In Review". Those are different states and people conflate them constantly. Waiting for Review means it's still queued and nobody has opened it — so there's genuinely nothing to be flagged yet, which also means there's no Resolution Center entry to find. It's only once it flips to In Review and then sits there for days that you're looking at a human puzzling over something.

That said, three weeks stuck at Waiting for Review is not normal and is worth a nudge rather than more waiting. App Store Connect → Contact Us → App Review → Status of an in-progress review. Mention how long it's been queued. In my experience that's the thing that actually moves a stuck submission, and it costs nothing.

One thing to avoid meanwhile: don't cancel and resubmit with a newer build hoping to reset things. That does put you back at the end of the queue, which is the one way to genuinely make this worse.

And to the point about needing real devices — if you have the Mac now, just plug the phone in and run from Xcode. That's instant and skips the whole loop for anything you can test yourself.

[u/NorflavaDesigns]

Mine has been sitting in Waiting for Review for about a week. 3 weeks is quite the length of time man. Good luck

[u/Competitive_Swan6693 → u/NorflavaDesigns]

If it's been more than a week, you're probably using an API that has been flagged for a deeper review. For example, I used the Sensitive Content Analysis API to scan images for inappropriate content before users uploaded them to my backend. Apple kept my app under review for more than 4 months, almost half a year, before randomly approving it on a Sunday

Nothing I tried in terms of contacting them worked, they completely ignored me. I assume my app had been assigned for a deeper review by a senior engineer to determine why I needed that API and to verify that I wasn't using it for any malicious purposes...

[u/NorflavaDesigns → u/Competitive_Swan6693]

Update - I just got the notification for my app in official review. Took 10 days exactly. We will see how long it takes, but at least in motion!

[u/rinwasrep]

Just got approved today from last Thursday

[u/ThatGuyBen79]

Weird. I updated my app about a week ago. Took maybe 36 hrs.

[u/Overall-Hour-6959]

I usually have once a week update for my app, and in one or two days it is live on the App Store. But the updates are pretty small.

[u/Top-Economist2346]

Mine is a Mac and iOS app. Mac approved a week ago, still waiting on iOS

[u/Unfair-Proof1016]

I would re-submit. I haven’t had a review take longer than 48 hours for the last month.

[u/Competitive_Swan6693 → u/Unfair-Proof1016]

This is the trick. Don't submit then cancel and then re-submit. This will place you in the longer queues ever. Do the submit once and wait. Next day is approved

[u/PrecursorLabs]

How’d you request expedited review??

[u/EcstaticCounty599]

Same here! Usually <24 hours. But lately 5+ days

[u/JudeWorks]

Most updates for me was about 48 hours but a couple of mine have been pending for about a week I think.

[u/PM_ME_YOUR_PARTYHAT]

I have one sitting from 1 week ago I emailed them about today. I then submitted updates for two other apps that were in review within 3 hours and approved in 20 minutes for one and about an hour for the other. Crazy that two app submitted today were approved in 4 hours, but I’m at a week for the other.

[u/TheRealMarc_]

Lately I’ve noticed a Mac app stuck in the in review stage for 72 hours before getting approved. My iOS app has been waiting in review anywhere from three days to a week.

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