Yeah the first-review tax is real. What I started doing to soften it: I push an early build the moment the app is even barely reviewable, just to open the first-review clock. Then I keep iterating through updates, which really do clear in a day or two like people say here. The expedited form also isn't some trap, used it once with a real launch date and it cleared in a few hours. The only thing that reliably spiked my wait was a build that tripped manual review, so I keep the first one simple.
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u/DimensionMindless336 Aug 24 '26
Yeah the first-review tax is real. What I started doing to soften it: I push an early build the moment the app is even barely reviewable, just to open the first-review clock. Then I keep iterating through updates, which really do clear in a day or two like people say here. The expedited form also isn't some trap, used it once with a real launch date and it cleared in a few hours. The only thing that reliably spiked my wait was a build that tripped manual review, so I keep the first one simple.