I pulled 60 days of my App Store submissions (~29 approvals) from the status emails and found a consistent per-platform split I can't explain.
I submit the iOS and tvOS builds of the same app within the same minute. Over that window:
tvOS: clears the "Waiting for Review" queue in ~24h (median), approved same day.
iOS: sits in the queue ~46h (median) — about 2× longer.
The actual "In Review" time is identical on both (~1h median). The entire difference is the pre-review QUEUE, not the review itself.
Latest example: both submitted within one minute. tvOS went In Review → Ready the same evening (~17h). iOS was still "Waiting for Review" over a day later — not even started.
Two things I'm trying to figure out:
Is iOS just a structurally deeper queue than tvOS (far more submissions), so this gap is expected for everyone?
Or does app type affect queue position? This app is an AI assistant with auto-renewable subscriptions. My other apps (no AI, no IAP) clear the iOS queue in a few HOURS, not days — which makes me wonder if the AI/subscription iOS binary gets deprioritized. But since the in-review time is the same, it looks more like scheduling than harder scrutiny.
For anyone shipping the same app to multiple platforms: do you see tvOS/macOS clear faster than iOS at the same submission time? And does anyone with an AI or subscription app notice a longer iOS queue than their simpler apps? Numbers appreciated.
(To be clear — review time once it actually starts has been great. This is purely about how long it waits before a reviewer picks it up.)
Topic:
App Store Distribution & Marketing
SubTopic:
App Review