Unusually long “Waiting for Review” times this week (App Store + TestFlight delays?)

Same here, unusually long in the waiting for review queue, new app, macOS. 7 days so far. Usually this goes through much faster. March 22 2026.

Both my app release and test flight are waiting for review since Saturday at 5:42 PM - I understand there are larger volumes than usual, but still, 3 days with no update..

I got my app released with 48 hours of waiting but for the first update we have been waiting for 2 months. We didn't get any rejections before at all, and I tried all of the ways to contact them (Support Ticket, email, forum, expedited review). Do you now any ways to solve this? We cannot publish the game because the first version had lots of changes and the game looks completely different in iOS and Android (which got approved so fast).

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:

1. Is iOS just a structurally deeper queue than tvOS (far more submissions), so this gap is expected for everyone?
2. 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.)

Same issue with my App(

2 week (without 2 days). And without any ETA or reply to the ticket that was raised.

It seems like there’s been an abnormality in Apple’s review process recently. I’ve noticed that almost all apps are taking longer to go through review than in previous years...

Maybe it’s being affected by the flood of AI apps, or perhaps Apple has changed its review algorithm.

I have had issues for the past few months as well. Reviews have taken at least a week for any contact. No emails back on support and calling leaves me on the phone for hours with no answer.

Even more frustrating is the reviewer keeps giving me a generic message about a core feature not working, while it works for myself and about 15 other testers with no issue. No error details ( exact error would generate in case of failure) or screenshots from the review. At this point I am not sure how to get the App out?

Glad (and annoyed) I'm not the only one. Across last week I was on hold for over 5 hours, no one ever picked up. Tried emails and resubmitting with more Reviewer notes. You'd think for a paid service, we'd get better response

I actually just heard back, but was rejected again based on the reviewer not being able to find the location of the option to upgrade to a pro account... which is very clearly marked on the main page and profile just not in your face on purpose.

This is nuts!

We were facing the same issue and had been stuck in “Waiting for Review” for almost 14 days. We raised two support tickets with Apple, but unfortunately, we didn’t receive any response. After that, we requested an Expedited Review, and the status changed to “In Review” within a minute. Within 5–6 hours, our app was reviewed and approved by Apple.

Same. But my issue app is in Review 4 weeks

I'm experiencing the same. I answered a rejection and been waiting for almost 15 days so far.

So frustrating.

I have now the same problem equal to my first posting here…

current build has been stuck in “Waiting for Review” since Friday, September 18, despite an expedited review request…

Bolzplatz – Fußball Manager (App ID: 6747684577)

I have had the same problems. My app - 6804242461

Got a reviewer and they unnecessarily flagged the same thing which the first reviewer had resolved.

It does feel like Apple had really dropped the ball in terms of quality and support of app developers. Also each round has been 7+ days of wait. Its quite painful.

Same here, we are at "Waiting For Review" for 2 weeks already! Total nonsense. previously it was 3-4 days or a week maximum.

I contacted support but no reply.

I requested an expedite review but no reply either.

Is there an Apple representative here in the thread who can escalate?

Mature Mac B2B app here; track record of hundreds of versions; we rely on the Mac App internally for operations and customer-facing management. Submitted latest version 8 days ago. Went to "in review" 1-2 days later, and has remained there 8 days and counting. It's getting harder to do business this way. (for what it's worth, an iPhone/iPad version of the same app was approved within 1 day today).

Peculiar that we're all experiencing this in waves. I also have a strange issue. I submitted an app in early September and it was reviewed & rejected in a day due to a request for video evidence. I resubmitted it on the 28th and some AI automated flag rejected it asking for a test login. Had to respond that it's a free app with no accounts or logins. Then it was resubmitted. Now it's a week later and no response.

Hoping this isn't some bug related to the automated flag. It's seems weird that the "App Review" tab still has a red marker, but the actual submission shows the yellow marker with "Waiting for Review." Still, worried about the red marker not going away.

I'm waiting for a week for a review of a new app. This is much longer than the 24-48 hours that were promised. Apple please get your things together.