MacOS App Reviews taking a long time

Question

Created May ’26

Replies 6

Boosts 1

Participants 5

I assume it's not just me... MacOS app reviews are taking a really long time now. The "24-48h" estimate no longer seems to be accurate.

On Monday morning, I submitted both iOS and MacOS versions of our app (1137297689). The iOS version was reviewed and approved in a few hours. The MacOS versions is still waiting for review 50+ hours later. This is the second time this month this has happened. Versions released early in May had the same issue. iOS is quick, MacOS is days later (and only after I gave up and filed an expedited request). Release in April was also slow. Releases last year were normally under 24h so it's fairly recent that the release process has been super slow.

It's very frustrating for our users that rely on the App Store distributions. We've had to start offering out-of-app store distribution paths due to how slow the review process is which is frustrating for us as that's more we have to maintain.

Is Apple doing ANYTHING to rectify the situation?

Answer 1

maxik OP

May ’26

I confirm everything you wrote. The wait for a review is now significantly longer.

And I can tell you that no, they aren't doing anything about it. The quality of Apple's services is going down drastically. They don't fix reported critical bugs, and they introduce new ones with every update. Reviews are just another step in lowering quality.

Not to mention that the review process is not a charity work, we pay the annual subscription and 15-30% in fees from sales... And that's what we get in exchange - making dev lives miserable by rejecting apps for every tiny thing and waiting for days for a review.

I also observed a significant drop in installations since April, so they also changed something in algorithms.

I will be adding a direct distribution in the near future too. The review process and wait time is unacceptable.

Answer 2

dkulp OP

May ’26

To follow up... Our app was FINALLY reviewed after 89 hours. Almost double the 48h that is advertised as expected.

Total time between "In Review" and complete: 4 minutes. I don't know if that is more or less than normal. I never really paid attention.

Answer 3

Lucky7 OP

1d

Same here. Our iOS and visionOS submissions were approved within a few hours, while the macOS submission has now been “In Review” for nearly 48 hours. At this point, we’re also seriously considering offering a direct version of the Mac app so we’re not entirely dependent on the Mac App Store review process.

Answer 4

iTen OP

1d

I had to cancel my In Review because the macOS version lagged behind the other two platforms, which is largely the current state of app review. A trillion-dollar company acts like a scrooge with payroll, avoiding the hires required to function.

Answer 5

iTen OP

6h

As with any recurring pattern, the iOS and visionOS apps were approved within one hour of submission yesterday, while the macOS app moved to review after those earlier reviews finished and has remained there since. Resources for macOS reviews may be less available than for other platforms, but Apple should address this. @appreview @support

Answer 6

Lucky7 OP

6h

FWIW, the macOS version of my app was finally approved last night. It remained roughly 48 hours "In Review".