What's going on with App Review?

Question

Created Aug ’26

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I'm starting to wonder if something has gone horribly wrong in the App Review department.

We've had reviewers request specific information in one message, which we supplied the same day, then we wait another 4 days and they ask the same question having clearly not looked at the information we sent.

We've now been completely adrift for 21 days and it's been over a week since we last heard from them. We have hundreds of people waiting on us, can't promote on social media, receiving support requests every day from customers wondering why they can't access the app.

This isn't the first time we've released an app through App Store Connect, and our app is very straighforward - no restrictions or unusual requests.

The app is obviously compliant, they just aren't reading any of the information we're providing, so we're totally stuck.

It didn't used to be like this. A year ago we were seeing reviews turn around within the stated 24-48 hours. Has something changed in the last 6 months? Perhaps an uptick in submissions due to AI coding?

Anyone else seeing these issues?

Answer 1

Etresoft OP

Aug ’26

Has something changed in the last 6 months? Perhaps an uptick in submissions due to AI coding?

Quite obviously. I noticed the flood of identical complaints starting right at six months ago. That does seem to correspond to the rise of AI slop. Apple has made so secret about incorporating AI into the App Review process as well.

I have no idea what goes on inside Apple. But I do know that a tried and true investigative tactic is to ask the same question over and over again. App developers who are focused on their own app can easily get frustrated. But they don't see the scale of fraud that Apple is looking for. As in any investigation, sometimes innocent people get dragged in for questioning.

There's no way to tell if something has really gone horribly wrong. Anyone looking at the App Store overall can see how bad the apps are, the number of dupes, and the number of scams. That's all well-publicized. People keep demanding that Apple do something. Well, maybe they are doing something.

In my opinion, it would be better to have fewer, higher-quality apps in the store. But there's going to be a cost for that. I don't know if that's the actual plan, but it seems logical that these changes could bring that about.