I've asked this before — and I still don’t get it. Do Apple Web Developers even read this forum?
I’ve been a developer my whole life, and Apple’s review process makes no sense.
What actually happens when you submit an update?
Code review: clearly not done by humans — AI or automated checks. App Store metadata: trivial to scan — if nothing changed, why delay? Security checks: automated, not human-led. So why do review times vary wildly — 1 day, 3 days, 7+ days — with no explanation? For a trillion-dollar company with advanced tech, this is baffling.
Examples:
Firefox update: released in ~30 minutes, always predictable.
Chrome update: released within ~12 hours, consistent.
Apple update: unpredictable and inconsistent.
Support is equally frustrating. You open a ticket, go back-and-forth for a weeks, provide the same info repeatedly, then the ticket is closed with no resolution. They ask for a screen shot to give developers. Then they ghost you for weeks. Developers or AI couldn't figure out the issue on their end? It's not rocket science. I'm not being rude - I'm genuinely trying to understand why Apple's App Review is entirely different than how streamlined and easy Firefox and Google are.
I uploaded two identical builds, one for web and one for iPad (same binary, different scheme). Web was live in 2 days; the iPad build is still “Waiting for Review.”
Can anyone explain how Apple’s review actually works? This level of randomness makes no business sense.
I go through this entire forum and it's post after post with zero replies, maybe 1 reply on some - but for the most part, nothing even really gets answered in this forum. Makes no sense.