What is the average App Store review time in 2026?

For updates to existing apps, the median review time in 2026 is approximately 24 hours, with 90% of updates reviewed within 48 hours. New app submissions take slightly longer — typically 24–72 hours, with occasional extensions to 5–7 days for apps in sensitive categories or using specialized APIs.

Why is my app taking longer to review than others?

Several factors cause longer reviews: first submission (longer than updates), sensitive content categories (health, finance, adult, children), special capabilities (background location, HealthKit, home automation), large binary size, or being submitted during high-volume periods. None of these automatically mean rejection — they just mean more thorough review.

Does submitting on certain days of the week affect review speed?

There is community-observed evidence that submissions on Monday and Tuesday mornings (US Pacific time) tend to be reviewed faster than Thursday/Friday submissions, as the queue is shorter at the start of the week. Submitting just before a US holiday weekend often means slower reviews as staffing drops. These are general patterns, not guarantees.

Can I check App Store review times for the current period?

Apple does not publish live review queue data. The best resources are community-tracking tools and developer forums. Sites like AppFollow maintain running averages based on developer reports. The Apple Developer Forums often have threads discussing current wait times, particularly during known slow periods.

App Store Review Times in 2026: What to Expect and How to Plan

Planning an app launch or update release requires accurate expectations around review times — and those expectations need to account for current conditions, not last year's data. Here's a current, practical breakdown of App Store review times in 2026, what affects them, and how to build review time into your release planning.

Current Average Review Times (2026)

Based on community data from thousands of developer submissions tracked through early 2026:

Submission Type	Median	90th Percentile	Occasional Outlier
App update	~20 hours	48 hours	5–7 days
New app submission	~30 hours	72 hours	7–14 days
Sensitive category (health, finance, kids)	~48 hours	5 days	10–14 days
App with special entitlements	~48 hours	4 days	7–10 days

These figures represent normal periods — they vary during high-volume windows (see below).

Apple has historically stated that "most apps are reviewed within 24 hours." In practice, the 24-hour benchmark holds well for straightforward app updates, and less reliably for new submissions or complex apps.

What Affects Review Speed

1. Submission Type: New vs. Update

Updates to established apps with a clean review history move through the queue significantly faster than first-time submissions. Apple's review depth scales with novelty and risk — an update that changes three lines of code in a 5-year-old app with 50,000 ratings is a different risk profile than a brand-new app from an unknown developer.

2. App Category

Apps in sensitive categories receive additional scrutiny from specialist reviewers:

Children's apps (COPPA compliance, IDFA restrictions, content standards)
Health and medical apps (FDA considerations, clinical accuracy)
Financial apps (regulatory compliance, in-app purchase structure)
Adult content apps (age gating, content standards)
VPN and network extensions (privacy implications)

Expect 2–5x longer review times in these categories compared to standard apps.

3. Entitlements and APIs Requested

Certain capabilities trigger manual review or specialist evaluation:

Background location (always authorization)
HealthKit, ResearchKit, CareKit integration
HomeKit, CarPlay, or Passkit
Push notification entitlements with special categories
App Clips
Managed App Configuration (MDM)

If your app uses any of these, build extra time into your release schedule.

4. Binary Size

Larger binaries take longer to process on Apple's review infrastructure. This is a minor factor for most apps (under 200 MB), but apps with very large asset bundles (games with extensive 3D assets, media-heavy apps) can see processing delays before the review even starts.

5. Reviewer Notes Quality

This is something you control directly. Clear, complete reviewer notes — including functional demo credentials, steps to access non-obvious features, and explanations of any capabilities that might look unusual — reduce review time. Reviewers who hit a wall (can't log in, can't find the feature, don't understand why a permission is requested) must either reject for incompleteness or wait for a follow-up. Complete notes eliminate this delay.

High-Volume Slow Periods

Review times spike predictably during several windows every year:

November–December (Holiday Season) The six weeks leading up to Christmas are the highest-volume submission period of the year. Developers rushing to launch or update before the holiday shopping season create significant queue backlog. Plan to submit at least 2 weeks before any holiday launch target during this period.

Post-WWDC (June–July) After Apple's developer conference, a wave of updates hitting the new iOS SDK and new APIs floods the review queue. The first 3–4 weeks after WWDC announcement typically see slower-than-average review times.

Post-iOS/iPadOS Release The 2–3 weeks after a major iOS release (typically September) see a surge in compatibility updates, slowing the queue.

US Federal Holidays Review times often extend around US holidays (Memorial Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving). Apple's review team is US-based and staffing drops during major US holidays.

How to Track Review Status

In App Store Connect:

The review status is visible under each version in your app's record
Check appstoreconnect.apple.com for the current status
No email notification is sent when status changes — you must check manually (or use a monitoring service)

Apple System Status:

developer.apple.com/system-status/ shows if any App Store systems are experiencing issues
Check this if your submission seems completely stalled — occasionally review infrastructure outages cause processing delays

Community resources:

Developer forums and Twitter/X developer communities often share real-time reports during known slow periods
These crowd-sourced reports are often more current than any official source

Building Review Time Into Your Release Plan

A common planning mistake: scheduling a hard launch date, submitting the app, and then panicking when review takes longer than expected. Instead:

For feature launches:

Submit at least 5 business days before your desired launch date
Use Automatic Release After Review if you don't need manual control of the timing
If you need to control exact timing, use Manual Release and set a Release Date and Time — the app will be held in "Pending Developer Release" once approved and go live at your chosen time

For critical bug fixes:

Submit immediately, then evaluate whether an expedited review request is warranted based on user impact
Keep a pre-written expedited request template ready — speed matters

For scheduled content releases:

App review does not guarantee timing. If you're releasing app updates tied to content launches (sports season, media release), always build in at least a week of buffer

What "In Review" for 72+ Hours Might Mean

If your submission has been "In Review" for more than 72 hours, something is probably slowing the review:

The reviewer encountered a question that required specialist consultation
A permission or entitlement is being evaluated by a different team
You're in a slow period and were deprioritized in the queue
A technical issue with the binary or metadata processing occurred

In most cases, these resolve on their own within a few more days. If it extends beyond 5 days, contact App Review through the Resolution Center. See our guide on what to do when your App Store review is stuck.

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