3 weeks, 4 rejections, 4 expedited requests, $10,000+ in losses — our app is still “Waiting for Review” with no end in sight

This is not a normal delay

No. It is not. This is exceptionally good response time from Apple.

We have submitted 4 expedited review requests — all approved. We have contacted Developer Support multiple times. Every time we are told “it will begin shortly.” It never does.

When you submit expedited review requests under conditions like this, then that diminishes the values of those requests for other developers.

June 23: Resubmitted again with additional bug fixes • Today: Still “Waiting for Review” — no movement, no communication

Today is June 23.

We have addressed every single issue Apple raised — promptly, thoroughly, and without complaint.

You're literally complaining right now.

It looks like you've set up unrealistic deadlines and now you're rushing. It's never going to turn out well if you're in a hurry and depending on the actions of someone else, who isn't in a hurry, and has more power than you.

App Store Connect has a feature where you can take as much time as you need to submit your app, fix bugs, and get ready to release. Then, when you're ready, and on your schedule, you can start your marketing campaign and release your app at the appropriate time.

However, I should point out that even in that case, it can take up to 24 hours for your app to be published in all selected global storefronts. So you should probably release your pre-approved app the day before you need it. This is generally a business of months and years, not days.

You’re right that planning ahead is ideal, and I take that point. However, our app was submitted 3 weeks ago — long before our deadline. The issue isn’t poor planning, it’s that we’ve been caught in a rejection loop through no fault of our own, addressing every issue promptly. We’re simply asking for visibility into what’s blocking our submission.

I would hire somebody with a lot of submission experience if I were you. Although I have an experience of about 300 software titles in the past 15 years, I won't take the job, though.

Thanks for the suggestion. We’ve already gone through 4 full review cycles with detailed responses to each rejection — marketing language, legal docs, technical crashes on iPad, all addressed. This isn’t a submission experience issue, it’s a process transparency issue. Once a build is submitted with all issues resolved, there should be a clear SLA. 3 weeks with no communication isn’t acceptable for any developer, experienced or not

Even though one may understand your frustration, you should blame yourself for the delay.

Several of your submissions were rejected because app crashed. If you read the guidelines, it is explicitly reminded that review is not to be used as a debugging help.

So it appears that the real delay is 1 day, since June 23: Resubmitted again with additional bug fixes.

Note that after first acceptance, there is an expedited process for Bug Fix Submissions:

For apps that are already on the App Store or alternative distribution, bug fixes will not be delayed over guideline violations except for those related to legal or safety issues. If your app has been rejected, and qualifies for this process, please use App Store Connect to communicate directly with the App Review team indicating that you would like to take advantage of this process and plan to address the issue in your next submission.

I wish you make 10 000$ in 3 weeks once your app is accepted.

Have a good day.

At this point I’m not looking to argue about what went wrong. I just want to get this resolved and get the app in front of users. If anyone from the App Review team sees this — we’ve addressed every single rejection note thoroughly and we’re ready. Happy to provide any additional information needed to move this forward.”

If anyone from the App Review team sees this

Contrary to what you might think by reading 90% of the posts in this forum, App Review does not participate. There are only a handful of Apple engineers who ever post replies, and they only do that for strictly technical questions.

But Apple always has App Review appointments available on the event schedule.

Already tried to make an appointment. No success so far. thank you very much for your advice.