FierceDeveloper published an excellent article today titled “Pulling back the curtain on App Store approvals“, which provides some excellent insight into Apple’s App Store approval process. I found the most interesting piece of the article to be the stats that Apple provided to the FCC in response to it’s recent request for more information on the rejection of the Google Voice app:
Let’s do the math: According to Apple, it employs about 40 full-time, trained application reviewers–the App Store receives about 8,500 new app submissions and updates each week, which translates to 212 apps per reviewer per week. Except Apple reports that all apps are subject to approval by two different reviewers, so that number doubles to 424 apps per staffer each week–assuming reviewers work the standard eight-hour day, that means each app is approved or rejected in the span of about six minutes. No wonder Apple admits to making “occasional mistakes” in the approval process, according to its statement to the FCC.
Given the shear volume of applications that Apple reviews on a daily basis, it’s no surprise that developers encounter such varying experiences with the submission and approval process. In our experience, the process has been very straightforward and time expedient. One application was submitted to the App Store and live within seven days. In our opinion, the process works pretty smoothly as long as you follow Apple’s Human Interface Guidelines and code around common issues that apps are rejected for.
Other interesting tidbits:
- In the past year, Apple has reviewed more than 200,000 applications and updates
- 95 percent of all apps are approved within 14 days of submission
- Roughly 20 percent of apps are not approved as originally submitted
