The App Store Review Process Is Actually... Good

By MzFit

- 4 minutes read - 747 words

Apple’s App Store has made a lot of news in tech and policy circles recently. Apple and Epic and Apple and the European Union have been battling it out about whether or not Apple is allowed to gatekeep via their App Store. As it currently stands, in most countries (except the EU), if you want to develop native apps for iPhones and iPads you need to submit your app to Apple for review. If you want users to be able to download your app, Apple has to approve your app. If you want to make money with your app, with few exceptions you must use’s Apple’s payment processing via the App Store. And there is no widespread side-loading of apps, like there is in Android.

The App Store provides a lot for free

And as a small independent developer, I am 100% on board with Apple’s policies. It’s actually a pretty nice experience. I can see why a multi-billion dollar company like Epic would want to funnel a larger percent of the Fortnite revenue to themselves and away from Apple. But for someone like me, I pay a 15% commission on sales (until my first million…) and in return Apple handles in one form or another:

  • customer service
  • payment disputes
  • refunds
  • disbursement
  • retail presence (the App Store)
  • marketing (via search results/App Store page)

At the large companies I’ve worked for, each of those functions would have been it’s own large department. Apple provides it all at a flat percentage (or free if your app is free). Given how little most small developers make with their apps, I virtually guarantee you that Apple spends more on the wages and infrastructure of the people working the App Store than they take back from us.

Humans are better than automation alone

Every app in Apple’s App Store goes through a human review process. Consequently, the Apple App Store has been largely (though not entirely) free of malware. For example, according to Netcraft, “In the past 6 months, Netcraft has identified fewer than 50 malicious apps on the iOS App Store.” The situation on Android is very different. But for Apple the issues that have plagued Android are largely absent.

That’s not to say that Apple hasn’t also automated many of the checks a human being looks at. I personally can tell from my server logs that Apple has automated checks to launch my app and make sure it’s still behaving as the same app they reviewed. And I’m sure there’s more scanning I can’t see. But the end result compared to Google PlayStore is striking.

Of course, as with anything human beings are involved with, there will always be inconsistencies. I can tell that sometimes I get a reviewer who is a stickler for the rules. Sometimes I get reviewers who are not. The vast majority of the time my reviews go quickly and without issue. Every now and then a reviewer will throw a flag about something that had previously been accepted. But they leave human readable notes in the review explaining the problem and a link to the applicable guidelines explaining how to fix it. Once I fix it and explain my fix in the notes, it’s always been approved.

Apple customer service is fast

For example, with the April 2024 release of MzFit, I submitted the app to review in the morning before I logged into my day job. My phone got a push notification by mid afternoon that it was approved. And this has been fairly typical response time. In contrast, my day job’s IT department often takes days, often weeks, to respond to tickets.

I have been thoroughly impressed with how quickly the App Store reviewers provide what is (to me) a free service. And there is no limit I can see on the number of times I can submit to review. Whether I push out weekly changes or monthly changes, the response has been the same.

YMMV (Your Mileage May Vary)

Of course, I’m just one developer. There are plenty of horror stories that get headlines. Because of course no process involving people is perfect. But I try to keep it in perspective. The bottom line is, you can pick any process and find flaws in it. But the Apple App Store review process is about as good as I can imagine a process being. It keeps users pretty safe with minimal delay while providing a lot of value for developers big and small.