Reports / App Store review times / October 2026
Monthly report · issue 1 · 86 decisions
App Store review times, October 2026
Short answerIn October 2026 our account got 55 App Review decisions with a median wait of 74.6 hours from "Submitted" to the decision email; 29% came back within 24 hours. The latest round (decisions from Oct 19) ran far faster: a median of 15.1 hours over 22 decisions on apps already live, against 73.1 hours for the 64 decisions before it. All 86 decisions since September 10, 2026: median 59.9 hours, 39 approved.
By submission type
| Group | Decisions | Median wait | Fastest | Slowest | Within 24 h | Within 48 h | Approved |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All decisions to date | 86 | 59.9 h | 1.0 h | 223.3 h | 27% | 45% | 39 of 86 |
| All decisions in October 2026 | 55 | 74.6 h | 1.0 h | 223.3 h | 29% | 49% | 23 of 55 |
| Brand-new app, October 2026 | 22 | 187.8 h | 167.7 h | 223.3 h | 0% | 0% | 0 of 22 |
| Update to a live app, October 2026 | 28 | 28.4 h | 1.0 h | 203.6 h | 39% | 79% | 18 of 28 |
| In-app purchases only, October 2026 | 5 | 12.2 h | 11.7 h | 13.4 h | 100% | 100% | 5 of 5 |
By submission week
| Submitted week of | Decisions | Median wait | Approved |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 7, 2026 | 4 | 37.4 h | 1 of 4 |
| Sep 14, 2026 | 12 | 27.9 h | 3 of 12 |
| Sep 21, 2026 | 25 | 67.6 h | 11 of 25 |
| Sep 28, 2026 | 2 | 114.2 h | 2 of 2 |
| Oct 5, 2026 | 21 | 167.7 h | 7 of 21 |
| Oct 19, 2026 | 22 | 15.1 h | 15 of 22 |
Download all 86 decisions as CSV
What changed
- The September and early-October backlog came from new-app submissions on a new account, including two batches that waited 7 to 9 days and ended in guideline 4.3 spam rejections (full story: 64 real decisions, median 73 hours and guideline 4.3).
- The Oct 19 to 23 round was all updates and in-app purchase items for apps already on the store: 22 decisions, median 15.1 hours, slowest 34.0 hours, 15 approved. Apple's own claim is 90% within 48 hours; this round met it.
Method
Every App Review decision email on our developer account (from no_reply@email.apple.com), pulled from Gmail on Oct 17, 2026, Oct 24, 2026. Wait = the decision email's sent time minus the "Submitted" timestamp in the email (Pacific time). Duplicate emails for the same submission and outcome count once. One account, 21 apps: this is a real sample, not an industry average. kind for decisions after Oct 12: update = a version and/or in-app purchase items for an app already on the store (the Oct 19-21 subscription round); not split further.
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