What actually happens after you tap Submit for Review

You've tapped Submit for Review and now App Store Connect just... sits there. This post walks through what's happening on Apple's side, which statuses you'll see, and what's worth doing while you wait.

The statuses, in order

App Store Connect shows your app version's status on the app's page. These are Apple's own status names:

Prepare for Submission is where you started. The app record exists but you're still filling in metadata (screenshots, description, and so on).

Waiting for Review means Apple has received your submission but no reviewer has started on it yet. This is where most of the waiting happens. Nothing you can do here speeds it up except withdrawing and resubmitting, which puts you at the back of the line.

In Review means a reviewer is actively looking at your app. This stage is often short compared to the wait before it.

From In Review, one of two things happens:

Rejected (or Metadata Rejected) means the reviewer found a problem. Metadata Rejected means the issue is in your listing (screenshots, description, review notes) not the app itself, so you can fix it without uploading a new build (a "build" is the packaged app file your development tool uploaded).

Pending Developer Release or Ready for Distribution means approved. If you chose to release manually, it waits at Pending Developer Release until you press the button; otherwise it moves toward being live on the store.

You may briefly see Processing for Distribution after approval. Apple says the app will be ready within 24 hours of entering that state. And if you ever pull your own submission back, it shows as Developer Rejected, which sounds alarming but just means you withdrew it.

How long does it take?

Apple's own App Review page says that on average, 90% of submissions are reviewed in less than 24 hours. That's Apple's number, not ours, and it's an average, not a promise. First submissions of a new app, and apps that need closer inspection, can take longer. You'll get an email at each status change, so there's no need to refresh the page.

What a rejection actually looks like

A rejection arrives two ways at once: an email, and a message in App Store Connect. The message appears on your app's page: click through the unresolved issues link on your submission and you'll find the reviewer's note, which cites the specific guideline (for example, Guideline 2.1: App Completeness) and usually describes what the reviewer saw, sometimes with screenshots.

This messages area is what longtime developers call the Resolution Center. Apple's current interface just presents it as messages from App Review, with a Reply to App Review button. You can reply, attach files, and correspond with the review team before resubmitting. Rejection is a conversation, not a verdict.

What you can do while waiting

• Nothing is usually the right answer. The queue moves on its own.
• Request an expedited review, but only for real emergencies. Apple offers expedited review for two situations: a critical bug fix in your live app, or an app tied to a specific event with a date. There's a request form on Apple's developer site. Don't use it for "I'd like my launch to be sooner"; it's a limited courtesy, and misusing it burns goodwill.
• Prepare for either outcome. Draft your launch announcement, and reread your review notes. If you spot something critical you forgot, such as a demo account for a login screen, it may be better to pull the submission and fix it than to let a guaranteed rejection play out.

What not to do

Don't pull and resubmit to "refresh" the queue. Withdrawing a submission puts you at Developer Rejected, and the new submission starts the wait over from zero.

Don't submit the same rejected build repeatedly without changes. Resubmitting unchanged and hoping for a different reviewer occasionally works for genuinely borderline calls, but as a habit it reads as ignoring feedback. Reply in the message thread first: explain, or fix, then resubmit.

Don't panic-email Apple through every channel at once. The message thread on your submission is the channel the review team actually reads. If you believe the rejection is genuinely wrong, not just unwelcome, Apple has a formal appeal process to the App Review Board, one appeal per submission.

The wait is the boring part. Use it to make sure that whenever the reviewer does open your app, everything they touch works.