Apple's Priority Queue • Hacker News Board

Re: Apple's Priority Queue

#11

Post by cameldrv » Thu, Dec 16, 2010, 5:36 AM UTC

dusing wrote: post #4

We've been getting 2-3 week update approvals and it is killing us on getting bug fixes out. Last year we'd often get 3 day updates. If there is a priority queue, We are on the wrong end of it.

If there is a really important update you need to put out, explain it, and send an email. The keyword is "expedited review." If you ask nicely and don't ask too often, they will usually have your update out in two days.

Re: Apple's Priority Queue

#12

Post by raquo » Thu, Dec 16, 2010, 5:39 AM UTC

I would also add that if your app requires Apple to update its internal approval guidelines it will take you forever to get approved. So if you're innovating on your app's business model or something like that - be prepared.

Re: Apple's Priority Queue

#13

Post by marcc » Thu, Dec 16, 2010, 5:46 AM UTC

I don't agree with this at all. If there's any preferential treatment that I've seen in the review line, it has everything to do with which category the app is in and how popular the app is.

I've self rejected an app that was in the top 20 of a category many times. I can't even think of a time we submitted an update that we didn't self reject at least once. This app still gets much quicker review times for updates than another app which is much less popular.

I guess I'd like to see more than "here's how i think it works" and instead some explanation as to why this guy thinks it works how he thinks.

Re: Apple's Priority Queue

#14

Post by Aqua_Geek » Thu, Dec 16, 2010, 6:29 AM UTC

dusing wrote: post #4

We've been getting 2-3 week update approvals and it is killing us on getting bug fixes out. Last year we'd often get 3 day updates. If there is a priority queue, We are on the wrong end of it.

Their "[X]% of new apps are reviewed within 7 days" board on the dev site hasn't been updated in a while. It seems they have slipped from the awesome 3-day turnarounds we were seeing around this same time last year.

Re: Apple's Priority Queue

#15

Post by scootklein » Thu, Dec 16, 2010, 6:41 AM UTC

I'm even convinced that updates are processed programatically in many cases, and that a human doesn't even see it if it marches certain criteria.

We ran a website that let users create their own iPhone apps so bugfixes to the platform required 55+ apps to be rebuilt and resubmitted at the same time. Emails for all 55 apps would come in at the same time every time they changed state (30 or so seconds to receive all 55) and was very consistent through all of our updates.

FWIW, some more anecdotal evidence

1) after the switch to 4.0, updates to my apps that added background audio and support for the high res screen were through in 2 days. during this same period, normal bug fixes took around 12 calendar days

2) just updating images and names can take upwards of 3 weeks for non-popular apps (you think it'd be the opposite)

Re: Apple's Priority Queue

#16

Post by rbritton » Thu, Dec 16, 2010, 7:19 AM UTC

dusing wrote: post #4

We've been getting 2-3 week update approvals and it is killing us on getting bug fixes out. Last year we'd often get 3 day updates. If there is a priority queue, We are on the wrong end of it.

I've actually seen my review time go down as I've made more and more money on my app per day. I was getting 8-9 day turnarounds at the start but now average 2-4 days with only the occasional spike.