What happens after you submit an app to the App Store is mostly waiting, then one decision nobody makes for you.
Nothing happens for a few hours, and that is the good outcome. The build sits in Waiting for Review while a queue moves, and Apple's own figure is that 90 percent of submissions are reviewed in less than 24 hours. So the honest answer to the waiting question is about a day, not the week of folklore. The rest of this page is the part that actually catches people: the statuses you will see and whose move each one is, what a rejection costs, and the fact that approved does not mean live. If the build is not sent yet, start with publishing to the App Store and come back.
The answer then splits by what you sent. A first version of a brand new app is checked against everything at once, including your listing text and your account details, so the first pass is the one most likely to come back with a message. An update to a live app usually moves faster, can ask for an expedited review when something is broken, and can be released to users a slice at a time.
See which status you are inThe short version
One day of review, then a button only you can press.
Waiting for app approval surprises people twice. The review is faster than they expected, and the release is slower, because it is waiting on them. If you chose to release manually, approval only parks the version in Pending Developer Release. Nothing reaches the store until you click.
The other surprise is what rejections are made of. Apple says more than 40 percent of unresolved issues relate to guideline 2.1, App Completeness, which covers crashes, placeholder content and incomplete information. That is not a policy argument. That is a reviewer opening your app and finding a screen that does not work, or no way to log in.
How long the wait really is
App Store review time is published, so use the number instead of the folklore. On average, 90 percent of submissions are reviewed in less than 24 hours, and you are notified by email when the status changes. Plan around a day. Do not plan around an hour, and do not promise anyone a launch time that only works if review is instant.
The average hides one thing worth knowing. Apple also says that an incomplete submission may be delayed or may not pass. Incomplete means the demo account you did not provide, the login that needs a code you did not explain, the hardware the reviewer does not have on the desk. Those submissions are the long tail, and you choose whether you are in it.
A build can also wait without being reviewed at all. Waiting for Export Compliance means your encryption paperwork is in Apple's export review. Pending Apple Release means Apple is holding the version until the matching iOS version is public. Neither is a queue you can hurry, and neither is a rejection.
If the goal is finished app to live listing inside one working day, that is a narrower question with its own checklist, and how fast it can go is the page for it.
Apple Developer, App Review: review status, common issues, expedited reviews
The statuses you will see, and whose move each one is
The app review process reaches you as a short list of statuses. Waiting for Review means Apple has your submission and has not started. In Review means someone is looking at it. Then it forks: accepted, Rejected, or Metadata Rejected, which is the gentler one because the build is fine and the listing is not. There is also Developer Rejected, which reads like a verdict and is not one. It only means you removed the build from review yourself.
The limit people hit while waiting is editing. Apple says that while a submission is Waiting for Review you can edit certain app information and remove items from review, but you cannot upload or edit screenshots or app previews. So the typo you spot in screenshot three is not a quick fix. It means pulling the submission and going back into the queue.
Two statuses look like failures and are not review opinions at all. Invalid Binary means the build does not meet current build requirements, so you upload another one. Processing for Distribution means the app is on its way and should be ready within 24 hours. Most of the statuses that need you are really about the listing, which is why the app store requirements are cheaper to read before you submit than after.
App Store Connect Help, app and submission statuses
Try it
Which status are you staring at?
Pick the one App Store Connect is showing you, and see whose move it is.
Waiting for Review
Who is waiting: Apple. It has your submission and has not started.
What you do now: Nothing useful. You can still edit some app information, but not screenshots.
What comes next: In Review. Apple reviews 90 percent of submissions in under a day.
What a rejection costs, and what it does not
A rejection is a message with a guideline number attached, not a judgement on the idea. Apple notifies the Admin, App Manager and Developer users on the account, names the guidelines the submission did not follow, and expects a reply. Metadata Rejected usually costs an edit and a reply with the same build. A rejected build usually costs a new build.
Before you assume the problem is policy, read Apple's own breakdown. More than 40 percent of unresolved issues relate to guideline 2.1, App Completeness: crashes, placeholder content, incomplete information. The reviewer is a person holding a device, and the most common way to fail is that the app did not work for them. Which is why app testing before launch does more for your odds than any wording in the review notes.
If a tool wrote your code, the rule someone will send you is 4.2.6. It says apps created from a commercialized template or app generation service will be rejected, and then adds the clause that matters, "unless they are submitted directly by the provider of the app's content". The target is a service that submits apps on behalf of its clients. If the app is yours, the content is yours, and you submit it from your own developer account, the rule is not describing you. The guidelines say nothing at all about how the code was written, so treat "Apple rejects AI apps" as noise.
Two other things are worth knowing before you argue with anyone. Apple warns that submitting several apps that are essentially the same ties up review and risks not passing, which is a real risk if you generate five variations of one idea. And if you believe a submission was misread, there is an appeal to the App Review Board: one appeal per submission, and answer their questions before you file it. On a bug fix update, if review turns up extra issues, you can reply to Apple's offer message and ask to fix those in the next submission instead.
Approved is not live, and that part is on you
App Store Connect asks how the version should be released, and you answer before you submit. Release it yourself, release automatically after approval, or release automatically after review but no earlier than a date and time you set. Choose the first and approval only moves the status to Pending Developer Release. Apple emails a reminder if a version sits there for more than 30 days, which tells you how often this is forgotten.
Even after you press release, live is not instant. The version processes for distribution, which Apple describes as ready within 24 hours, and each country or region carries its own availability status while that settles. One more trap sits behind Ready for Distribution: your agreements have to be in effect, and only the Account Holder can accept the current ones. A launch can be held up by a checkbox in the Business section.
For updates, and only for updates, there is phased release. Apple drips the new version to people with automatic updates over seven days, from 1 percent on day one to 50 percent on day six, and you can pause it for up to 30 days in total. It is a good habit and a weak safety net, because anyone can still download the newest version by hand at any time. A bad build is never actually held back from everyone.
Whose move it is, once the build is submitted
| Status you see | Who is waiting | Usually needs a new build | Starts a new review | What moves it forward |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Waiting for Review | Apple | No | No | Time. You can edit some app information, but not screenshots. |
| In Review | Apple | No | No | Time, or an expedited request if a live app is broken. |
| Metadata Rejected | You | No | Yes | Fix the listing, then reply to App Review with the same build. |
| Rejected | You | Yes | Yes | A build that answers the cited guideline, plus a reply. |
| Pending Developer Release | You | No | No | You press Release. Apple nudges you after 30 days. |
Where the app itself comes from
None of this is about code. It is a queue, a listing and a button. Worth saying, because the part people dread is the part they control least, and the part they control most is whether the app works on a stranger's phone.
Newly is an AI app builder. You describe the app in plain English and it writes a real React Native and TypeScript project you own, runs it on cloud iOS and Android simulators while it builds, and uploads the finished build to App Store Connect and TestFlight. It is $25 a month and there is no free plan. One boundary matters for this page: the upload is automated, the submission is not. Pressing Submit for Review, choosing the release option and answering App Review stay with you, in App Store Connect, under your own developer account.
New apps start local first, with their data on the phone and no accounts, which also means less to explain in the review notes. Ask for accounts, shared data or syncing and the agent adds a backend, and from then on your review notes need a working demo account. Write it down while you still remember the password. A missing test login is one of the cheapest rejections there is.
Questions people ask while an app is in review
Apple says that on average 90 percent of submissions are reviewed in less than 24 hours, and that you are notified by email when the status changes. It also says an incomplete submission may be delayed or may not pass, so that figure describes complete submissions. Plan on a day, and expect the first version of a brand new app to take longer than an update.
The queue is the easy part
Get the app working on a real device, put the demo account in the review notes, and decide now whether approval should publish itself or wait for your click.
Start building