Publish current average Waiting for Review times.
When we submit an update to Apple for review, we have no idea how long it will take to be reviewed, making it very difficult to plan releases. Lately, my Mac App Store versions have taken unusually long to review, sometimes four days for some reason, which I’ve never seen before.
Allow developers to replace a build while still Waiting for Review.
Sometimes we discover a bug or other issue with the app after the app has already been submitted to Apple but before it has started review. In order to fix a bug, we have to remove our own submission for review, upload a new build, and start the review process over again, going to the back of the queue. It would be nice if we could keep our place in the queue and simply fix the bug before Apple reviews the app.
Allow multiple platforms builds (iOS, macOS, visionOS) to be submitted and reviewed together instead of forcing separate submissions.
My app StopTheMadness Pro is a Universal Purchase for iOS and macOS, yet Apple forces me to submit the iOS and macOS app updates separately, each going through an independent review process, perhaps with different reviewers, that can take different amounts of time and have different outcomes, even though I release these updates simultaneously. Ironically, Apple is actually punishing developers for making native apps on each of Apple’s platforms! (In contrast, if I made an “iOS app on Mac,” then there would be only one review.) We should be able to submit app updates for multiple platforms together, so that one reviewer will review all the platforms at the same time.
Allow revision of App Store metadata after an app version has already been published.
Apple reviews your App Store metadata such as What’s New along with your app. Once the review is completed, you can’t change the metadata. If you publish an update, then discover a typo in the release notes, too bad!
We should be able to edit the metadata after an app has been published. Apple can of course review the edits before the metadata is changed in the App Store.
Allow developers to revert the published version of an app in the App Store to the previously published version if significant new bugs are detected.
Send email notifications when an App Store user publishes a new review.
For some bizarre reason, Apple sends us an email notification when an App Store user edits their preexisting review of your app but not when an App Store user writes a new review of your app. Every day I have to manually load twelve App Store Connect pages of reviews (which I’ve bookmarked)—five iOS/macOS apps each with separate reviews, one Mac app, and one visionOS app—to check whether there are new reviews. This is absurd.
Send daily email notifications of unit sales and proceeds.
Again, I have to log in to App Store Connect in order to check these manually.
Make a native App Store Connect app for Mac.
For some reason there’s a native App Store Connect app on iOS but not on macOS.
Stop using a session cookie for developer website logins!
Apple developer websites such as appstoreconnect.apple.com, developer.apple.com, and feedbackassistant.apple.com use a session cookie (myacinfo) for account logins. This means that whenever I quit my web browser, I’m logged out of my developer account and have to login again the next time. This is endlessly frustrating! And it’s unlike most other websites I use, which remain logged in practically forever.
Worse, Apple keeps expiring our two-factor authentication, so not only do we need to login with every new browser session, we also need to provide 2FA frequently, I think once a week? Every Apple device in my home makes an audible noise when there’s a pending 2FA request, and of course this always seems to happen first thing in the morning when I login.
Make App Store Connect faster and less error-prone.
App Store Connect is one of the slowest websites I’ve ever used. It’s painfully slow. What is Apple running it on, an old PowerPC iMac? And App Store Connect frequently shows errors on page load, which can be resolved only by (slowly) reloading the page. The software engineering here is terrible.
Allow hiding of unpublished or removed apps on https://appstoreconnect.apple.com/apps
I have six apps and five app bundles that I’ve removed from sale on the App Store over the years, but they all still appear on my Apps page in App Store Connect, pointlessly filling the page. We should be able to archive these old items and hide them from the list.
Automatically create financial reports instead of making us manually “Create Reports” on https://appstoreconnect.apple.com/itc/payments_and_financial_reports#/
There’s a “Create Reports” button at the top of the Payments and Financial Reports section of App Store Connect that creates reports for each month, by country or all countries. It’s a very laborious and slow process. If I ever need to go back and look at some month, for some reason App Store Connect has to “generate” the report anew every time. Why can’t the reports be automatically generated and saved by Apple for quick access? After all, App Store Connect obviously already has all the data required to generate the reports.
Stop sending a 1.2 MB promo code email—without any actual promo codes!—every time we generate a promo code.
Every time we generate a promo code in App Store Connect, we get an automated email titled “Your Promo Codes for the App Store.” However, these emails do not include our promo codes! Instead they include a .pdf.zip file attachment, a compressed 19 MB pdf document listing the App Store Promo Codes Distribution Terms for each and every country in the App Store. It’s totally redundant, useless, and pointless.
Generate platform-agnostic promo codes for Universal Purchases.
Several of my apps are a Universal Purchase for iOS and macOS. But for some reason, all promo codes are platform-specific. I have to choose whether to generate a Mac App Store promo code or an iOS App Store promo code. The former cannot be redeemed in the iOS App Store, and the latter cannot be redeemed in the Mac App Store, though iOS App Store promo codes can be redeemed on Mac in the Music app!
The lack of platform-agnostic promo codes is especially problematic when I’m sending them to journalists, and I don’t know in advance which kind of device they’ll use to redeem the code.
Feature parity between the App Store Connect app and website.
For example, promo codes can be generated only on the website, not in the iOS app. Also, the iOS app apparently doesn’t show the status of a freshly submitted app waiting for TestFlight approval.
Allow developers to refund App Store purchases.
Only Apple can refund App Store purchases. Nonetheless, App Store customers do not understand this, and they contact App Store developers for refunds. Unfortunately, we cannot provide refunds; we can only send the customers off to Apple. Worse, Apple sometimes rejects customer refund requests, for no apparent reason. All refunds are at Apple’s discretion or indiscretion. And who suffers from this? Not only App Store customers but also we App Store developers. The untrustworthy refund process makes potential customers wary to spend money in the App Store.
Make Mac app TestFlight reviews work like iOS ones, and not require a full review for every build, only for version bumps.
For some strange reason, TestFlight works differently for iOS apps and Mac apps. Every single new Mac app build requires a new review from Apple, which can take days, often slower than regular App Store review. This makes TestFlight a major pain to use on Mac.
I’m not sure why TestFlight requires Apple review at all.
Don’t clear an app’s Promotional Text in App Store Connect on every new version.
A developer told me that they never change the Promotional Text, but every time the developer creates a new version, they have to re-add the Promotional Text using the awkward web UI every time, in multiple languages.
Automatically import more metadata from app builds.
Copyright is one example. In fact, App Store Connect could automatically create a new app version when a new version is uploaded, instead of forcing developers to manually create new versions in App Store Connect.
Reduce the number of automated App Store review status emails.
There are a lot of pointless and sometimes redundant emails such as “Prepare for Submission,” “Ready for Review,” “Developer Rejected,” and “Review of your submission is complete.” All we need are “Waiting for Review,” “In Review,” and “Pending Developer Release” or “Ready for Distribution.”
App Store Connect should not cache the icon from a previous app build when the latest build has a new icon.
Remember the last selected Apple developer account in App Store Connect.
If you belong to multiple teams, there’s a dropdown in the top right corner of App Store Connect to select a team. A developer told me that when logging into App Store Connect, it frequently selects an old developer account has hasn’t been touched for years, from a previous company.
Improve Apple Developer Support, which is the worst.
I become extremely frustrated every time I need to contact Apple Developer Support. The support representatives are incompetent and have no reading comprehension. Their principal goal appears to be to make developers go away, not to resolve their issues. My latest complaints about Apple Developer support are described in a recent blog post.
Make the iCloud token expiration in the iOS simulator longer than 24 hours.
Allow more control over release rollout, arbitrary rollout percentages at arbitrary times.
Allow App Store users on older versions of iOS to purchase the last compatible version of an app.
A developer told me that this one of the most frequent support requests, and the main reason that they still support iOS 15.
Provide a way to install unlisted applications on Apple TV.
Typically, unlisted applications are installed by giving the customer the URL of the App Store page. They then click to install. But Apple TV has no web browser. You can still create unlisted Apple TV apps, but the only way to install them is 1) have a version on another platform, 2) get the user to install that version, 3) open the app store on the Apple TV and go to purchased apps, 4) look under 'apps not installed on this device.'
Show a “contact developer” button when an App Store user leaves a 1 to 3 star rating.
Allow developers to label App Store reviews as support requests or bug reports, hide those reviews from the App Store (after review by Apple, like they already do with developer replies), and notify the App Store user to contact the developer instead.
When an App Store user searches for an app by name, the app should appear first in the results.
This should be obvious, right??? Unfortunately, though, this is not the way the App Store works. The developer of QwikCards contacted me with a sad example, which I could reproduce. Notice below that the App Store knows enough to autocomplete my typing with the full name of the app.
Nonetheless, the top result—after the advertisement, of course—is not QwikCards but rather MaxRewards.
Ridiculously, QwikCards appears near the bottom of the search results. There were so many results ahead of it that I gave up taking screenshots of them all, pages and pages and pages of results. Notice the position of the scrollbar below.
The current App Store search algorithm is a gross disservice to both App Store developers and App Store users.
Bring back Apple Developer Program tiers.
Many years ago, before the iPhone, when the Mac was Apple’s only developer platform, the Apple Developer Program had multiple tiers. The higher tiers had expensive annual fees, with correspondingly greater benefits. Eventually, Apple decided to simplify and flatten the developer program so that all developers, from anonymous hobbyists to the largest corporations in the world, pay the same $99 USD annual fee and receive he same (poor) services. I hear that a few select, important developers are assigned personal contacts inside Apple; obviously I’m not that important myself.
My livelihood depends on the App Store. I would pay a lot for better services from Apple, for example, personal support, or priority in app reviews. This may become even more crucial if AI slop submissions start clogging the app review queues, which may already be happening. Yesterday, 9to5Mac published an article about vibe-coded App Store submissions and review times.
Review app updates post-release for proven developers.
This is admittedly a somewhat controversial idea, but it would vastly improve the App Store experience for developers. I’ve been an App Store developer for nine years, released a number of apps, countless updates of the apps, and never got into trouble, certainly never submitted malware. I’ve had some updates reject by app review for trivial, technical, easily correctable issues. The question is, at what point does Apple start to trust me a little bit? We’ve had a mutually beneficial relationship for a long time: Apple has earned commission from my apps, and I’ve never harmed Apple users. Still, I can’t release any bug fixes to my apps without going through review first, which can take many days. I can request an expedited review, but Apple says they strictly limit those requests. Why couldn’t Apple allow me to release an update to users and review the update sometime after the update appears in the App Store? If app review finds a problem, then Apple can remove the app if the problem is bad enough, or they can ask me to revise the app soon if the problem is only minor.
I believe that reviewing apps after they appear in the App Store would actually help to catch more problems. Currently, it’s relatively easy for a mischievous developer to slip something past app review: make the app behave nicely while it’s under review, then after the app is approved by Apple, flip a server-side switch to change the app’s behavior. This is precisely what happened with the infamous case of Fortnite. Epic Games submitted an update, which Apple approved, and then once the update appeared in the App Store, Epic games flipped a switch, and the app began to bypass Apple’s In-App Purchase restrictions. App review failed to catch this beforehand.