App Store review transparency for resubmissions and review loops

Shopify App Store
1

Hi everyone,

I wanted to share our experience with the Shopify App Store review process and ask whether other developers have seen the same issue.

We first submitted our app in March. The process was difficult to navigate, mainly because the status and timelines were not clear. We eventually paused for a few months because it was hard to know where we stood or what to expect.

We resumed after seeing comments that review wait times had improved. At first, it did seem faster. We were assigned a reviewer more quickly, which was encouraging. But after some back and forth, including what seemed to be a misunderstanding of how our platform works, we ended up back in another long wait.

We have now been waiting about three weeks for the review or approval process to continue. At the same time, we have seen other developers enter the review flow and receive responses within days, and some apps appear to be reviewed within a week.

The hardest part is the lack of transparency. I understand there is review volume, but a clear timeline would make the process much less stressful. Even a simple queue update or expected review window would help developers plan better.

For example:

  • “Your expected review window is 2-4 weeks.”
  • “Your app is likely to be reviewed within 5 days.”

Other platforms also deal with review volume, but when they give a timeline, it is usually clear and easier to plan around. With Shopify, the current experience feels too open-ended, especially for apps already stuck in a review loop.

I hope Shopify can improve this by bringing back clearer review timelines and better queue visibility. A more transparent process would make a big difference for developers.

Also, if anyone from Shopify app store review team sees this, we would really appreciate help getting our app review moving again.

2

Same experience here, so you’re not imagining the inconsistency.

Three things that actually moved the needle for us:

Keep a short written changelog with every resubmission, one line per reviewer comment and what you changed in response. Reviewers rotate, and a resubmission that reads as “here is exactly what changed since your last note” gets picked up much faster than one that looks like a fresh build.

When a reviewer misunderstands how the product works, stop writing paragraphs and send a 60 to 90 second screen recording of the exact flow they flagged. Two of our review loops collapsed into a single pass once we started doing that.

After about ten business days of silence, open a Partner Support ticket referencing the app review and ask for a status update rather than an escalation. It is not guaranteed, but it is the only channel that has ever unstuck a stalled review for us.

We took Sleek Bundles, our bundle and upsell app at Ecom Swift LLC, through this same resubmission loop earlier this year, so happy to compare notes if you want a sanity check on where you actually are in the process.

if this helped, please mark it a solution