App suspended another full month after we fixed the prior issue. Is this really the expected App Review process?

Shopify App Store
1

I’m posting because our public app submission has now been suspended again until July 02, 2026, and frankly…this process is becoming extremely frustrating and commercially unworkable.

We understand Shopify has App Review standards. We understand the importance of protecting merchants. We are not asking Shopify to ignore quality requirements.

But…we fixed the previous issue.

After the prior suspension, App Review identified a specific problem with the reviewer path. We corrected it, updated the reviewer instructions, updated the proof page and screencast, and re-tested the flow in production.

Then we resubmitted.

Yet…now…App Review has identified a different issue, and instead of being able to correct and resubmit, we have been suspended again, but for longer…a full month. What??

That is the part that makes no sense from the developer side.

The issue itself is not the problem. If there is something wrong, we want to fix it and will. The problem is being locked out for another month every time a newly identified, fixable issue is found.

This is our first Shopify app, we are doing out best and we’re being penalized. We have done research on how to go about this process, following the guidelines to the best of our ability.

Right now, the process feels like this:

  1. App Review finds one singular issue.

  2. We fix that issue.

  3. We resubmit with proof.

  4. App Review finds a different issue.

  5. The app gets suspended again, for even longer.

That is simply not a workable loop.

We are trying to build on Shopify. We are trying to bring more brand and product volume into the Shopify ecosystem. But if every fixable review-path issue creates another month-long lockout, we have to seriously ask whether Shopify actually wants this workflow and this volume on the platform.

Because if the answer is that we must wait a full month every time a reviewer finds a new correctable issue, then we practically have no choice but to build this workflow outside the Shopify App Store path and route that brand/product volume elsewhere.

That is not what we want. We want to build this correctly through Shopify. But we need a workable path.

We need one of the following:

  1. Earlier resubmission access once the correction is made.

  2. Reconsideration of the July 02 suspension date.

  3. A direct answer that no earlier path is possible, so we can make a business decision accordingly.

We are not asking to bypass App Review standards. We are asking for a practical way to fix a specific issue without being locked out for a full month after already fixing the previous issue.

I’m sure we are not the only team that has run into this kind of loop.

If Shopify wants serious developers, new partners, and more business volume on the platform, there needs to be a better way to correct specific review feedback than suspending the app for another month every time a new issue is found.

2

was your app already published and you resubmit app after fixing issues? or it was the process of publishing the app for first time

3

In process of publishing for the first time.

We submitted it for review, they found one issue (suspended for 3 weeks), we fixed that issue, updated the instructions/proof/screencast, and resubmitted.

Then the next review found a different issue, which is fine, we can fix it…honestly in less than an hour or two or at most a day.

The frustrating part is instead of just letting us fix and resubmit again within a REASONABLE timeframe, it got suspended (again) for another entire full month.

So now it feels like we fix one thing, wait, they find the next thing, then we get locked out again for an OVERLY EXTENDED PENALIZED timeframe.

No one’s perfect, especially for our first Shopify app. It’s a whole new process for us. Doing the best we can.

4

Hey @mixedbycr, I understand why this feels frustrating, especially on a first submission where the process is new.

For context, the key expectation is that apps should be fully QA’d and ready for merchant use before they’re submitted for review. Our review process isn’t meant to work as an iterative QA pass where one issue is fixed, then the next untested issue is found on the following submission.

We’ve documented how temporary suspensions work here:

These controls help keep the review queue focused on apps that are ready for production.

Before your next submission, I’d recommend doing a full pass against our App Store requirements, not just the most recent reviewer note. Our Shopify AI Toolkit can help with this: run /shopify-app-store-review before resubmitting, then rerun it after any fixes.

5

Hey @KyleG-Shopify, I understand the expectation that apps should be fully QA’d and ready before submission.

The part I’m pushing back on is not that App Review found another issue. If there is an issue, we want to fix it.

The problem is the length and structure of the suspension.

We fixed the prior issue App Review identified, updated the instructions/proof/screencast, ran the Shopify AI review tool, and re-tested the flow in production. The Shopify AI review check passed, and I can provide screenshot proof of that.

So while the AI review tool is appreciated, clearly it did not catch the issue that led to this new suspension. That makes the month-long suspension feel even more excessive, because we did use the tool Shopify recommended before resubmitting.

I resubmitted last night. Today I woke up to an email saying the next review found a different issue, which we can also fix quickly.

But instead of being able to correct that new issue and resubmit in a reasonable timeframe, we’re now suspended for another full month.

That is the part that feels counterproductive.

A few days or even a week to prevent careless resubmissions would make sense. A full month for a first-time app submission, after a newly discovered fixable issue, feels and is excessive.

That does not help us ship a better app faster, and it does not help Shopify get more quality apps or more merchant/product volume onto the platform.

We are not asking Shopify to lower standards. We are asking for a more workable path when the feedback is specific, fixable, and the developer is actively correcting it.

At minimum, there should be a way to request earlier resubmission after a verified fix, especially when the issue can be resolved in hours or a day, not a month.

An entire month does not help anyone, and it’s not like it took days for a new review. I resubmitted yesterday evening/night and was suspended today. Clearly, Shopify is able to review the submission quickly, so the full-month lockout feels disproportionate, respectfully.

6

My first App submission is also suspended not because of a bug but because the very last step was not obvious even though it is written on the page for the reviewer. That is OK, such things can be fixed easily but I believe Suspension is now becoming a way of Punishment on Shopify. It is actually a penalty which is a bit heavy in my opinion, first app submission, no bug but reviewer issue, 2 weeks of suspension to request a new review. 2 weeks, 1 month I believe these are too heavy Especially for the ones who are going through it for the first time.

7

I appreciate the feedback here and I will be sure to pass that on.

I do want to clarify that suspensions do only occur after 2 or more failed reviews, so it is not an immediate suspension on a first pass or failure.

In addition to that, failures happen when one of the core requirements are not met. In a lot of cases, the review will end at that point, so this is why when you fix that issue the app review is then finding additional issues.

That said, the first suspension should not be a month. For a month long suspension it’s typically after repeated suspensions (minimum 4 or more failures). If you’ve seen less than that, do reach out to our support teams in the help center so they can take a look.

8

shopify’s rule says that if the same problem is not fixed again and again, then the app is suspended.

But if the problem is something different, then i think it should not be suspended.

Nowadays, coding is so fast, so why developers are being forced to wait for months.

9

Adding one more follow-up because this is the larger issue for us.

This is our first Shopify app submission.

We can read the docs, run the Shopify AI review tool, follow the requirements, test on our side, update the screencast, and still not fully know what App Review is going to flag until an actual reviewer goes through it.

That is the reality of a submission.

So yes, maybe some of this is user error. Maybe there are things we misunderstood or did not catch before review. Fair.

But we are actively fixing the issues.

We fixed the prior issue. We resubmitted with proof. A new issue was found. We can fix that too.

What feels unreasonable is being locked out for another full month every time a new fixable issue is discovered.

That does not feel like a quality process. It feels like a penalty loop.

A short cooldown to prevent careless resubmissions makes sense. A full month for a first-time app submission, where the developer is actively correcting specific feedback, feels and frankly is excessive.

And we all need to be honest: AI tools are here. Open-source commerce tools like Medusa are here. Developers have more options now.

If Shopify wants serious developers, new partners, and more brand/product volume on the platform, the process should help good-faith developers correct issues faster, not make them sit frozen for weeks after every newly discovered item.

Otherwise, the process starts pushing volume away from Shopify instead of bringing it in.

We are not asking Shopify to lower standards.

We are asking for a commercially workable correction path.

Users will start using Medusa and other platforms like Amboras when they’re being unnecessarily penalized like this.

10

Hey @mixedbycr, thanks for that additional feedback. I’ve passed it along on your behalf to be considered for future improvements to the review process. :memo:

For visibility, here’s a TLDR of what was submitted: developers fixing identified review issues face escalating suspension durations when a different issue is found on the next pass, creating a loop that blocks good-faith first-time developers from launching. The ask is for shorter cooldowns or an expedited resubmission path once a correction has been made.

11

Going through almost the exact same loop on one of my apps right now, so adding my notes:

The single biggest thing that has shortened our cycle is treating the App Review reviewer instructions as a numbered checklist, not as prose. Every “Critical - Not met” item gets a one-line statement of what we changed, with a screenshot or a 30-second clip showing the change live. The reviewer’s job is to confirm the fix, not to re-derive what was broken. If you make them re-derive it, you eat a full review cycle every time.

The second thing: the dashboard “Critical - Not met” badge is the canonical source. Email cadence has been unreliable for months and we have stopped relying on it. We refresh the listing page in the dashboard after every submission and read the badges directly.

The third thing, which sounds petty but matters: keep the resubmit notes tight. We were originally writing context paragraphs in the notes field and reviewers were skimming past them. Now we lead with a literal one-line summary (“Item 1: fixed. Item 2: fixed. Item 3: was a misunderstanding, see screencast at 0:42 for clarification.”) and the cycle time on the next pass shortens noticeably.

On escalation: if you have a partner manager assigned, that is the right channel for “we believe the reviewer missed the fix”. The community thread and the general support form both lose visibility on systemic-rejection patterns. Partner managers can escalate into App Review directly and pull the reviewer’s notes for you.

The unworkable part you are describing - a month of opportunity cost per resubmit - is real and other app builders are raising it too. It is worth keeping the public threads going because the cumulative volume does eventually reach App Review’s leadership. The current cycle length, especially for repeat-fix cases, is not sustainable for an app builder running on a tight runway.

12

I’d like to add my experience here as well, because our app has run into a very similar issue during review.

In our case, we have just received a three-week suspension. Our app, and the overall project behind it, is still under active development, and some features have continued to change during this period. Because of that, it is difficult to completely avoid situations where certain features are slightly different from when the app was first submitted.

Even though we ran the Shopify AI review tool and passed the listed requirements, an issue still appeared at one specific step in the review process.

I understand that Shopify does not want the App Review team to become a QA team for developers. That is fair. However, when an app needs to go through multiple reviews, and the next suspension can be extended to a full month, it has a serious impact on a product’s normal launch plan.

I hope the team can consider a more practical rule. For example, if an issue is found, developers could be required to fix it quickly and provide a clear explanation, screenshots, and a short video showing the fix. Increasing the quality and detail of the evidence required for the fix may be more helpful than simply increasing the suspension period.

I believe most teams want to actively fix issues and move forward in good faith. However, because communication is mostly limited to emails and review notes, misunderstandings and delays can easily happen.

To avoid making the review team act as QA, I think a compromise would be better: keep the review standards high, but create a more efficient correction path for developers who are clearly making active fixes and providing proper evidence.

This would benefit both Shopify’s review process and developers who are trying to launch serious products on the platform.