Longer App Store Review Times: What You Need to Know

Shopify App Store
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Developer Community :waving_hand:

We’re seeing more of your submissions than ever, apps that solve unique problems for merchants, and we’re genuinely excited about what you’re building.

That said, we want to set expectations: review times are longer than usual right now, and we apologize for the wait.

We’re actively investing in improvements to the application process. We’ll keep you updated as those changes roll out. In the meantime, a few reminders:

Your submission is in the queue

Every submission goes through the same review process, and our team is working through the backlog. Please don’t resubmit, doing so will move you to the back of the queue and delay your review. There’s also no need to contact support for status updates as they all get directed to the same team.

How to help your app move smoothly through review

The best thing you can do while you wait is make sure your app is ready and fully functional. Apps that meet requirements on the first review help us move faster for everyone.

We recommend:

  • Reviewing the App Store requirements before your submission is reviewed

  • Using our Dev MCP to catch common issues before they’re flagged by our team

  • Double-checking your app listing, privacy policy, and test credentials are complete and accurate

A reminder on repeated review failures

Apps that repeatedly fail review may be subject to a temporary suspension. This policy helps ensure ready, compliant apps are reviewed in a timely manner.

We encourage you to use the waiting period to thoroughly test and refine your app rather than resubmitting prematurely.

We appreciate your patience and your commitment to building great experiences for Shopify merchants. We’ll continue investing in tools and processes to improve review times going forward.

Thanks for being part of the community!

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I’m a sucker for good communication.

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Thanks for share this. We are waiting here. Thanks

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We submitted our app back in January and it took 1 month to even get looked at. There was 1 minor issue and it got moved to the back of the queue and we are still waiting and it’s nearly the 4th month of the year. I would of expected that if an app is finally being reviewed that your team would at least communicate and assist with getting the app approved, rather than just saying “nope, fix this, back of the queue you go!”. I only found this post because we opened a ticket on your helpdesk and it wouldn’t hurt to send an email out letting people know where they are in queue so they can plan things with their teams and businesses.

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@MarkT While I appreciate the updates, the current review delays are significantly impacting our timeline. It is frustrating to be placed at the back of the queue for minor feedback that could be clarified instantly. I suggest that when a developer resolves feedback within 24 hours, the app should be prioritised for re-review. This would prevent minor issues from inflating the average review time for everyone.

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Hi Andy, thanks for the feedback. We will look into the email notifications to see where we can add more information to let developers know of status.

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Mark, mine didn’t take as long as Andy’s, but I have to tell you, if you’re reading this, there is so much more you guys could do to help development teams out regarding the process.

Earlier I said I was a sucker for good communication - I was partly hinting/being sarcastic at how nice it was to know that you guys were delayed because the communication is honestly not good in the app approval process. It’s the uncertainty that the team presents that does not allow any developer/team to plan for. Yes, you’re busy, we get it, but if you could improve the process by communicating planned targets that would be great.

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I don’t mind the wait, what the real problem here is their approval process. In what world should you wait for your app to be reviewed and then if needing to fix something you get put to the back of the queue.

For example currently it’s 1 to 1.5 month wait. If you need to fix 4 or 5 things we’re looking at 5-6 months to even get your application approved. If Shopify then says “Well you shouldn’t need to fix 4 or 5 things and it should be all correct before submitting” seriously has never been in application dev before.

Multi billion dollar company with processes of a small one man company. Just baffles me…

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@MarkT

This is really frustrating. Even with one of our Apps having the “Built for Shopify” Badge and docs saying “Developers with Built for Shopify status get priority review when submitting additional apps in future.”

We are waiting 4 weeks now and did not get any review.

Yann

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18 days in, no updates for how you are “actively investing in improvements”?

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@MarkT 1 month has passed, but still no response. Can you tell us how long we have to wait around here?

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We too have been waiting for almost a month, unfortunately still no news, I hope the process is quick

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Entered the 4th week waiting to publish Shopify app (App ID: 269290176513) that was submitted on 21 February and reviewer is not even assigned yet. Got a whole bunch of merchants waiting. Customer service is more focused on my feelings that actually helping out and giving answers. What should I do?

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@MarkT We initially submitted our app for review on 19th January, but it was rejected for two minor issues - one of which was that your reviewers couldn’t access our screencast URL on their browser because it was blocked on their side, which we could have never known!

We then resubmitted 19th February - within hours of the original feedback - and are seeing “We’re assigning a reviewer to your submission”. It’s actually changed from “we’re reviewing your submission” randomly overnight too.

This process is having a material impact on our business. We’ve missed partner launch dates and I have no idea if/when this will ever actually be reviewed. Support chats have been confusing, frustrating and have not helped me understand what’s going on. They’ve also been contradictory.

What’s going on?!

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@MarkT what about account with BFS app? do they still get priority?

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To anyone recently reviewed, how long did it take? Just to check what the review timing is atm.

We submitted on Feb 19, still waiting to get a reviewer assigned.

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We also submitted on Feb 19, still waiting

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We submitted our app over a month ago, fixed one of the issues last week on the 12th. We are waiting still for approval.

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@MarkT We submitted our app over a month ago, fixed one of the issues last week on the 12th. We are waiting still for approval.