iTunes Connect Expedited Review

Name Shark (http://namesharkapp.com) is still sitting in the state of "Metadata Rejected" four days after we resubmitted the metadata.  Beginning to get nervous, I submitted a request for expedited review.  We are presenting at 1 Million Cups Provo on Wednesday, November 5th, and it's pretty important that we have a version for attendees to download on that day so we can get their feedback.

Requesting an Expedited Review

Here's how we requested an expedited review (from App Review - Support):

Here is the form to make the request: https://developer.apple.com/appstore/contact/?topic=expedite (you must be logged in with you iOS developer account.)

The form looks like this:

My understanding is that you need to have a good reason.

Take note that you will, "Select the reason you are requesting an expedited app review."  Then you, "Provide a detailed explanation of the reason you selected." Apple warns that, "Your request may be denied if you do not provide sufficient details."  My understanding is that they really do need a good reason with supporting details.

In our case, we do have an event where we are the presenters, and we'll be talking primarily about the app that hasn't been approved yet.

Notification of Approval or Rejection

We submitted this request on Friday at 4:00 PM PT.  On Monday at 11:25 AM PST, I received the following email from "App Review (do_not_reply@apple.com)"

Hello Benjamin Larson,

Thank you for contacting App Store Review to request an expedited review. We have made a one-time exception and will proceed with an expedited review of Name Shark.

We understand that situations can arise which require more immediate attention and have developed the Expedited Review Process for such situations. We want to remind you that expedited reviews cannot be guaranteed and are provided on a limited basis. Therefore, we may not be able to accommodate additional requests in the future.

If your app is rejected during this review, it is not necessary to request another Expedited Review when you resubmit. Once you revise and resubmit your binary (or metadata, in the case of a Metadata Rejection), your app will be automatically returned to the expedite queue.

Best Regards,

App Store Review

Expedited Review Queue Wait Time

At 5:58 PST, the status on our app changed to "In Review".  At 7:03 PM PST the status changed to "Pending Developer Release" because we marked that we wanted to release it manually.  This means it is approved!  Finally!

So, for us the Expedited Review Queue wait time was approximately 7 1/2 hours.

The whole process since requesting an Expedited Review took just over 3 days.  I suspect it would have been shorter if we hadn't requested the review on Friday at 4:00 PM.  I read that they only approve the Expedited Reviews M-F during work hours, but the actual reviews go all weekend and at nights.