Unfortunately, our app, Wundrbar, was in that other 2%.
Now that Wundrbar has finally hit iTunes, we want to share the story of the long, frustrating, and ultimately successful path that led us here. Hopefully we can shed a little light on the process for other developers.
The Beginning
In September of 2008, Wundrbar started working on an iPhone version of our main application -- a quicker way to access the most popular stuff on the web. We built one version, beta tested with a bunch of users, built another version, refined the feature-set, fixed bugs, plugged leaks, and fine-tuned for months. Finally, just before Christmas, we declared the app finished and ready for launch. We celebrated over beers.We had heard a variety of anecdotes about the App Store approval process. Some developers claimed turnaround in a day or two; others said it took a matter of weeks. The general consensus was that approval was initially slow when the App Store launched in July 2008, but that over time the process had become much speedier.
Yet with things generally slowing down around the holidays, and Apple warning about iTunes Connect being closed for a few days around Christmas, we were prepared for our app to take as long as a couple weeks to get approval -- perhaps stretching into the new year. We submitted on December 22nd.
And then the waiting began.
Phone Call After Phone Call After Phone Call After...
Three weeks passed. Our app, according to iTunes Connect, remained "In Review."
Concerned that something might have gone wrong with our submission, we decided to give Apple a call.
To get in touch with Apple, you only have one legitimate option, and that's to call the Apple Developer Connection. We called ADC on January 12th, and were quickly routed to a real person. One point for Apple.
We told the ADC rep that we were calling to inquire about the status of our app, as it had been 3 weeks with no apparent progress. She said that they were backlogged from the holidays, and that 3 weeks wasn't what Apple considers an "unreasonably long" period for approval, but that she would open a "case" for us, and if we hadn't heard from iTunes in a week, we should call back and they would "escalate" our case.
Fine. Another week would be frustrating, but manageable. At least they were now aware of us. She had opened a case, after all!
A week went by. No word from Apple.
As instructed, after the week had passed, we called back. We told the person who answered that our app was still in review after 4 weeks, that we had a case open, and that we wanted him to escalate it. He was very friendly, and agreed to escalate the case. It then occurred to us that we didn't really know what "escalation" meant. So we asked.
Escalation to Nowhere
This is where the oddness of the Apple review process became apparent. The guy at ADC told us that iTunes Connect is a separate entity from ADC, and that the relationship between ADC and iTunes Connect is essentially one-way. That is, ADC can send iTunes Connect notes that a developer called, and/or that they should give a certain app extra attention, but ADC could not glean any information from iTunes Connect about what might be holding up an app, where it stood in the queue, or whether it had even been looked at yet or not. He made iTunes Connect sound like a super-secret, Wonka-esque operation that didn't want to be bothered.
We asked if we could contact iTunes Connect directly to inquire about our app. He said yes -- but only via email, at their general email address, itunesconnect@apple.com.
We sent them an email asking about our app. We have yet to receive a response.
Around week five or six -- we don't even remember at this point -- we called ADC again. The "escalation" seemed to have had no effect, and we wanted to find out if there were any other options. We spoke with a woman who said she would escalate it again.
A second escalation? Who knew! For SURE our app would get reviewed now.
We asked her what she thought the hold-up might be. She went through the standard answers -- the holiday backlog, the heavy influx of submissions, general variations in app complexity, etc. But she could offer no real insights into our particular app, because of the aforementioned one-way relationship with iTunes Connect. Great.
We called ADC for the final time around week 7. This time, the woman who answered told us flatly that they had already escalated our case twice. Therefore, there was nothing more they could do. Apparently two escalations is the max.
A Happy Ending
Finally, after 10 weeks in review, we got a brief email from Apple saying that our app was "Ready For Sale."
While we were happy to finally have the app approved, we still have no explanation as to why it took so long. We've recently read about developers getting their apps approved in a day or two. We've also heard one horror story about an app taking 16 weeks.
Was our app just more complex than others, thus taking longer to review?
We have no idea.
Was there something potentially controversial about our app that required some legal review?
We have no idea.
Could we have done anything else to speed up the process?
We have no idea.
And that's the real problem with this whole process. A complete lack of transparency.
The Problem
For businesses, especially small ones like ours, deciding to devote precious resources to developing iPhone apps is not a trivial matter. If we don't know whether the approval process is going to take 3 days or 3 months, it's a serious disincentive. Because our app fits into a larger business strategy, any hold-up in its release has a ripple effect on other business decisions.
Meanwhile, for individual developers, the process disproportionately favors development of so-called "crap apps." Why should developers invest time in developing complex apps that might take months to review, when they could develop simple apps of limited utility that are more likely to get into the App Store in a day or two?
And good luck to you if your app is time-sensitive, like targeted for a certain holiday or major political or sporting event -- because unless you give Apple a several-month-long headstart, why should you have any confidence that your app will be released in time?
Of course, everyone's experience is different, and if Apple's numbers are right, most developers have sailed through the App Store process. But we know others have experienced frustrations similar to our own. Hopefully if enough developers make their voices heard, Apple will work to ensure that 10-week approval processes like ours become the stuff of legend. Then we'll all be able to spend less time on the phone with ADC, and more time cranking out the great apps that make the App Store such a success.
(Oh, and if you like great apps, please check out Wundrbar for iPhone!)
