SimplyTweet 2.2 has just been approved and someone commented that a bug which they reported was not fixed. Actually, I have already fixed it in my codebase and beta testers already have that fix in their hands for quite some time now. What happened?
iPhone applications are allowed to be downloaded from the App store only after going through an approval process. Every update has to be submitted to Apple for approval. Paid and free app go through the same process. Once a developer submits an update for approval, it usually takes 1-2 weeks for it to be approved or rejected. Apple says 94% of updates are processed within 14 days. (SimplyTweet 2.2 was rejected after 26 days, I'm in the top 6%, so unlucky of me). Now, the key thing is, for each application, you can only have 1 update submitted at a time, if you resubmit an update, be it voluntary (you want to fix something broken in that update) or the update was rejected, that update goes to the end of the queue again.
This means that if a developer submitted an update, and let's say it takes an average of 14 days to be approved (we never know, no estimated time is ever given other than the statistic above). On the 7th day, the developer somehow found out that there is a bug in that update. Let us say it is a very simple fix. If the developer decides to fix it and re-submit the update, he will need to wait a fresh 14 days again, i.e a total of 21 days. Again, we'll never know exactly how many days it will take, hence making the problem worse.
What I personally do for SimplyTweet is, unless it is a very critical bug, I will just let it through. Yes, I will have to allow an update with a bug to go through, hoping at the same time that it is not found in the review process, which it almost never does. You got to wonder what the review process is for. I need to do this because pulling the update back and resubmitting the fix doesn't put the fix into the hands of the users faster.
— The Dave · Sep 6, 12:13 AM · #
Ah, you are right. The exact wording is:
“Based on the current volume of app submissions, 96% of applications are being approved within 14 days.” (oh, it’s 96% now).
I had thought it went like this:
1. I submitted SimplyTweet 2.2
2. 26 days pass by
3. They looked at the submission, not the app yet, mind you, just the meta data. And they see a keyword they don’t approve of. They reject it and send me an email about it.
4. I re-submitted in 2 minutes after changing the keywords.
5. The wait cycle starts again. (to their credit, it took 6 days for the 2nd submission)
When it actually was this:
1. I submitted SimplyTweet 2.2
2. 14 days pass by
3. They looked at the submission, not the app yet, mind you, just the meta data. And they see a keyword they don’t approve of. *They decide to reject it, but they leave it there*
4. They wait 12 days.
5. They reject it and send me an email about it.
6. I re-submitted in 2 minutes after changing the keywords.
7. The wait cycle starts again. (to their credit, it took 6 days for the 2nd submission).
The mind boggles :)
— Hwee-Boon · Sep 6, 12:35 AM · #