App Store: When App and IAP Reviews Fall Out of Sync

Updated Oct 23, 2023: This issue is still widespread.

The Apple App Store Gotcha

Many Apple developers have stumbled into this trap: if your new version includes subscriptions and one-time purchases, and you’ve got auto-release enabled, the app might pass review and go live automatically — while the subscription plans are still stuck in review. Result: users can’t pay.

Plenty of developers have hit the same wall.

Feedback to Apple

I just sent Apple’s Developer Program a feedback email about this. If you’ve experienced the same issue, I’d encourage you to file a report too — maybe enough noise will push them to fix it.

Here’s my email for reference:

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Hi,

I am writing to bring to your attention an issue that has been experienced by multiple developers, including myself, regarding the review speed of three critical components in both macOS and iOS apps. This discrepancy has caused incidents where users are unable to make payments.

The components in question are:

1. New app version review
2. Subscription plan review
3. Lifetime plan review

The problem arises when developers enable the auto-release feature for new app versions. In such cases, the new app version may pass the review and get automatically released, while the subscription and lifetime plans remain under review. This inconsistency leads to payment issues, as the payment plans are integral parts of the app itself.

I believe that the current release pipeline could benefit from improved dependency management. Specifically, if steps 2 and 3 (subscription and lifetime plan reviews) do not both pass, step 1 (new app version review) should not proceed. This would ensure that all components are synchronized and would prevent the aforementioned payment issues.

Thanks and let me know your thoughts!

Best, Yucheng L