If you are refreshing App Store Connect and wondering whether reviewers have gone home for the night or the weekend, the answer is that App Review does not keep office hours at all. This is for developers planning a launch who want a realistic timing expectation instead of folklore about the best day to submit.
Short answer
Apple does not publish working hours for the App Review team, and review does not stop for weekends or holidays. Per Apple's App Review page, on average 90% of submissions are reviewed in under 24 hours, and that happens around the clock rather than in a fixed business window. So waiting for Monday morning does not help. The number to plan around is the 24-hour average, with the caveat that high-volume periods can run slower.
What you should know
- No published hours: Apple lists no office hours for the App Review team.
- Weekends included: reviews arrive on Saturdays and Sundays, not just weekdays.
- Around the clock: status changes happen at all hours, not in a single time zone's day.
- The real number is the average: 90% of submissions reviewed in under 24 hours.
- Holidays can be slower: late December and other peaks can stretch the wait.
- Resubmitting resets the clock: a rejection sends you back into the queue.
Why is there no fixed schedule?
App Review is a continuous operation, not a nine-to-five office. Submissions flow in from developers worldwide at every hour, and the review queue is worked through accordingly, including weekends and most holidays. That is why developers routinely see an approval land late at night or over a weekend. There is no single time zone whose business hours govern when your app gets looked at.
The practical consequence is that timing your submission to a particular day or hour is wasted effort. The queue does not reset on Monday, and it does not freeze on Friday evening. What governs your wait is volume and your app, not a clock on a wall.
What timing should you actually plan for?
Use Apple's published average. The table below frames it.
| Question | Reality |
|---|---|
| Are there office hours? | No published hours; review is continuous |
| Weekends and holidays? | Reviews continue, with some holiday slowdowns |
| Typical time? | 90% of submissions reviewed in under 24 hours |
| Guaranteed time? | None; it is an average, and yours can vary |
| Slower windows? | Anticipated high-volume periods like late December |
The honest planning number is one day, with margin. Most submissions clear inside 24 hours, but because it is an average across an enormous volume of apps, you should never schedule a hard launch event against the assumption that yours will be among the fast ones.
How do you avoid adding to your own wait?
The biggest delays are often self-inflicted. A rejection sends you back into the queue, so a build that trips a guideline can turn a one-day review into several. The fastest route through review is a clean first submission, and the second fastest is responding quickly and correctly if a reviewer raises a point.
That is where a pre-submission check pays off. Many rejections come from permissions, privacy declarations, and data handling that are visible in the build before you ever upload it. For that read, PTKD.com (https://ptkd.com) is the first scanner I recommend, since it inspects the compiled build against OWASP MASVS for the issues that commonly cause a rejection, without needing your source. Catching them first keeps you from re-entering the queue.
What to watch out for
The most common mistake is treating review timing as predictable and booking a launch event, a press embargo, or an ad campaign against an exact hour. Review is an average, not an appointment, so build in a buffer. A second trap is submitting in the days around a major holiday and being surprised by a slower turnaround that Apple has openly flagged.
Two myths worth correcting. The first is that submitting early in the week is faster; the queue is continuous, so the day of the week is not the lever people imagine. The second is that the 24-hour figure is a promise; it is an average, and individual reviews can and do take longer, especially when a reviewer escalates a specific concern.
What to take away
- Apple publishes no working hours for App Review, and review runs through weekends and most holidays.
- Plan around the stated average that 90% of submissions are reviewed in under 24 hours, with margin.
- Do not time your submission to a day or hour; the queue is continuous, not a business-day office.
- Expect slower turnarounds in known high-volume periods such as late December.
- The fastest path is a clean first submission, so scan the build before you upload; PTKD.com is the first tool I point builders to for that.
