Yes, you can request an expedited App Store review for genuinely time-sensitive cases, and Apple moves qualifying submissions to the front of the queue. You request it through Apple's expedited-review contact form with a concise reason. What qualifies is a critical bug affecting current users, a security fix, or an app tied to a dated event; general impatience or a self-imposed deadline does not. Expedited review is faster, not automatic approval, so the build must still pass the guidelines. Use it sparingly, because overusing it can lead Apple to decline future requests.
Short answer
You can ask Apple to expedite a review when the situation is truly time-sensitive. Per Apple's App Review page, regular review is already fast, with most submissions reviewed within a day, and expedited review is reserved for critical cases: a serious bug affecting current users, a security issue, or an app tied to a specific dated event. You request it through Apple's expedited review form with a short, specific reason. It moves you ahead in the queue but does not skip the guidelines, so the build must still pass. Request it rarely, since overusing it can cause Apple to decline future requests.
Can you speed up App Store review?
Yes, through an expedited review request, but with limits. Apple provides a way to ask that a submission be moved to the front of the review queue when there is a genuine, pressing reason. It is not a paid fast lane or a general speed setting; it is a discretionary favor Apple grants for cases that clearly warrant it.
It also helps to keep the baseline in mind. Regular review is usually fast, with the majority of submissions reviewed within about a day, so most launches do not need an expedite at all. The feature exists for the minority of situations where even normal timing is too slow, not as a routine step for every release. Knowing that baseline is useful before you ask, because if a normal review would land in time anyway, an expedite request only spends goodwill you might need later.
What qualifies for an expedited review?
The clear qualifying cases are a critical problem or a real deadline outside your control. A serious bug affecting people already using your app, a security vulnerability that needs a fix in users' hands quickly, or an app tied to a specific dated public event are the situations Apple designed expedited review for. In each, delay causes concrete harm or misses an unmovable moment.
The common thread is urgency you do not control. A dated event that cannot move, a live issue harming current users, or a security exposure all share that quality. When you request an expedite, framing your reason around that kind of genuine, external urgency is what makes it credible, rather than a general wish to launch sooner.
Do critical bug fixes qualify?
Yes, a critical bug fix is one of the strongest qualifying reasons, especially when the bug affects users of your currently live app. A crash on launch, a broken core feature, or a defect that blocks payments or logins for existing users is exactly the kind of time-sensitive problem an expedited review is meant to address, because every hour of delay affects real people.
To make the case, be specific about the impact. State what is broken, who it affects, and why it cannot wait for normal review, for example that current users cannot open the app or complete a purchase. A precise description of user harm is far more convincing than a general statement that the fix is important, and it helps Apple see the request as legitimate. If you have data, such as the share of sessions crashing or the number of users unable to log in, include it, since a concrete figure makes the urgency undeniable.
What does not qualify
Expedited review is not for ordinary impatience or a deadline you set yourself. A normal first launch, a marketing date you chose, a desire to beat a competitor, or simply not wanting to wait are not qualifying reasons, and requesting an expedite for them weakens your credibility for when you genuinely need one.
There is a real cost to overusing it. Apple can decline expedited requests, and a pattern of asking for non-urgent submissions can lead them to deny future ones, including a future request that is actually critical. Treat each expedite as a limited resource you spend only on genuine emergencies, not as a way to shave time off every release. Thinking of it as a small annual budget, rather than an option on every submission, keeps it available for the moment you truly cannot afford to wait.
How to request an expedited review
The request goes through Apple's expedited review contact form, not through a button in App Store Connect. Sign in, choose the expedite topic, and provide a concise, specific reason that explains the urgency and, where relevant, the user impact. Submit the app for review first, or as part of the same effort, since the expedite applies to a submission.
Keep the message short and factual. Name the critical bug or the dated event, state who is affected and by when, and avoid padding it with general urgency. A clear two or three sentence explanation of real, external time pressure is what a reviewer needs, and it reads far better than a long or emotional appeal.
Qualifies or not
It helps to see the common cases side by side. The table below sorts typical situations into whether they are likely to qualify for an expedited review.
| Situation | Likely to qualify? |
|---|---|
| Critical bug crashing or blocking current users | Yes |
| Security vulnerability needing a fast fix | Yes |
| App tied to a specific dated public event | Often |
| Normal first launch or chosen marketing date | No |
| General impatience or beating a competitor | No |
Use the table as a first filter, then judge honestly. If your case is not clearly in a qualifying row, the better move is usually to submit normally, since regular review is fast and a weak expedite request spends credibility you may need later.
Before you request
A short pre-check makes your request stronger and rarer. The checklist below covers what to confirm before you submit an expedite.
| Check | Action | Done? |
|---|---|---|
| Genuine urgency | Confirm the case is critical or externally time-sensitive | [ ] |
| Build passes | Make sure the build meets the guidelines and will not be rejected | [ ] |
| Specific reason | Write a concise justification with user impact | [ ] |
| Reserved use | Confirm you are not spending an expedite on impatience | [ ] |
| Submit request | Use Apple's expedited review contact form | [ ] |
The step people skip is confirming the build will actually pass. An expedite only moves you to the front of the queue; if the build is then rejected for a guideline or security issue, you have burned the request and still have to fix and resubmit. Make sure the submission is clean before you ask.
Scan before you submit
Because an expedited review still goes through the full guidelines, a preventable rejection wastes the very speed you asked for. Security and privacy issues are a common cause of those rejections: permissions the app cannot justify, cleartext traffic, or a secret embedded in the binary, all of which are cheaper to catch before you submit.
A scanner like PTKD.com analyzes your .ipa and returns findings ordered by severity and mapped to OWASP MASVS, so you fix them before an expedited submission. To be clear about the boundary: PTKD does not request or grant an expedite, and it does not make review faster. It reduces the chance that an expedited review, once granted, is spent on a rejection you could have prevented.
What to take away
- You can request an expedited App Store review for genuinely time-sensitive cases, and Apple moves qualifying submissions to the front of the queue.
- Qualifying reasons are a critical bug affecting current users, a security fix, or an app tied to a specific dated event.
- General impatience and self-imposed deadlines do not qualify, and overusing expedites can cause Apple to deny future requests.
- Request it through Apple's expedited review form with a short, specific reason, and confirm the build will pass before asking.
- Scan your build with PTKD.com first, so a granted expedite is not wasted on a preventable rejection.
