There will be no annual App Store freeze this holiday

The Apple App Store will remain open during the busiest season, so there will be plenty of new apps and updates available during the 2022 holidays.

• What is happening? Apple will not shut down App Store Connect this holiday season so that developers can submit new apps and updates seamlessly.
• Why care? In years past, freezing the App Store meant that users would not be able to download new apps or updates during the holiday season. But during the holiday season of 2022, the App Store will continue to receive new content and updates for existing apps.
• What to do? Feel free to check the App Store during the holidays.

The app store will not freeze during the 2022 holiday season

An announcement on the Apple Developer website invites developers to their app and product pages for the upcoming holidays.

Apple is “excited to stay open”over the holidays and looks forward to “taking your submissions.”The company is warning developers that while there will be no shutdown of App Store Connect this year, verification “may take a little longer between December 23rd and 27th.”

App Store Connect is a web service that developers use to upload their content to Apple. This isn’t the first time Apple has avoided shutting down App Store Connect during the holidays. In 2021, for example, App Store Connect was open during the holidays due to the COVID-19 situation. Read: How to Fix Apps Stuck on “Installing…”on iPhone Home Screen

On average, according to Apple’s internal statistics, 90% of applications are processed in less than 24 hours. Apple has an international team with reviewers on three continents, with members fluent in more than 80 languages.

To help developers avoid issues found in the 30 percent of rejected applications, the company provides handy video tips for avoiding common peer review issues.

Developers can learn more about submitting apps to the App Store and the Apple review process at developer.apple.com/app-store/submitting.