Graham Spencer, writing for MacStories:

Since the App Store launched in 2008, every app and every app update has gone through a process of App Review. Run by a team within Apple, their objective is to keep the App Store free from apps that are malicious, broken, dangerous, offensive or infringe upon any of Apple’s App Store Review Guidelines. For developers who want to have their app on the iOS, Mac, or tvOS App Store, App Review is an unavoidable necessity that they deal with regularly. But in the public, little is heard about App Review, except for a few occasions in which App Review has made a high-profile or controversial app rejection.

And:

Earlier this year we set out to get a better understanding of what developers think about App Review. We wanted to hear about their positive and negative experiences with App Review, and find out how App Review could be improved. It is hard to ignore from the results we got, from a survey of 172 developers, that beneath the surface there is a simmering frustration relating to numerous aspects of App Review.

This is worth reading, for developers and non-devs alike. The App Store is a core pillar of the iPhone and iOS itself, and the health of the app review process is a key signature of the health of the iOS marketplace. A stuttering app review process means down time for developers, loss of revenue, which can be devastating for indie developers, who already face an increasingly difficult time making ends meet.

There is a mechanism for developers to send messages to the App Review team, but a common sentiment amongst those who commented on it was that it can often be (or at least appear to be) futile. One developer said App Review simply sends them “canned responses” and another developer even described the feeling of communicating with App Review as “like sending a message in a bottle”.

A great read. Clearly, Graham put a lot of work into pulling this together.