Apple's own number: App Review "typically" reviews at least 50% of submissions in less than 24 hours and 90% in less than 48 hours, and it works around the clock. That's from Apple's App Review page, checked October 26, 2026.
So the review itself is fast. What makes a first launch take a week or more is everything around it: the rejection you didn't plan for, the resubmission, and on Android a testing rule that has nothing to do with review speed at all.
The Apple clock, honestly
Those 24 and 48 hour figures measure one submission, from "Waiting for Review" to a decision. They don't include the time before you can submit (screenshots, privacy labels, the App Review Information section with a demo login) or what happens after a rejection.
And a rejection restarts the queue. You fix the issue, upload a new build or edit the metadata, resubmit, and wait again. One or two rejections on a first submission isn't unusual for a wrapped web app, and that turns "under 48 hours" into most of a week without anyone at Apple being slow.
Apple says on the same page that over 40% of unresolved issues fall under guideline 2.1, App Completeness: crashes, placeholder content, broken links, missing info. For an app built in Lovable and wrapped with Capacitor, the two we'd check first are:
- The reviewer can't log in. If your app needs an account, put a working demo login in App Review Information. Make sure it doesn't hit an email confirmation step, a magic link, or a Supabase auth setting that only works on your domain.
- It's a website in a box. That's guideline 4.2, Minimum Functionality, the classic Lovable rejection. We wrote a whole post on fixing a 4.2 rejection, because it's the one that eats the most days.
Can you speed it up?
Sometimes. Apple has an expedited review request for two cases: fixing a critical bug in a live app (include steps to reproduce it on the current version), or a release tied to an event you're directly associated with (include the event and the date). It's a request, not a button, and "my investor demo is Friday" isn't on the list.
There's also a small mercy for bug-fix updates: if App Review finds other issues while reviewing a bug fix, they can offer to approve the current submission and let you fix the rest in the next one, as long as nothing is legal or safety related. Reply to the offer message in App Store Connect to take it.
What actually saves the most time is boring: submit something finished. No "coming soon" screens, no lorem ipsum in a settings page, no buttons that go nowhere.
TestFlight first
If you plan to test with outside users before launch, external TestFlight testing needs its own Beta App Review for the first build. It's usually quick, but it's another review in the timeline, so start it early. Our TestFlight guide covers the setup.
Google Play is a different kind of slow
Google's review of a normal update is usually quick too, but its help center warns that "certain developer accounts" get extended reviews of up to 7 days or longer in exceptional cases, see Google's page on preparing your app for review.
The bigger wait is a rule, not a queue. If your Play Console account is a personal account created after November 13, 2023, you must run a closed test with at least 12 testers who stay opted in for 14 days in a row before you can even apply for production access (Google's testing requirements). Then you answer questions about the test, and then the app gets reviewed.
So for a new founder with a new personal account, the realistic Android timeline is about three weeks, and no amount of polish changes that. An organization account (which needs a D-U-N-S number) skips the closed test requirement, so if you're a registered company, it's worth setting the account up that way from the start. We'd plan the two stores in parallel: start the Android closed test the same week you submit to Apple.
The timeline we'd plan for
For a first launch of a Lovable app on both stores:
- Apple: a week, counting one rejection and a resubmission. Often less.
- Google Play, new personal account: three weeks, mostly the 14-day closed test.
- Every update after that: a day or two on Apple, usually hours to a couple of days on Play.
If Apple has already rejected you and you just want it through, our App Store rejection fix is $350 flat and we resubmit within 3 days. If you haven't submitted yet, we can publish the app for you on both stores.
Originally published on lovable2app.com. Aakash Verma, software developer and founder of Lovable 2 Live.
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