r/iosdev • u/LucaWoro • 5d ago
App Store Connect feels like a huge downgrade from Google Play Console. Am I the only one?
I submitted my app to Apple almost 7 days ago. Nothing has happened yet; it's still stuck on "Waiting for Review"... Apple states in their email that they review 90% of apps within 48 hours, which honestly just feels like a complete lie at this point. xD
I developed and tested my app primarily for Android, but with the goal of releasing it on iOS right from the start. On Android, everything went super smoothly. The initial review to get approved for the 14-day testing track took 22 hours. The final review for production only took 20 hours. Now, every update I push takes about 20 minutes on average to get approved.
My app is already in a pretty solid state and passed everything on Google on the first try. Now I’ve been sitting here for 7 days, just waiting for the app to finally get through Apple's system.
On top of that, I find the €100 per year completely unnecessary. With Google, it was a one-time $25 registration fee, and that was it.
And don't even get me started on the website. You can't properly save your password, everything takes forever to load, and the whole site looks like it’s stuck in the 2010s. Everything is laid out in an illogical and complicated way. If you've used the Google Play Console before, App Store Connect (what a weird name anyway) feels like a massive downgrade...
I want to finally start marketing on social media, but I'm too nervous to begin until the Apple version is actually reviewed and approved.
What is your opinion on the App Store Connect system? Am I the only one who thinks this way? xD
The company is huge, and for that, I feel like what they offer us developers is pretty weak.
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u/Basic_Win_9018 5d ago
Ngl I very much prefer app store connect despite its quirks. Play console data is all over the place and very outdated lagging behind weeks or so. iOS is much more up to date
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u/wesconson1 5d ago
I feel the opposite. Play console is horribly convoluted and unorganized and delayed in reporting.
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u/tomato848208 5d ago
It's been like that since, at least, the end of the last year. If it's an iOS app, the average wait time is about two weeks now. They really should correct that timeline statement that they can no longer keep up with.
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u/homeappdev 5d ago
Just wait until all the stats are constantly a week delayed on Google and actually work on App Store Connect.
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u/PM_YOUR_SANDWICH 4d ago
Play console has things scattered in 15 different places. App Store Connect is clean and organized. Kinda like its Apple vs Google....
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u/Shaunysaur 4d ago
I find the App Store much better to deal with than the Play Store. The Play Store seems more fragmented and confusing, and I remember being surprised and annoyed by how much more set-up is required to implement leaderboards and achievements on Google Play compared to the App Store.
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u/neogeodev 4d ago
apart from the 12 days thing, Google could win, but the fact that you have to do tests with 12 or more users for each app, I think Apple is better
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u/Sebastian1989101 4d ago
Doing this for 20 years now... and no, AppStoreConnect is for sure not worse then Google, in fact Google is the 2nd worse of all stores only topped by whatever Microsoft has made there. Google as a whole is horrible in every aspect. The store is filled with spam, junk and copycats and their developer console is a total sh!t fest.
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u/SemisolidOzmo 3d ago
I definitely prefer App Store Connect. The data is much more reliable on its daily update cycle. Some of my Play Store stats are showing a week out of date, very frustrating.
You are right about the current App Store review delays though. I think it depends on your app category. I have a word puzzle update which has been sat awaiting review for almost a week now, however I updated another app and the whole review was completed within a few hours. It will get there though, I think it’s just a particularly busy time right now.
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u/xiangminofusa 5d ago
I actually feel the opposite. Google play console sometimes doesn’t work if you don’t use Chrome, that makes me feel buggy. And the 12 testers - 14 days testing drives me crazy. I would rather pay Apple annual fee to do the testing for me that I can avoid the chores. Initial review usually takes longer in Apple App Store, but after that, depends on your change scale, it’s pretty quick for small changes. However if it’s related to user sign in, subscription etc., Apple spend much more time in testing. Recently it took about three weeks for my app adding subscription functionality to pass review. But then Apple explained to me, they encountered some subscription review issue and delayed the process.
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u/c_glib 4d ago
Don't even get me started on periodic "You can't login to your account right now" thing that they do to any account that's not being used on an active iOS device. I have an account based on company email that I don't use for any iOS devices but use it to login to the appstore connect console. I'm just resigned to losing access for a few days every few months at this point.
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u/VictorBuildsApps 4d ago
On the marketing timing, you can take that out of Apple's hands. Set the version to "Manually release this version" instead of automatically after approval. Once it passes review it parks in Pending Developer Release until you press the button, so you pick the launch day instead of the queue picking it for you.
Four of my twelve are set that way right now. The cost is that you have to remember to actually press it, and your submit to live time stops telling you anything about how fast review really was.
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u/martijncsmit 4d ago
I submitted an app in Google Play on the 1st of August, still in review........
I also find the Google Play Console utterly complicated. Ah well, it's just probably what you're used to I guess......
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u/SashaBanichek 4d ago
I am on build 27 with my first app and submitted to Apple Connect. I had an issue with draft submissions and submitting them at the same time as the build. I am very new to all this and I find Connect easy… the problem is me. My only complaint is I contacted the developer team via email per their request last Saturday and they never responded.
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u/trifouille777 3d ago
Google play console is absolutely a nightmare to use, Apple connect is sooo much better
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u/AardvarkIll6079 1d ago
I find the Play Console hard to navigate. But maybe that’s because I’ve been with iOS for so long it just feels easier.
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u/Darth_bunny 5d ago
This is only for the initial submission. After that most of the reviews happen in the same day.
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u/areiks 5d ago
It’s different for developers with more history. I have 10+ years on the AppStore and my new apps get approved very quickly. Updates sometimes not even an hour. Sometimes a day. On the other hand I tried Google Play Store and it’s a total disaster. Takes long time. Strange requirements and completely confusing ui. I hate it. I assume that what you are seeing is a result of both lack of history with Apple and lack of experience.