Built my dream app, only to be trapped in Apple's "Waiting for Review Board" black hole. Anyone else dealing with this?
Hey everyone,
I’m reaching out to this community because I’m at my wit's end, and I know many of you have been through the emotional roller coaster of solo app development.
For the past several months, I’ve poured my heart into building FishKings, a passion project for anglers with real-time tournament leaderboards, offline catch logging, and AI species verification. What makes this situation even more frustrating is that the app has already been live on the Google Play Store for months with real users and zero issues.
After endless late nights polishing every detail, I submitted the iOS app on May 9, 2026. Hitting that button on App Store Connect was supposed to be the final milestone.
Instead, it’s turned into a 3 month nightmare.
Here’s the part that is driving me crazy: my app has NEVER been rejected. It was never opened, never tested, and no reviewer ever pointed out a single issue or guideline violation. It just sat in "Waiting for Review" for weeks on end.
To make matters even more surreal, Apple officially approved my request for an Expedited Review. Yet, even after approving the expedite request, the app was STILL never looked at or opened.
On June 9, 2026, after a month of silence, I received a generic automated notification that my submission was being escalated to the App Review Board.
Fast forward to today over 100 days since my initial submission and the app remains completely frozen in App Store Connect. No rejections to fix, no feedback to address, and no one on Developer Support calls or emails who can explain why an app that was approved for expedited review and has never even been opened by a reviewer is sitting in Review Board purgatory while its Android counterpart is actively running in the real world.
The emotional toll of this is real. You spend months of your life building something you’re proud of, refreshing App Store Connect 50 times a day, only to realize your app hasn't even been looked at it's just stuck in a dark corner of Apple's system while months tick by.
I’m not looking to complain just for the sake of it. I just want to get my iOS app into the hands of my users and understand how an app gets escalated before it’s even evaluated.
For anyone who has been in this exact "Waiting for Review Board" limbo without prior rejections:
- Did your app eventually get picked up and reviewed, or did you have to pull the submission and re-submit?
- Did endless calls and emails ever get you connected to someone who could explain why it was placed on hold before being looked at?
- How long were you stuck in this status before someone actually opened the app?
Appreciate any advice, shared experiences, or moral support right now.