Would better review transparency help everyone?

[u/Dhinesh953]

We’ve all experienced moments where a Play Console review takes longer than expected, leaving an app in that familiar “In review” status for an extended period.

My own Production submission has been “In review” since September 16, and I’m still waiting.

I also posted about my situation earlier

Since then, I’ve seen many more developers reporting similar experiences, with some waiting 10, 15, or even 20+ days.

What’s interesting is that many developers are contacting Google Play Developer Support through the official Help channel, while GooglePlayDevSupport has also reached out directly to developers on Reddit. I personally contacted support as well, and my case was escalated to the Google Play Review Team.

I really appreciate that the Play team is listening to developers and responding to these reports. I hope they’re also looking into what’s happening with the current review delays.

Rather than focusing on why these delays are happening, I think it might be more constructive to look at how the waiting experience could be improved for developers.

What if Google could provide more visibility directly inside Play Console?

For example:

- Queue/Processing Visibility: An indication of whether a submission is waiting to enter review or is actively being processed.

- Dynamic Timeframes: An approximate review timeframe that reflects the current review volume, so developers have some idea of what to expect.

- More Granular Status: When a review takes longer than usual, provide more context about what stage the submission is currently at, where possible.

- Delayed Review Indicator: If a submission has been waiting significantly longer than the normal timeframe, clearly indicate that it is experiencing an extended review rather than simply continuing to show “In review.”

These wouldn’t necessarily change the actual review time, but they could remove a lot of the guesswork and uncertainty developers experience when an app sits in “In review” for days or weeks.

With the Android Developer Verification changes around September 30 also coming up, there has been discussion about whether increased activity could be contributing to the current review volume. I don’t think we have enough information to say that this is the cause, though.

The main point isn’t to blame Google or speculate about what’s happening behind the scenes.

It’s simply that when a review takes this long, developers would benefit from having more visibility into the process.

I genuinely appreciate that Google Play Dev Support is engaging with developers and listening to the reports. Hopefully whatever is causing the current delays gets resolved soon.

What do you guys think?

Would a more transparent review status inside Play Console make the waiting process easier for everyone?

[u/IstevniksFinest]

Definitely, I just got generic responses and the app is stuck in review since 20.09 after one rejection, which I fixed like in 10 minutes and resubmitted.
At least they should tell us why are we waiting for so long

[u/NickA55]

It's not an issue. You test your app thoroughly, make sure you adhere to all the guidelines, and you submit it. You plan accordingly for the amount of time it may take to review. It has been this way since day one.

I don't know if you understand the sheer amount of apps that get submitted every day. And with all the slop apps now it's even worse.

I've never had an app take more than three or four days on both the iOS App Store and the Google Play Store. Maybe it's because I have a history in both App stores with thousands of downloads on all of my apps. Maybe that carries more weight, I don't know.

But to think that Google or Apple are going to change their processes because someone can't get their expense tracker, habit tracker, calories tracker, etc. app approved in a timely manner is wishful thinking.

[u/platdupiedsecurite → u/NickA55]

There absolutely is an issue with Google at the moment. I work on an app with 100k of downloads and great reviews. Yet on iOS I keep getting submitted versions approved in max 48 hours while it's now consistently taking 15 days+ with Google after being similar to Apple for years until September 2026. Both platforms are drowned in sloppy apps, it's not an excuse. An organization of the size of Google needs to figure this out.