The annual App Store freeze won’t be happening this holiday

Apple’s App Store will remain open during the busiest season so there’ll be plenty of new apps and updates to download during the 2022 holidays.

Apple's marketing image showing a 3D icon for the App Store set against a blue gradient background
App Store Connect won’t shut down for the holidays so there will be new apps and updates to download from App Store throughout December | Image credit: Apple
  • What’s happening? Apple won’t be shutting down App Store Connect this holiday season so developers can submit new apps and updates uninterrupted.
  • Why care? In years past, the App Store freeze meant no new apps or updates for users to download during the holiday season. But during the 2022 holiday season, new submissions and updates to existing apps will keep flowing to the App Store.
  • What to do? Feel free to check out the App Store during the holidays.

No App Store freeze during the 2022 holiday season

The announcement on the Apple Developer website invites developers to their apps and product pages for the upcoming holidays.

Apple is “pleased to remain open” throughout the holidays and looks forward “to accepting your submissions.” The company cautions developers that even though there won’t be an App Store Connect shutdown this year, reviews “may take a bit longer to complete from December 23 to 27.”

App Store Connect is a web service that developers use to upload their submissions to Apple. This isn’t the first time Apple has avoided shutting down App Store Connect during the holidays. In 2021, for example, App Store Connect was up and running during the holidays because of the COVID-19 situation. Read: How to fix apps stuck on “Installing…” on the iPhone’s home screen

On average, according to Apple’s internal statistics, 90 percent of submissions are reviewed in less than 24 hours. Apple has an international team with reviewers on three continents, with members who are fluent in over 80 languages.

To help developers avoid issues found on 30 percent of rejected submissions, the company provides handy video tips for preventing common review issues.

Developers can learn more about submitting apps to the App Store and Apple’s review process at developer.apple.com/app-store/submitting.