Anecdotally, I had an app approved in just 5 hours after submitting it to the App Store. Granted, it was a charity app to offer crisis maps of Haiti, but they can be responsive sometimes. They also approved an update to the app in a few hours a couple days later, after I sent them this email:
====================
Hi,
We submitted an update to Gaia GPS (for Haitian Disaster Relief) that added new maps and fixed some critical bugs.
This app was originally approved just a few hours after it was submitted to the App Store, and if you could approve the update as well, that would be much appreciated.
====================
My updates often take about 10 days to approve and my new apps about 14.
It's definitely annoying, but Paul Graham is way overstating the extent to which anyone cares. The only people who really care are people who gets app rejected for odd reasons or who have apps that flop. Don't get me wrong... we care, but the tone of discord that Paul is imagining among iPhone developers is not correct. At least, my many anecdotes contradict his, and there is no real data either way.
"... The problem is not Apple's products but their policies. Fortunately policies are software; Apple can change them instantly if they want to. Handy that, isn't it? ..."
This has changed.
"... They treat iPhone apps the way they treat the music they sell through iTunes. Apple is the channel; they own the user; if you want to reach users, you do it on their terms. ..."
This has not changed.
I think the basic idea that pg was getting at is "evil begets stupidity". While I'll reserve judgment until I see how media is handled & app rollout goes I don't like what I see with delicious monster ~ http://twitter.com/wilshipley/status/8289792566 because the stupidity button can still be turned on (and off).
====================
Hi,
We submitted an update to Gaia GPS (for Haitian Disaster Relief) that added new maps and fixed some critical bugs.
This app was originally approved just a few hours after it was submitted to the App Store, and if you could approve the update as well, that would be much appreciated.
====================
My updates often take about 10 days to approve and my new apps about 14.
It's definitely annoying, but Paul Graham is way overstating the extent to which anyone cares. The only people who really care are people who gets app rejected for odd reasons or who have apps that flop. Don't get me wrong... we care, but the tone of discord that Paul is imagining among iPhone developers is not correct. At least, my many anecdotes contradict his, and there is no real data either way.