What goes behind the scenes for app reviews by Google and Apple?

App review process is something that worries the developers. Whether it is Google or Apple app review, the fundamental rules have remained unmoved. When an app is submitted in the app store, it is reviewed thoroughly to uncover any violations and malware.

During the process of app review, a team of experts are responsible for identifying violations and malware within the app. Besides this, a bulk of manual reviews is handled by the automated system without any human involvement. There are a number of app development guidelines and rules to follow to help your app through the review process.

An overview of app review process

Once your app is ready, and you are about to start your marketing campaign – you need to put your product on the top self by adding it to the most popular marketplaces. Before you choose the price and countries of distribution, you should check if the app is ready for app store or not.

Google and Apple have set some rules that ensure high quality of apps along with user’s safety. A review process is created to check if the rules are followed or not. Developers have to wait for the review team to check the app and approve it.

App review time

The app review process is comprised of a set of tests that help the team to go through the app quickly and check for bugs, viruses and abusive content. It takes around 6-12 hours for the app to get published on Google Play Store. Sometimes, it takes more than 48 hours to publish an app on the Google Play Store.

Apple claims to do app review manually, and hence it takes more than 7 days to get the app published.As the difference in approval time is a lot more than Google, Apple reduced the review time down to around 24 hours. Google Play store has an option called ‘Go Live’ that allows you to publish the app as per your marketing campaign. Developers can submit the app to Play Store and wait for it to be reviewed.

The change in review times means developers can think about what kind of features to roll out and fix bugs. This could have a significant impact on how often the app gets updated.

Guidelines of iOS and Android app development

When it comes to the approval of app, android is known to be a bit strict. However, it is more open than Apple and allows developers to do different things. Google Play Store offers a wide range of apps that iOS users can’t have.

Some of the android guidelines are as below.

• a.) Google doesn’t approve apps that include hate speech.Your android app should be free from sexually explicit content. Developers should make sure that their app has enough safeguards against abusive content.

• b.) Another important guideline is that the app should not have pictures from unreliable sources. Using any brands or trademarks is not allowed to use. The marketplace protects the users from misleading content, so that the quality of apps is kept high.

• c.) The privacy policy of the app should be clear. You have to follow the legal rules of the country to get t approved by app review team.

• d.) In-app billing should be used as a method of payment. Keep in mind that Google treats ads as a part of your app, and hence, they should comply with Google guidelines.

• e.) If you are creating a children’s app, you should follow additional set of guidelines.

These are the list of guidelines to follow when creating android app. On the contrary, iOS developers also have to follow a few guidelines so that their app is through the review process. Some of the iOS guidelines are as below.

• a.) The guidelines of iOS app development are similar to android app development. However, there are a few differences between both these platforms. Apple is stricter than Google in terms of the content that is included in the apps. Developers have to show up their contact information so that they can be contacted in case of any issues.

b.) Apple takes the performance and software safety issues much seriously than Google. The apps submitted in Apple app store should be tested thoroughly before they are available on Apple devices.

• c.) Most of the iOS apps are paid and hence, the return policies should be defined clearly in the privacy policy.

• d.) Developers should neither copy an app nor use content with copyright violations. Apple App Store restricts apps with too much promotional content. If the review team finds the app to be different version of existing app, it is rejected. Apple wants its app store to be filled with high quality and original apps. So, it is must to follow the design guidelines.

• e.) If you are developing iOS app, you should make sure that the app complies with the legal requirements of that particular location where you make it available. Pay attention to the data collection, intellectual property and other legal rights. If you do not do that Apple can remove your app. For example damus app was removed from app store since it did not comply with app store guidelines.

Conclusion

Google and Apple apps are now tested manually and reviewed to uncover app violations. The use of automated tools by Apple and Google helps in scanning the apps for viruses and “DON’TS” of app development. Most of the manual reviews are handled by automated system without human involvement.Google uses more machine aided processes to review apps than Apple does. Developers are now able to see the status of their app in detail — and know quickly if their app has been rejected or suspended. The developers can see the latest publishing status of their app, based on which they can fix problems or resubmit them after correcting the errors.

Always check the review of your app to make it better and interesting. Apple and Google app stores have unfavorable approval times, which often create headaches for developers. Developers should learn to deal with the approval times to make their app much better on app store.