Unsolicited Opinion

Waiting for Review

Junjie — Sun, 25 Oct 2026 10:00:00 +0800

I started making apps professionally 16 years ago. Due was my first app. It was a project I gave myself for learning Objective-C, which was the language we had to use to develop for the iPhone back then.

My entire app development career since then has been on Apple’s platforms, so I know quite a bit about how things have changed over the years.

When I first started, an app review could take about a week, and that was considered normal. In recent years though, reviews have been quick. I could usually submit an update, go to bed, and wake up to find it approved. I’d read about other developers’ long delays and rejections, but I had never been on the wrong end of them, so I never felt much resentment towards App Review.

That changed this week when I submitted Due 26.6. The update adds support for the iPhone Duo. As I write this, five days after I submitted it and two days after the iPhone Duo went on sale, it is still “Waiting for Review”.

I’ve gone through disappointment, then resentment, and now fear and uncertainty. It has made me completely rethink building my business entirely on Apple’s platforms and the App Store.

Racing to launch day

Apple announced the iPhone Duo on September 9, but only released the Xcode 27.1 SDK we needed to build for it on September 18. That left about 35 days to get our apps ready if we wanted them to work well on the Duo from day one.

The Duo is arguably the most exciting iPhone in years, and I wanted Due to be ready for any of my customers who might be getting one. So I started working on support for Duo even though I was already in the thick of preparing for one of the biggest updates Due has had in years.

That meant many days working past midnight to make this happen. On October 20, I finally finished Due 26.6, got all the screenshots ready, and submitted it at 9:58 PM. That was three days before launch. I expected to wake up to an approval, like almost every update before it.

Little did I know it was the start of an emotional rollercoaster.

The emotional rollercoaster

When the first day passed with no news, I was a little worried, but still confident it would be reviewed by the second day.

When the second day came and went, I was disappointed that Due probably wouldn’t make it in time for the Duo’s launch. Still, I harboured hope that App Review would get to it overnight, so I set the update to release automatically as soon as it was approved. That way, Due could still make it in time for the launch, I thought.

In the days following the submission, I logged in to App Store Connect multiple times a day to make sure nothing was holding things up on my end. The first thing I did every morning was to check my email for an approval. I checked whenever I woke up at night too. And I’ve been waking up a lot these nights. One night, I even dreamt that the email had finally arrived and Due 26.6 was in my customers’ hands.

But the email never came.

When I woke up on October 23 to still no email, my disappointment turned into resentment. A month of work to have Due ready for the Duo’s launch had come to naught, I thought.

When I saw John Gruber’s review of the iPhone Duo, with a screenshot of Due on his home screen, I knew he was using the App Store version, which wasn’t optimised for the Duo. It made me angry that I couldn’t ship work that was already done, and put the best version of Due in my users’ hands.

Weeks earlier, Craig Federighi told Donald Decodes that, unlike on Android, apps would quickly be tailored for the Duo: “I think our developer community is going to rise to that occasion very quickly.”

We did. App Review didn’t.

I tried everything App Store Connect had to offer:

a featuring nomination, explaining that the update adds iPhone Duo support and that I hoped to have it ready for launch;
a support request following up on the submission;
an expedited review request.

None of them got a reply from a person.

In fact, I never even thought that Due would still be stuck in “Waiting for Review” days after an expedited review request.

The last time I had to ask for one was years ago. Back then, I had to justify why the update was urgent, and someone would reply to say that they had “made a one-time exception”, and the app would be reviewed soon after.

This time, all I got was a confirmation note on the page saying my request had been received. It read as if the request had been approved automatically. But no email came, and nothing has happened since.

I’m not alone (and that makes things even scarier)

Yesterday, out of helplessness, I started searching to see if anyone else was having the same problem. That led me to a megathread on Apple’s Developer Forums, started by one developer to keep track of everyone affected. More than 30 developers have posted in it so far.

I was horrified to find the App Review section of the forums filled with developers whose apps are stuck in “Waiting for Review”, all trying to get someone at Apple to respond.

The submission dates people posted in the megathread go back to mid-September, and many have been waiting two weeks or more. Their support requests and expedited review requests have gone unanswered too. While some of them had a rejection before they got stuck, many didn’t seem to.

As far as I can see, nobody from Apple has responded to them.

On Apple’s App Review page, it still says: “App Review works around the clock, typically reviewing at least 50% of submissions in less than 24 hours and 90% in less than 48 hours.”

Of course, I don’t know the exact circumstances behind each case. But reading through the threads, I realised that I’ve actually been very lucky all these years.

I’ve only been waiting five days, but it’s been enough to make me scared.

I’ve never felt so helpless before. I have no idea how much longer it will take, or whether anything I do will make any difference.

One developer, etapx, wrote:

What bothers me most isn’t the delay. Delays happen. Maybe there’s a backlog, a staffing issue, a policy change, or a technical problem on their end. Most of us would understand that. The problem is the silence. There’s no banner in App Store Connect, no developer news post, no email, no updated wait time, and no answers to support tickets. For a company this size, with a platform millions of developers depend on, that’s hard to understand.

Apple used to tell developers: “If you run to the press and trash us, it never helps.” So whom can we turn to for an actual response?

A rude awakening

The same day, while checking App Store Connect for what felt like the hundredth time, I saw a banner asking me to take a survey.

“Help Improve the App Store,” it said.

I wasn’t really in the mood for a survey, but I thought I’d do it anyway.

Among the statements I was asked to agree or disagree with were:

“Apple cares about developers like me”
“I am excited about the future of the App Store”
“Apple’s App Store is our preferred app marketplace”

You may have guessed my responses.

But more tellingly, there were pages and pages of questions about alternative distribution. The survey wanted to know what other operating systems and platforms we develop apps for, which channels we use to distribute them, and how familiar we are with the alternatives.

It certainly looks like Apple is worried about developers turning to alternative distribution.

Due has only ever been on Apple’s platforms. Over the past 16 years, many customers have asked me for an Android version, both by email and in their App Store reviews.

“The kind of app which keeps me on iOS, no joke,” wrote one.

“Due is the only reason I still bother with an iPhone,” said another.

A third went further: “This app is the only thing holding me back from switching back to Android.” They gave Due one star, and promised to change it to five if an Android version ever comes out.

It’s not that I don’t want to make Due for Android users. I’m not anti-Android. I’ve just always used an iPhone, and I don’t own an Android phone. I make Due because it’s something I use myself every day, and Due for Android isn’t something I’d use.

But perhaps more importantly, I already struggle to keep up with Due on Apple’s platforms alone. Building it from the ground up for another platform just isn’t something I can realistically do on my own.

I never seriously considered alternative distribution either. I was relatively happy with the App Store. Sure, it had its annoyances, but it took care of payments, distribution, and the different tax rules in every country Due is sold in. For the most part, it stayed out of my way. And I’d much rather spend my time improving the app than dealing with all that.

The irony is that while Apple’s survey suggests it is worried about losing developers to alternative marketplaces, Apple itself is the one pushing us away.

This episode has shown me that by distributing exclusively on the App Store, I have ceded control of my own work to another company.

For the first time in 16 years, I’m afraid for Due’s future on the App Store. And what scares me most isn’t this update. It’s the next one.

Say Due 26.6 is finally approved, and it ships with a critical bug. In the past, I could request an expedited review and be fairly sure someone would look at it within 12 hours or so.

Now? I have zero confidence in the process.

Winning back the developers

What frustrates me is that everything else about making apps has sped up, but App Review has inexplicably slowed down.

As a one-man team, it used to be hard to juggle everything: shipping new features, answering support emails, fixing bugs, updating documentation, and marketing. Now with AI, I can actually keep up with some of it.

Apple clearly wants this too. It has been building AI into Xcode itself. In that same interview, Craig Federighi pointed to these AI tools as one reason developers would adopt the Duo so quickly.

But App Review hasn’t kept up with the times. In fact, when it comes to communication, it has regressed to a level that I have never experienced before.

To put things into perspective: we had about 35 days to get our apps ready for the Duo. A week spent “Waiting for Review” is 20% of that. And at this point, I’m not even confident that Due will be approved within a week.

App Review needs a major overhaul. It needs to be faster, but more than that, it needs to tell us what’s going on. Not just for people like me, but for new developers submitting their very first app too.

I still don’t know what I’m going to do about it. But I now know how dangerous it is to depend entirely on one company, especially one that won’t even tell you why you’re waiting, and how much longer you’ll have to wait.

Apple wants the App Store to be “our preferred app marketplace”. To get there, it needs to make the App Store a place we want to be.

Right now, it’s doing the opposite.

Starting over

Junjie — Sun, 25 Oct 2026 09:00:00 +0800

I started this blog in 2005, with opinions about everything. Twenty-one years later, most of those opinions have aged the way you’d expect, so I’ve taken them down.

What I actually spend my days on now is making apps. Due has been my job since 2010, paid for by the people who use it. That’s an unusual way to make a living, and I’d like to write more about my experiences and what it takes to keep a product going for 16 years.

So that’s what this is now. Expect posts on building and shipping apps, the joys and pains of being an indie developer, how to give feedback and get help as a customer, and my unsolicited opinions on design.

A handful of the old posts that still hold up are in the archive. Everything else is gone.

If you’d like to follow along, there’s an RSS feed.

Can you use a 60W/61W USB-C Charger on your 15-inch MacBook Pro that requires 85W/87W of power?

Junjie — Tue, 11 Jul 2017 00:00:00 +0800

tl;dr Yes.

There is a lot of uncertainty when it comes to using a lower wattage charger to power or charge devices that draws a higher wattage. Some people claim it will fry your charger, others say it will fry your device. The trouble is that there is little authoritative guidance from Apple. Ask ten Apple Geniuses and you will get ten different answers.

Conventionally, it is OK to use a higher wattage charger to power a device that draws a lower wattage (e.g. using a 87W charger to charge a MacBook 12-inch that typically draws 29W), but not the other way around.

However, when it comes to USB-C, is there any difference? I recently got hold of the LG 27UD88. It is a nice 4K monitor that comes with USB-C connectivity. The neat thing about USB-C is that it can deliver video, data and even power over a single cable.

The 27UD88 supplies up to 60W of power, which can power and charge my 29W 12-inch MacBook without issue. However, my wife’s 15-inch MacBook Pro draws up to 85W of power and typically uses a 87W charger.

Since power delivery is not something that I can disable, I was worried something bad may happen when using the 15-inch MBP with the monitor.

It turns out though, Apple has given official guidance on using lower wattage USB-C charger to power the 15-inch MBP.

When Apple launched the MacBook Pro, they also collaborated with LG to launch two pricey monitors—the LG UltraFine 4K and 5K Display.

The 5K Display delivers 85W of power, but the 4K display only delivers 60W of power, like the 27UD88 that I’ve purchased. Since these monitors have been officially endorsed by Apple for use with the new MacBooks, I wondered what Apple had to say about using the LG UltraFine 4K with the 15-inch MacBook Pro.

According to Apple’s support document on the LG UltraFine 4K Display:

The LG UltraFine 4K Display provides up to 60W of power over USB-C and can fully power these Mac models using the included USB-C cable:

MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2016 and later)

MacBook (2015 and later)

The UltraFine 4K won’t fully power 15-inch MacBook Pro from 2016 and later, which requires 85W. If you try to power your 15-inch MacBook Pro through the display, your notebook’s battery will be utilized during times of heavy activity. To fully power your MacBook Pro and charge its battery, connect your 15-inch MacBook Pro to its Apple 87W USB-C power adapter when you use it with the UltraFine 4K.

So in short, you may experience your battery draining when using the 15-inch MacBook Pro with the LG 27UD88, but it won’t fry your MacBook Pro or the monitor.

I’d extrapolate that to say that it is OK to use the lower wattage 61W USB-C charger on your 15-inch MacBook Pro as well. If you have to, that is.

Buying a Second-Hand Mac

Junjie — Sun, 18 Jun 2017 00:00:00 +0800

Look for something less than one-year-old so you have the chance to purchase AppleCare for the Mac. Caveat Emptor. If something does go wrong, you’re not going to be able to go after the seller. Your best bet is Apple.

The following is my checklist when buying a second-hand Mac. It’s meant to run through sequentially so that you can rule out listings without wasting too much of each other’s time. For example, if the price is not right, don’t bother asking the seller for more information.

Before You Even Meet The Seller…

Ensure that the asking price is within your expectation, or negotiable if it’s not, before proceeding down the list. If it’s negotiable, do your homework to find out the average asking price for the same model of Mac. You may not want to start negotiating until you’ve gone through the remaining questions.
See if the seller lists any physical defects. Scratches are fine for me; chips and dents usually indicate knocks and drops. I’d avoid them.
If the seller doesn’t list any physical defects but a condition like 9/10, asks why the seller rated it 9 instead of 10.
Ask whether the original receipts are still available, and if the seller will provide it to you on purchase. According to Apple, the AppleCare confirmation document and original sales receipt are required “if there is any question as to your product’s eligibility for coverage”.
Ask for the Mac hardware serial number and check it against Apple’s database to verify if it’s still under the one-year warranty, or if AppleCare has already been purchased for the Mac.
If you’re buying a laptop, ask for the battery cycle count. Batteries have limited lifespan, and a laptop that needs to be tethered to power all the time is not useful. For a laptop less than a year old, you should look for something less than 100. Apple says its recent laptops have a maximum cycle count of 1,000; I’m not too sure about that.
Ask if all original accessories (e.g. charger, keyboard, mouse, trackpad) will be provided. If the seller even has the box available, there is a good chance he took good care of the Mac.
If everything is good, then ensure that the seller is agreeable for you to inspect the Mac for about 15 minutes before confirming the purchase. Arrange to meet at a location where you can do so. For a desktop, that probably means at the seller’s home where you can plug it in for testing.
Many sellers protect their laptops with sleeves and screen protectors, I’d ask the seller to remove them before the meet-up if possible. If not, he should be prepared to remove it during the meet-up for inspection.

When You Meet The Seller…

Check the Mac hardware serial number to make sure it tallies with what you were given before.
Check the battery cycle count to make sure it tallies with what you were given before. The cycle count may increase by 1–2 if the seller continues to use the Mac.
While you’re checking your battery cycle count, also ensure that the Condition listed under the Cycle Count is Normal.
Open TextEdit in full screen and check the display for anything strange. Type on the keyboard to make sure it functions correctly.
Bring a USB thumb drive to check that the USB ports are working. If you’re buying a recent Mac with USB-C ports only, then you’d need either a USB-C thumb drive or a USB-C to USB adapter.
Check the iSight camera, microphone and speakers by recording a movie with QuickTime Player and playing it back.
The final test before you hand over the money is to run Apple Diagnostics on the Mac. This will probably take a while. On a MacBook 2016, it took me less than 10 minutes.

And with luck, you’d bring home a good Mac while saving some money.

Shipping

Junjie — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 00:00:00 +0800

Amy Hoy on shipping:

Get real about what you can really ship and when. Grind your big idea down until it’s a fine and indivisible atom of an idea. Realize that only you see the big picture when you look at your tiny atom of a product… other folks aren’t privy to your plans, and won’t feel like it’s “unfinished.”

And if you’re thinking of quitting your day job and doing something you love—but are having nagging doubts—Amy’s whole piece is a gem to read.

You can’t just ask your customers what they want

Junjie — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 00:00:00 +0800

Because customers don’t know what they want exactly:

So you conduct a survey, asking customers: would you like Walmart aisles to be less cluttered? And they say, “Yes, now that you ask, yes, that would be nice.” And you check the box by “customer input” and report back, hey everyone, good news, yes, customers like the idea.

Walmart spends hundreds of millions of dollars uncluttering their stores, removing 15% of inventory, shortening shelves, clearing aisles. Yes, it’s expensive and time-consuming, but this is what customers said they wanted, so you barrel through it…

Sales went down. Way down. I mean waaaaaay down. I’m talking, from the beginning of that project until today, Walmart has lost over a billion dollars in sales. (Yes, billion with a “b”.)

Henry Ford, the American businessman credited for mass production of automobiles, once said: “If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.”

How not to provide feedback

Junjie — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 00:00:00 +0800

Justin Williams on how you shouldn’t be a dick just because you’re on the Internet, or how not to provide feedback to just about anyone who has poured in heart and soul into their work:

Here is a tip for all the non-developers out there. When you email your favorite developer with a feature request or bug report never, ever, ever use the word useless to describe their product. Useless is kryptonite to developers and puts us on the defensive instantly…

The Internet makes it really easy to be a jerk to someone because you don’t have to insult their product to their face and can instead shoot it off to an email address in the sky without any idea or care about who is on the other end.

Signs of bad Mac software

Junjie — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 00:00:00 +0800

Follow up to my previous post on tell-tale signs of bad Mac software before you even use it.

Five minutes into using Canon Digital Photo Professional (DPP), converting some RAW files into JPEGs and TIFFs, I saw this dialog that I had no idea how to close.

On most sane Mac software, I could have just clicked on the red button on the top left to close this box. But not in DPP because the developers have disabled the close button.

I had to pick up quite a bit of courage to try the “Terminate” button.

Signs of bad Mac software (before you even use it)

Junjie — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 00:00:00 +0800

I’ve been avoiding the Canon provided software suite, including the Digital Photo Professional (DPP), like a plague. I’ve seen how my friend struggled with the interface, and It always seem like a piece of unpolished software. Today I decided to install it to compare the RAW outputs with Lightroom. True enough, even before I get to use the software it already reeked of a bad Mac software.

Here are some tell tale signs of a real lousy experience to come.

Requires running an installation program
Installs icons in your dock without your permission
Asks you to restart your computer when the installation is done

For some of the more complicated software such as Adobe suite and Microsoft Office, where some files (such as fonts) need to go into places other than your Applications folder, I think it’s understandable to have an installation program.

No reason for number 2 to happen though. With Microsoft Office you can prevent it from happening if you customised the installation option. But not with DPP. It’s just plain rude to vandalise my dock this way.

And what’s with the you-need-to-restart-your-computer thing? Hello, I just installed a RAW convertor, not updated my OS.