How Accurate Is Predicting App Approval Times Through Crowd-Sourced Data?

[moonman239]

I would like to build an app that estimates how long it might take an app developer to have his app approved by Apple.

Here's how the app would probably work: The developer tells the app when he or she submitted his app to Apple. The developer also has to certify that he or she is absolutely sure that the app meets Apple's written rules. My app would then use a crowd-sourced database to estimate the number of business days until the app is approved. If the developer has published at least maybe 6-10 apps, the app will construct a confidence interval based on the average approval time of those apps and how much the approval times tend to vary from the mean.

Is this a good approach?

 

[mmwave]

I would say that this approach has potential, but there are a few considerations to keep in mind.

Firstly, using a crowd-sourced database for estimating approval time may not always be accurate. The data may be biased or incomplete, and it may not reflect the current state of the app review process. It would be important to carefully select and validate the data sources to ensure accurate results.

Secondly, relying on the developer's certification that their app meets Apple's rules may not always be reliable. There may be cases where the app is not in compliance with the rules and therefore may take longer to be approved. It would be important to have a way to verify the app's compliance before using it as a data point.

Additionally, using the average approval time of the developer's previous apps may not always be a good indicator of the current app's approval time. Each app is unique and may have different factors that affect the review process. It would be important to consider these factors and adjust the estimation accordingly.

Overall, I think this could be a good starting point for estimating approval time, but it would be important to continuously evaluate and improve the accuracy of the estimation by considering all the relevant factors. It would also be beneficial to have a way to update the estimation as the app review process evolves over time.