Stop submitting apps days before Christmas
“We need this live before the Christmas break.”
Every December, the same conversation! A push to get that final update out before everyone clocks off. We get it, there’s a real pressure to deliver, tidy up the roadmap and show something shipped before year-end. But here’s the thing: the App Store doesn’t care about your internal deadlines.
When your release ends up in limbo
Apple and Google slow down approvals around the festive period. During this time, review queues get longer and delays can stretch from hours to days. Even an expedited review isn’t guaranteed to go through on time.
Then, if your submission gets rejected? You’re out of time. No one’s around to fix it. Your teams are scrambling during their break, or worse, desperately trying to patch something after it’s already live. It’s a stressful way to end the year and the cost isn’t just technical, it’s personal.
Burned-out devs, brittle releases
We get where this pressure comes from. Whether you’re an organisation managing an app in-house, or an agency working with clients to make their apps the best they can be, Christmas feels like the pinnacle. The time when the app has to be its newest, shiniest self. There’s this idea that users are expecting something extravagant but in reality… they really aren’t that bothered! That may sound strange coming from an app agency, but it’s true. In amongst the Christmas chaos, the last thing your users are thinking is “why isn’t my app going through a glow up right now?”. In the rare event that they are, the rushed release still isn’t worth the pain.
Last-minute submissions mean rushed development, skipped QA, and high-pressure hotfixes. Your developers don’t get the break they’ve earned and your product managers head into Christmas worrying about bugs in production. Plus, those shiny new features that just had to be shipped? They often arrive with edge cases that no one had time to catch. All because someone wanted to hit a date the platforms can’t promise.
Better planning means better holidays (and better apps)
At Indiespring, we put a release freeze in place every December at the end of the month. Not to slow things down, but to stop chaos before it starts.
We work with clients to land updates in early December or hold them for January, involving them in this process so they understand and know what to expect. That way, our teams go into the holidays with confidence and they can rest easy knowing their app is in safe hands. No late nights, no support emergencies, just a clean break and a stable product.
It’s not about saying ‘no’. It’s about saying ‘not now’.
There’s this persistent myth that “it only takes a day to get through the App Store.” Sometimes, that’s true, but it’s not worth resting on. Around Christmas? It’s always longer.
If your next update’s creeping up on Christmas, pause. Speak to your team. Shift the timeline if you can. Your app, and your people, will thank you in January.
If you’re heading into the New Year with an app you’re unsure about, we can help. Our honest, flexible and pragmatic approach means no rushing, no scrambled fixes and no last-minute releases.
Book a call with us here.