Google Now Has Real People Approving Android Apps Submitted To The Play Store
Several months ago, we began reviewing apps before they are published on Google Play to better protect the community and improve the app catalog. This new process involves a team of experts who are responsible for identifying violations of our developer policies earlier in the app lifecycle. We value the rapid innovation and iteration that is unique to Google Play, and will continue to help developers get their products to market within a matter of hours after submission, rather than days or weeks. In fact, there has been no noticeable change for developers during the rollout.
It’s worth noting that Google’s human-based review process is measured in hours, not days. You could argue that Google’s review process is not as extensive as Apple’s, but even taking that as given, Apple’s turnaround times look ridiculous. Doubling the amount of time it took Google to investigate each submission would still represent a much shorter period that the rate at which the iTunes team processes submissions. Apple could definitely improve turnaround times.