Apple Reminds Developers of App Store Freeze During Holidays

35998Apple has sent reminders to App Store developers that the annual shutdown of iTunes Connect is scheduled to take place from Friday, December 21, 2012 to Friday, December 28th, 2012.

iTunes Connect is the portal for developers to submit app updates and changes. As a result, no new apps, app updates or price changes will be reflected in the App Store during that time.

We strongly recommend that you do not schedule any pricing changes in iTunes Connect that would take effect between Friday, December 21, 2012 and Friday, December 28, 2012. Pricing changes scheduled to take effect during this date range will not be reflected on the App Store and your app or In-App Purchase will become unavailable for purchase until after the shutdown.

We also recommend that you do not schedule any apps to go live during the shutdown. Releases scheduled with a start date between Friday, December 21, 2012 and Friday, December 28, 2012 will not go live on the App Store until after the shutdown.

As a result of the shutdown deadline, a large number of App developers have been cutting prices today as they compete for top ranking on the App Store Top Charts during the lucrative Christmas sales period.

Popular Stories

Apple Watch Ultra Night Mode Screen

Apple Watch Ultra 3 Launching Later This Year With Two Key Upgrades

Wednesday July 2, 2025 1:13 pm PDT by
The long wait for an Apple Watch Ultra 3 appears to be nearly over, and it is rumored to feature both satellite connectivity and 5G support. Apple Watch Ultra's existing Night Mode In his latest Power On newsletter, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said that the Apple Watch Ultra 3 is on track to launch this year with "significant" new features, including satellite connectivity, which would let you...
iPhone 17 Pro in Hand Feature Lowgo

iPhone 17 Pro Max Battery Capacity Leaked

Thursday July 3, 2025 5:40 am PDT by
The iPhone 17 Pro Max will feature the biggest ever battery in an iPhone, according to the Weibo leaker known as "Instant Digital." In a new post, the leaker listed the battery capacities of the iPhone 11 Pro Max through to the iPhone 16 Pro Max, and added that the iPhone 17 Pro Max will feature a battery capacity of 5,000mAh: iPhone 11 Pro Max: 3,969mAh iPhone 12 Pro Max: 3,687mAh...
iPhone 17 Pro in Hand Feature Lowgo

iPhone 17 Pro Coming Soon With These 14 New Features

Friday July 4, 2025 1:05 pm PDT by
Apple's next-generation iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are just over two months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models. Latest Rumors These rumors surfaced in June and July:Apple logo repositioned: Apple's logo may have a lower position on the back of the iPhone 17 Pro models, compared to previous...
iPhone 17 Pro Lower Logo Magsafe

iPhone 17 Pro's New MagSafe Design Revealed in Leaked Photo

Wednesday July 2, 2025 8:37 am PDT by
The upcoming iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are rumored to have a slightly different MagSafe magnet layout compared to existing iPhone models, and a leaked photo has offered a closer look at the supposed new design. The leaker Majin Bu today shared a photo of alleged MagSafe magnet arrays for third-party iPhone 17 Pro cases. On existing iPhone models with MagSafe, the magnets form a...
airpods pro 2

AirPods Pro 3 to Help Maintain Apple's Place in Earbud Market Amid Increasing Low-Cost Competition

Thursday July 3, 2025 7:25 am PDT by
Apple's position as the dominant force in the global true wireless stereo (TWS) earbud market is expected to continue through 2025, according to Counterpoint Research. The forecast outlines a 3% year-over-year increase in global TWS unit shipments for 2025, signaling a transition from rapid growth to a more mature phase for the category. While Apple is set to remain the leading brand by...
Wi Fi WiFi General Feature

iOS 26 Adds a Useful New Wi-Fi Feature to Your iPhone

Wednesday July 2, 2025 6:36 am PDT by
iOS 26 and iPadOS 26 add a smaller yet useful Wi-Fi feature to iPhones and iPads. As spotted by Creative Strategies analyst Max Weinbach, sign-in details for captive Wi-Fi networks are now synced across iPhones and iPads running iOS 26 and iPadOS 26. For example, while Weinbach was staying at a Hilton hotel, his iPhone prompted him to fill in Wi-Fi details from his iPad that was already...
iOS 18

Apple Releases Second iOS 18.6 Public Beta

Tuesday July 1, 2025 10:19 am PDT by
Apple today seeded the second betas of upcoming iOS 18.6 and iPadOS 18.6 updates to public beta testers, with the betas coming just a day after Apple provided the betas to developers. Apple has also released a second beta of macOS Sequoia 15.6. Testers who have signed up for beta updates through Apple's beta site can download iOS 18.6 and iPadOS 18.6 from the Settings app on a compatible...

Top Rated Comments

Dewroo Avatar
164 months ago
App store app freeze = end of the world.
you see, the app store won't come back. ever. there will be a catastrophic problem and all apps will be deleted off apple's servers.

apple will lose stock and go bankrupt.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Jynto Avatar
164 months ago
The mayans were trying to warn us. We're all gonna die!
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
rmwebs Avatar
164 months ago
Still baffles me that Apple cant afford to keep it open. I'm pretty sure there would be a fair few review staff that would be happy to keep working, especially any that dont celebrate anything this time of year.

----------

Can we still get daily reports or is the whole thing down for that week?

You cant even log in. It's completely shut down for the week. Here's the full email as MR dont seem to be showing it:

iTunes Connect will be temporarily shut down from Friday, December 21, 2012 to Friday, December 28, 2012. During this shutdown, the following functionality will be unavailable:

Access to iTunes Connect and iTunes Connect Mobile
Delivery of any apps or updates
Additionally, the following will be delayed:

Releases scheduled to appear on the App Store for the first time
Pricing changes scheduled through the interval pricing system in iTunes Connect
We strongly recommend that you do not schedule any pricing changes in iTunes Connect that would take effect between Friday, December 21, 2012 and Friday, December 28, 2012. Pricing changes scheduled to take effect during this date range will not be reflected on the App Store and your app or In-App Purchase will become unavailable for purchase until after the shutdown.

We also recommend that you do not schedule any apps to go live during the shutdown. Releases scheduled with a start date between Friday, December 21, 2012 and Friday, December 28, 2012 will not go live on the App Store until after the shutdown.

Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
rmwebs Avatar
164 months ago
Apple isn't shutting off the app stores.

They just won't be reviewing any new apps or updated apps while the employees are on vacation.

I know...shockingly I did read the email, and have gone through this for a few years now ;)

I meant there is no reason why they have to shut down iTunes connect and app reviews.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
OriginalMacRat Avatar
164 months ago
Still baffles me that Apple cant afford to keep it open. I'm pretty sure there would be a fair few review staff that would be happy to keep working, especially any that dont celebrate anything this time of year.

Apple isn't shutting off the app stores.

They just won't be reviewing any new apps or updated apps while the employees are on vacation.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
gmanist1000 Avatar
164 months ago
Good time for them to fix the slow App Store with iOS 6! Though, I doubt they will.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)