Developers Frustrated at Apple for Just One Day's Notice to Submit Apps Ahead of iOS 14 Release Today

During its "Time Flies" event yesterday, Apple announced that iOS 14, iPadOS 14, watchOS 7, and tvOS 14 will be widely released today, providing developers with just one day's notice to submit their optimized apps for review.

ios 14 submit apps banner
While developers have had access to beta versions of the software updates since June, many were caught off guard by Apple's much shorter notice of the final releases. By comparison, Apple started accepting apps built for iOS 13 on September 10 last year, over one week before the software update was released on September 19.

iOS 14, iPadOS 14, watchOS 7, and tvOS 14 should be released to the public around 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time today. We've shared a list of compatible devices for each software update here. Note that Apple has yet to announce a release date for macOS Big Sur.

In an email to developers, Apple said that all iOS and iPadOS apps submitted to the App Store will need to be built with Xcode 12 and the iOS 14 SDK starting in April 2021. Likewise, Apple said all watchOS apps submitted to the App Store will need to be built with Xcode 12 and the watchOS 7 SDK starting in April 2021.

Related Forum: iOS 14

Popular Stories

hikawa phone grip stand apple%402x

Apple Launches Second Limited-Edition iPhone Accessory in a Month

Friday November 21, 2025 3:53 am PST by
Apple has begun selling the Hikawa Phone Grip and Stand, a new limited-edition iPhone accessory designed with accessibility in mind. Designed by LA-based Bailey Hikawa to celebrate the 40th anniversary of accessibility at Apple, the grip uses magnets to securely snap onto any iPhone with MagSafe. Apple says it can be removed with ease, and doubles as a stand with two different viewing...
iOS 26

iOS 26.2 Adds These New Features to Your iPhone

Thursday November 20, 2025 10:50 am PST by
iOS 26.2 is currently in beta testing. The upcoming update includes a handful of new features and changes on the iPhone, including a new Liquid Glass slider for the Lock Screen's clock, offline lyrics for Apple Music, and more. In a recent press release, Apple confirmed that iOS 26.2 will be released to all users in December, but it did not provide a specific release date. Keep reading...
Apple Shopping Event 2025

Apple Announces 2025 Black Friday Event, Here's What You Can Get

Thursday November 20, 2025 6:28 am PST by
Apple's annual four-day Black Friday through Cyber Monday shopping event is returning on Friday, November 28 through Monday, December 1 in many countries, including the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, Belgium, the Netherlands, Sweden, Thailand, and others. During the shopping event, customers can get an Apple gift card with...
iOS 26 on Three iPhones

iOS 27 Will Reportedly Have Two Key Upgrades

Sunday November 23, 2025 8:48 am PST by
iOS 27 will reportedly have two major elements: quality improvements and new AI features. In his Power On newsletter today, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said that iOS 27 will be similar to Mac OS X Snow Leopard, in the sense that Apple is focused on improving "quality and underlying performance" over adding new features. Gurman said there is one exception to this rule, though, as he expects...
maxresdefault

The MacRumors Show: iPhone 18 Pro Looks Like a Huge Upgrade

Friday November 21, 2025 9:10 am PST by
On this week's episode of The MacRumors Show, we talk through all of the new features and improvements expected to come to next year's iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max models. Subscribe to The MacRumors Show YouTube channel for more videos Apple's next-generation iPhones are less than ten months away and we already have a good idea about what to expect based on corroborated leaks, rumors,...
Apple Foldable Thumb

Foldable iPhone to Debut These Two Breakthrough Features

Wednesday November 19, 2025 7:26 am PST by
Apple's first foldable iPhone is expected to launch alongside the iPhone 18 Pro models in fall 2026, and it's shaping up to include two standout features that could set it apart from the competition. The book-style foldable will reportedly feature an industry-first 24-megapixel under-display camera built into the inner display, according to a recent JP Morgan equity research report. That...
ipad black friday 2025

The Best Early Black Friday iPad Deals

Thursday November 20, 2025 10:20 am PST by
Black Friday is just over a week away, and iPad deals have finally started to flood in at retailers like Amazon and Best Buy. Below we're tracking discounts on every current generation iPad, including lowest-ever prices on M3 iPad Air and M5 iPad Pro, plus steep markdowns on iPad and iPad mini. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a link and make a ...
General Black Friday Deals 25 Red

Apple Black Friday Deals Available Now on AirPods, iPads, Accessories, and More

Friday November 21, 2025 8:48 am PST by
We're officially less than one week away from Black Friday, which will take place on Friday, November 28 in 2025. As always, this will be the best time of the year to shop for great deals, including popular Apple products like AirPods, iPad, Apple Watch, and more. In this article, the majority of the discounts will be found on Amazon. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these...
Low Cost MacBook Feature A18 Pro

Report: Low-Cost iPhone, iPad, MacBook Coming Early 2026

Friday November 21, 2025 2:26 am PST by
Apple is planning to release new entry-level models across its iPhone, iPad, and Mac categories early next year, with an all-new affordable MacBook the most notable addition to the lineup. According to a new research report by Jeff Pu of GF Securities seen by MacRumors, Apple will launch the iPhone 17e – its second iteration of the "e" line – in the spring, likely along with a...

Top Rated Comments

dlewis23 Avatar
68 months ago

You developers had whole summer to update your apps! Stop finding an excuse to bash at Apple.

Focus on 14.1 that will be dropping soon.
Except it doesn't work that way. We always had a week to 10 days to test our apps with the final build.

You also can't be submitting to the store with beta builds of Xcode. We only got the final version of Xcode yesterday and when this happens review times always go way up. So if our app does not work on iOS 14 it could be days to over a week before we can submit a build with iOS 14 that corrects those issues.
Score: 125 Votes (Like | Disagree)
arn Avatar
68 months ago

I understand the frustration behind not knowing the *exact* date... but when we hit Public Beta 8, did they not think... oh man, this is coming soon, I should get my iOS 14 apps submitted.
They weren't accepting submissions before yesterday.

Why don't people buy an iPhone 12 right now, instead of complaining Apple didn't release one.

arn
Score: 63 Votes (Like | Disagree)
chrono1081 Avatar
68 months ago

They had 3 months of betas to get it ready, they wait till last min and say this

The whole beta testing is for apps to get it ready they should all be updated on launch but it always takes months that’s coz the developers can act lazy like Facebook with dark mode
I can tell you're not a developer. Let me explain that those three months aren't reliable testing. Sure you can update some stuff, like new APIs and things but a dev can only really reliably test against the GM seed which dropped yesterday. If someones apps broke due to the GM they literally have one night to fix it, which doesn't provide enough time for reliable regression testing (if they can even fix the bug in one night.)

You also couldn't even submit apps for iOS 14 until yesterday.
Score: 57 Votes (Like | Disagree)
dlewis23 Avatar
68 months ago
I love reading all the comments from people who are not developers but who think they have a clue what it's like being a developer, want to write here saying developers are just a bunch of whiners for Apple only giving 24 hours but but but we had the betas since June.

Then we will come back in about 4 hours and they will be whining saying their favorite app does not work with iOS 14.
Score: 50 Votes (Like | Disagree)
japanime Avatar
68 months ago
"Time flies," indeed! ?
Score: 47 Votes (Like | Disagree)
chrono1081 Avatar
68 months ago

You developers had whole summer to update your apps! Stop finding an excuse to bash at Apple.

Focus on 14.1 that will be dropping soon.
/s I assume? If so ignore the rest of my post, if not just know that's not how it works. Developers can test reliably only against the GM seed which literally dropped yesterday. Also Apples approval process isn't instant, so many apps won't work on day one.
Score: 47 Votes (Like | Disagree)