Slower than molasses in January - a status update on the MWN iPhone app

Many of you who are regular blog of social media followers of ours are aware that we have been waiting an eternity on the "re-release" of our iPhone app.  So many of you ask about it on a regular basis, I figured a mass update was probably in store.  The MWN Android app was updated with StormWatch+, MWN's personalized push notification-based weather alert service, in mid-November.  The iPhone app was supposed to get StormWatch+, as well as pan and zoom radar, back in September.  The litany of events from September through early December has been documented previously on the blog.

In a nutshell, the app has to be reviewed by the "App Review Team" at Apple and approved prior to being released at the App Store.  Generally this process takes about a week or so (though Apple does not publish an expected review time).  Instead, in our case, the app has been "In Review" for nearly 4 months, despite repeated attempts by me to expedite (or at least get a status report) on the the process.  Through the end of December, very little had changed. In fact, the App Review team was on vacation for a week between Christmas and New Year's and everything stopped.

In the past week, I have been in contact (again) with Apple Developer Support.  This time, I was able to speak with a Senior Support Specialist who commiserated with my plight and agreed to attempt to assist, though he told me (again) that even the Developer Support team does not have direct access to the App Review Team.  He gave me his direct extension and promised to try and ping the App Review Team daily to prod them along, as well as keep me updated on the process until the issue is completely resolved.

Bottom line: very little has changed and someday the app will be approved, out of the blue, and you'll be able to download it.  Until then, we all wait... and wait...  Our PR machine continues to idle.  As soon as the app is available, we'll crank 'er up and you'll know via our traditional channels.

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For weather information for Memphis and the Mid-South, where and when you need it, visit MemphisWeather.net on the web, m.memphisweather.net on your mobile phone, download our Android app, or visit us on Facebook or Twitter.