App Store phased release: schedule, pausing, and fixes

An App Store phased release offers a version update to a growing share of your users over seven days, starting at 1% and reaching 100% on day 7. The percentages cover only users with automatic updates turned on. Anyone can still download the new version by hand from the App Store, so a phased release slows automatic delivery without limiting who can get the version.

You can pause the schedule or release to everyone at any point. Neither action takes the update back from people who already have it, so a serious bug still needs a new version.

The steps below follow Apple's App Store Connect Help and API reference. We did not test them on a live release, and App Store Connect labels can change, so check the current screen before you act.

App Store phased release percentages

Apple publishes a fixed schedule. Apple's page gives no option to change these percentages.

Day of phased release	Percentage of users
1	1%
2	2%
3	5%
4	10%
5	20%
6	50%
7	100%

Half of the schedule's growth comes in the final step, from 50% to 100%. Plan your checks so that the decision you care about happens before day 7.

What the percentage covers

Apple describes the group as a random sample of users with automatic updates on eligible devices. Those users aren't told they are part of a phased release.

That definition leaves out several people who can still end up on the new version:

• Manual updates. Apple says anyone can manually download a version in phased release at any time.
• New installs. Independent developer David Smith noted in 2019 that new users downloading the app always get the latest version. Apple's help page says only that anyone can download it.

It also leaves out timing. Being offered an automatic update isn't the same as having installed it. So "day 4, 10%" tells you where the schedule is. It doesn't tell you that 10% of your users run this version. For that, count sessions or users by version in your analytics or crash reporting tool.

How to turn on phased release

Phased release is for version updates. Apple lets you choose it when the version has one of these statuses: Prepare for Submission, Waiting for Review, In Review, Waiting for Export Compliance, Pending Developer Release, Developer Rejected, Rejected, or Metadata Rejected.

1. In App Store Connect, open Apps and select the app.
2. In the sidebar, select the version.
3. Find Phased Release for Automatic Updates and select Release update over a 7-day period using phased release.
4. Click Save.

This needs the Account Holder, Admin, or App Manager role. Once the version is approved, its status reads Ready for Distribution with "Phased Release" next to it. If you are unsure what the other statuses mean, see App Store review status.

When the phased release finishes, Apple notifies users with the Admin or App Manager role who have access to the app.

How to pause and resume

Pause when you need time to investigate.

1. Open the Ready for Distribution version.
2. In Phased Release for Automatic Updates, select Pause Phased Release. To resume later, select Use Phased Release.
3. Click Save.

Apple sets three rules:

• The pause allowance is 30 days in total. Pausing for 10 days leaves 20 days for later pauses.
• You can pause as many times as you like within that allowance.
• Resuming continues from the day you left off. The schedule doesn't restart.

A pause holds the automatic schedule. Because Apple says manual downloads stay open during a phased release, keep treating the version as available while it is paused.

How to release to all users early

If the first few days look clean and you don't want to wait, open the version and click Release to All Users. Every user with automatic updates on then gets the latest version their device supports.

Use it for a version you trust, or for an urgent fix that needs to reach people quickly. Apple's page describes no way to return to the schedule afterward, so treat this as a one-way step.

What to do when the release has a bug

Pausing limits how many more people receive a bad version through automatic updates. People who already updated keep it. The way forward is a new version:

1. Pause the phased release.
2. Fix the bug and submit a new version. It goes through App Review like any other.
3. Request an expedited review if the bug is critical. Apple asks you to put the reason in the Notes field when you submit.
4. Decide how the fix goes out. A fix can use phased release again, or it can go to everyone at once if the bug is doing more harm than the fix could.

Apple also lets you make a version unavailable for download to address legal or usability issues in a previous version. Apple's guidance for a Ready for Distribution version with such an issue is to submit an update, so read that page before you rely on this route.

One edge case has a sharp consequence. If the app is removed from sale, including when your Apple Developer Program membership lapses, phased release stops and can't be used for that version again. When the app is reinstated, the version goes to all users immediately, whatever percentage it had reached. Apple's route back to a controlled rollout is to make the version unavailable and submit a new update with phased release turned on.

App Store phased release vs Google Play staged rollout

The two features solve the same problem with different controls.

	App Store phased release	Google Play staged rollout
Schedule	Fixed, 7 days	You choose each percentage
Moves forward	Automatically, each day	Only when you raise it
Stop control	Pause, up to 30 days in total	Halt
Who is covered	Automatic-update users; anyone can download manually	Eligible users, chosen at random

The most important operational difference: an App Store release keeps moving unless someone pauses it, while a Play rollout waits for someone to raise it. If your team ships to both stores, a release that needs attention on iOS may need nothing on Android, and the reverse. For the Android side, see Google Play staged rollout.

Read the state through the API

If you want your own dashboard or script to know where a release stands, the App Store Connect API has an appStoreVersionPhasedReleases resource. Its attributes include phasedReleaseState, currentDayNumber, startDate, and totalPauseDuration.

phasedReleaseState	Apple's meaning
INACTIVE	The phased release hasn't started.
ACTIVE	The version is released and moving through the 7-day period.
PAUSED	The phased release is paused at your request.
COMPLETE	The update has gone to all devices with automatic updates on.

totalPauseDuration is useful for tracking how much of the 30-day allowance you have spent. The API key you use has to have access to the app. For choosing a key, see individual vs team API keys.

How to decide whether a day looks healthy

Phased release buys you time, and that time only helps if someone looks at the data. Before you release, write down three things: who checks, which numbers they check, and what result means pause.

Compare the new version against the previous one. A crash-free rate on its own means little, and the first days carry little data for a smaller app. A hypothetical example: an app with 2,000 active users has only about 20 users in the day 1 group, and not all of them will have updated yet. A clean day 1 tells that team very little. A rate comparison starts to mean something later in the week, which is why the 20% and 50% days deserve the closest look. For how to read those numbers, see crash-free users vs crash-free sessions.

Specita brings source changes, reported deliveries, and available quality signals into one workspace, and its App Store Connect integration maps each iOS app to its product. With Sentry connected, crash data attaches to the matching release, so the person checking day 5 can see what changed and how that version is behaving. To set it up, start with the App Store Connect guide.

Apple guidance checked on November 4, 2026.