App Store Phased Release: How the 7-Day Rollout Works, How to Pause It, and When to Skip It

App Store phased release is an option in App Store Connect that releases a version update to your existing users in stages instead of all at once. Apple describes it as releasing your app's update gradually over 7 days, to a random sample of users with automatic updates on eligible devices, without any notification of their participation. It is offered when you submit a version update, not on the first release of a brand-new app.

You need the Account Holder, Admin or App Manager role to set it. That matters if you work with a collaborator who only has a Developer role: they can upload builds, but they cannot change this setting.

Apple publishes the percentages. These are the share of users with automatic updates turned on who are offered the update on each day of the phased release.

Two details are easy to miss. First, the percentages apply to people who have automatic updates on. Apple says apps and app updates in phased release can still be downloaded manually from the App Store by anyone at any time, so a user who opens your product page and taps Update gets the new version on day one regardless of the schedule. Second, the percentage is of your existing install base, so the number of people on day one depends entirely on how many users you have. For a small app, 1 percent can be a handful of devices. That is useful as a canary, but it is not a statistically meaningful sample, and I would not read a quiet first day as proof the build is clean.

You set it per version, before you submit for review. Apple's steps:

Once the version is approved and released, its status reads Ready for Distribution with Phased Release next to it. This setting is separate from the version release option that decides when an approved version goes live (manually, automatically, or automatically but no earlier than a date and time). You can combine them: for example, release automatically after approval and let phased release control the speed. For the rest of the update routine, including build numbers and release notes, see [how to submit an app update to the App Store](/blog/how-to-submit-an-app-update-to-the-app-store).

Open the Ready for Distribution version and use the Phased Release for Automatic Updates section. Apple lists three actions.

When the rollout completes, Admins and App Managers with access to the app get a notification that the phased release is done.

Apple documents one trap. If you remove your app from sale, including when your Apple Developer Program membership lapses, phased release stops and is not available for that version again. When the app is reinstated it becomes available to all users immediately, regardless of the percentage reached before removal. To get a controlled rollout back, Apple says to make the version unavailable for download and submit a new version update with phased release enabled.

In practice this is a reason to keep your developer membership renewed before you ship a risky update, and a reason not to use removal from sale as a makeshift pause button. Use the Pause Phased Release action instead.

I turn it on for any update that changes native code, upgrades the Expo SDK, adds a permission, or touches payments or sign-in. Those are the changes where something can break on a device you do not own, and where an over-the-air fix cannot help because the broken part is in the binary. After [an Expo SDK upgrade](/blog/how-to-upgrade-your-expo-sdk-version), I would never ship to everyone on day one.

I skip it, and choose to release to all users immediately, when the update fixes a problem that is already hurting everyone (a login that is broken, a crash on launch in the current version) or when the change is tiny and visual. Waiting seven days to deliver a fix to people who are currently stuck is the wrong trade. This is my judgment, not an Apple recommendation.

The routine that makes the setting worth having: submit with phased release on, set a reminder to check your crash reports on days one, two and three, and if a new crash signature shows up, click Pause Phased Release first and diagnose second. Set up [crash reporting for your Expo app](/blog/how-to-add-crash-reporting-to-your-expo-app) before you need it, because adding it in the middle of an incident is too late. Claude Code is good at the diagnosis half of that loop: paste the stack trace and the diff between the two builds and ask it to find what changed.

Phased release rolls a version update out over 7 days at 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 percent to a random sample of users with automatic updates on, while anyone can still update manually. Set it on the version page before you submit, pause it for up to 30 days in total, resume where you left off, or click Release to All Users. It does not roll back, does not cover first releases, and is cancelled if the app is removed from sale. Use it for native, SDK, permission and payment changes, skip it for urgent fixes, and watch your crash reports.

If you want a second pair of eyes on an update before you press submit, that is what App Store Launch Club is for. Post your release plan and your crash dashboard setup, and the [curriculum](/curriculum) walks through the full update loop. Join at applaunchclub.co for $9 a month and bring your app.