Phased Release on iOS: How the 7-Day Rollout Works

Releasing an update to everyone at once is fine until the update has a bug you didn't catch. Phased release is Apple's built-in way to soften that: instead of every device updating on day one, the update reaches a growing share of users over a week, and you can pause if something goes wrong. This guide covers how it works as of 9 April 2026, how to turn it on and pause it, and how it fits with telling users that their request is live.

Shipping on Android too? The Google Play version of this guide is Staged Rollouts on Google Play: Percentages, Halts and Countries.

The short version

• Phased release is for version updates. It spreads the update over seven days to a random sample of users who have auto-updates turned on.
• The daily shares are 1%, 2%, 5%, 10%, 20%, 50% and 100%.
• Anyone can still download the new version from the App Store by hand on any day of the rollout.
• You can pause for up to 30 days in total, as many times as you need, and resume where you left off.
• You can release to all users at any point once the version is Ready for Distribution.

What phased release does

Apple's help page Release a version update in phases describes it like this, as of 9 April 2026. When you release a version update, you can choose to release it gradually over seven days. A random sample of users with auto-updates on eligible devices receives the update each day, without being told they are part of a phased release.

The important detail sits right under that table on Apple's page: apps and updates in phased release can be downloaded by hand from the App Store by anyone, at any time. Phased release controls who gets the update pushed to them. It doesn't hide the update from people who go looking.

Two more rules from the same page. If you remove your app from sale during the rollout, phased release stops and can't be used for that version again. And phased release is something you choose per version, while 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.

Turning it on

You need the Account Holder, Admin or App Manager role. As of 9 April 2026, the steps are:

1. In Apps, select your app, then the version you are submitting.
2. Scroll to the phased release section and select the option to release the update over a 7-day period.
3. Click Save.

Once App Review approves the version, its status shows Ready for Distribution with "Phased Release" next to it. When the rollout finishes, users with the Admin or App Manager role who have access to the app get a notification. If you script your releases, Apple's page also links to managing phased releases through the App Store Connect API. Our guide to creating an App Store Connect API key covers that setup.

Pausing and resuming

On the version page, select Pause Phased Release, then Save. To resume, use the same section and Save again. As of 9 April 2026, the rules are:

• You can pause for a total of 30 days, with no limit on the number of pauses. Apple's example: pause for 10 days, resume, and you have 20 days of pausing left.
• A resumed release picks up on the day it was paused, not from day one.

Pausing stops new devices from receiving the update through auto-update. It doesn't withdraw the version, and people can still download it by hand. If the bug is serious, pause, fix it and submit a new version. Our post on App Store review time covers expedited review for critical bug fixes.

Releasing to everyone early

Once the version is Ready for Distribution, you can click Release to All Users at the top right of the version page at any time. Every user with auto-updates on then gets the latest version their device supports. Use this when the early days look clean and you would rather not wait out the week, or when the release fixes something urgent.

When phased release is worth it

• Large changes, such as a redesign or a new data model, where a bug would hit everyone at once.
• Server load. If the update calls a new endpoint, a gradual rollout gives your backend time to show how it copes.
• Data migrations that are hard to undo on the device.

Skip it for urgent bug fixes, where the point is to reach everyone quickly, and for a version that changes nothing risky. Pair it with crash reporting and a quick look at support email on days one to three, when the sample is small enough that a pause is cheap.

Phased release and TestFlight

Phased release is the step after beta testing, not a replacement for it. Your TestFlight testers chose to try early builds and expect rough edges. A phased release reaches ordinary users who expect a finished app. Test in TestFlight, submit, then roll out in phases. Our TestFlight beta testing guide covers that half.

How FeedbackKit fits in

FeedbackKit tracks each user request through six statuses: Pending, Approved, In Progress, TestFlight, Completed and Rejected. Phased release raises a fair question: on which day is a request Completed?

Our suggestion: move it from TestFlight to Completed on the day the phased release starts. From that day, anyone can download the update from the App Store by hand, so an email that says "it is out, update from the App Store" is true for everyone who reads it. Hold the status back if the feature depends on a server change you are also rolling out slowly, or if you pause the release because of a problem with that feature.

When you do move it, FeedbackKit emails the person who submitted the request, on every plan, if Completed is on the project's list of statuses that send email. A new project's list includes Completed. Choosing a different list needs Pro, and emailing voters who opted in needs Team. Your team gets email and push on every plan, and Slack on Pro and up.

Here is how that looks in FeedbackKit, with sample data from a fictional hiking app:

Why it matters is in closing the loop with status emails. SDK setup is in the Swift docs.

If you want the people who asked to hear about it the day it is out, start free.