The release lifecycle at a glance
The six states a release moves through, from draft to distributed, what each one means, and when you can edit it.
Every release moves through a series of states, from the moment you start it until it's in the stores. Knowing which state it's in tells you what you can do with it and what's still missing.
The usual path
- Draft — you create and complete it.
- In Review — you submit it; the UXEM team reviews it.
- Quality Control — a final check before approval.
- Distributed — approved and sent to the platforms.
Between "Distributed" and it appearing in each store, it takes a few days (see How long it takes to go live).
The six states
| State | What it means | Can you edit it? |
|---|---|---|
| Draft | You're preparing it. Not submitted yet. | Yes |
| In Review | Submitted. The team is reviewing it. | No |
| Quality Control | Final check before approval. | No |
| Distributed | Approved and on its way to the platforms, or already live. | No |
| Requires Changes | The team sent it back with notes to fix. | Yes |
| Taken Down | Removed from all platforms. | No |
In some parts of the panel, "Distributed" also appears as "In Distribution". It's the same state.
What happens in review
When you submit a release for review, it leaves your control: you can't edit it while it's being reviewed.
Review can end in one of two ways:
- Approved: it moves to Distributed and is sent to the platforms.
- Requires Changes: it comes back to you with an explanation of what to fix.
How long review takes depends on your plan (see Review times).
When something leaves the path
- Requires Changes → fix what was flagged and submit it for review again. If you'd rather start over, you can send it back to Draft.
- Taken Down → a release that was distributed can be removed from all platforms. It's reversible: when you restore it, it goes back to In Review (see Take down a release and Restore a taken-down release).
Changes after it's distributed
If you edit a release that's already Distributed, it goes back to In Review so the team can approve the changes before they reach the stores.
That's why the date, time and timezone are locked once you submit the release.
Where you see the state
In Releases, each row shows its state, and the list has tabs by state: Drafts, In Review, Distributed, Requires Changes and Taken Down.
Every state change — who and when — is recorded in the release history.
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