1,394 New iPhone Apps Approved Last Friday, None of Them Google Voice

Last Friday was a particularly productive day for the Apple team that reviews submissions to the iTunes App Store. AppShopper reports that 1,394 new applications were approved that day (see graph below; click to enlarge).

An impressive number when you consider that Apple (AAPL) employs only 40 full-time reviewers and requires at least two of them to scrutinize each app–or so says Apple’s reply to the Federal Communication Commission inquiry into why Google’s (GOOG) Google Voice hasn’t yet made it into the App Store.

That said, the volume of approved apps does make you wonder about just how thoroughly they’re are being vetted. Reviewers are charged with checking apps for buggy software, content and privacy violations and anything that “degrades the core experience of the iPhone,” among other things. For a team of 40 people to review and approve 1,394 apps based on these criteria, and presumably reject a few others, in a single workday seems at least a bit miraculous–unless, of course, someone accidentally hit the “Bulk Approve” button.