The new year was supposed to start with a new calendar app. But about 72 hours after premium email service Hey announced its latest feature (an integrated calendar) co-founder David Heinemeier Hansson received unpleasant news from Apple: it was rejecting a standalone iOS app for Hey Calendar, because non-paying users couldn't do anything when they opened the app.
New users can't sign up for Hey Calendar directly in the app: Basecamp, which creates Hey, has users sign up through a browser first. Apple's App Store rules require most paid services to offer users the ability to pay and sign up through the app, ensuring the company gets a discount of up to 30 percent. The controversial rule has plenty of gray areas and exceptions (i.e. reading apps like Spotify and Kindle have an exception) and is the subject of antitrust fights in several countries.
But as Hansson detailed in X and in a later blog entry, found Apple's rejection insulting for another reason. Almost four years ago, the company rejected Hey's original iOS app for its email service for exactly the same reason. “Apple just called us to let us know that they are rejecting the HEY Calendar app from the App Store (in its current form). Same intimidation tactics as last time: pressing with delicate rejections of a call with a person who is only called by her first name and who will gently inform you that it is your wallet or your kneecaps.” wrote Hansson in a post about X.
The outcome of the 2020 fight actually worked in Hey's favor. After days of back and forth between Apple's App Store Review Board and Basecamp, the Hey team agreed to a quite creative solution suggested by Apple executive Phil Schiller. Hey would offer a free option for the iOS app, allowing new users to sign up directly. But the email service proposed a slight twist: Users who signed up through the iOS app got a free, temporary, random email address that worked for 14 days, after which they had to pay to upgrade. Currently, Hey email users can only pay one account through the browser.
Following the saga with Hey, Apple made an exception to its App Store rules that stated that free companion apps for certain types of paid web services were allowed. No It is required to have a payment mechanism in the application. But, as Hansson mentions in
“After spending 19 days reviewing our submission, causing us to miss a long-planned release date of January 2, Apple rejected our free standalone companion app 'because it doesn't do anything.' This is because users must log in with an existing account to use the functionality.” wrote Hansson in a blog post.
Like Hansson details In an X post, Hey plans to fight Apple's decision, although he did not specify which path they will take. The edge Hey and Apple have been contacted for comment.
