Apple Approves Basecamp's Email App 'Hey' With Newly Added 14-Day Free Account Option [Updated]

[MacRumors]

Just ahead of WWDC, Apple has approved a new version of Basecamp's email app "Hey" for release on the App Store, as noted by The Verge.

In response to Apple's marketing chief Phil Schiller saying that "you download the app and it doesn't work," Basecamp says that version 1.0.3 of the app introduces a free account option, allowing users to sign up directly in the app to receive a temporary randomized @hey.com email address that works for 14 days.

Basecamp is still not adopting Apple's in-app purchase system, which was at the center of the back-and-forth controversy, so users will have to visit the "Hey" website to sign up for a paid account after the free two-week period.

"Hey" has also gained multi-user support for enterprise customers, after Apple initially took issue with the app's consumer focus.

Apple has faced renewed scrutiny over its App Store practices in the weeks leading up to WWDC, including the European Commission's announcement that it will be investigating Apple's in-app purchase system. In particular, Basecamp and some other developers have taken issue with Apple's long-standing 30 percent commission from in-app purchases.

Basecamp founder David Heinemeier Hansson recently described the commission as a "ransom," calling it "profoundly, perversely abusive, and unfair." However, he called the newly approved version of "Hey" a "good compromise."

Update - June 25: Apple has approved version 1.0.3 of "Hey" with the 14-day free account option.

Article Link: Apple Approves Basecamp's Email App 'Hey' With Newly Added 14-Day Free Account Option [Updated]

 

[djcerla]

Grown ups find good solutions. Kids whine.

 

[Rogifan]

So it’s not a free tier but a 14 day free trial?

 

[cmaier]

Hey now!

Would have been cool if the solution was a free Hey account, but outgoing mail could only be the words “Hey now!”

 

[jakeenzo]

"Imbox" ??

 

[now i see it]

Rectified in a nick of time

 

[omenatarhuri]

This has been a brilliant marketing campaign. Well done to chaps at Basecamp.

 

[trip1ex]

Yep they probably skirted the rules on purpose to advertise the app. I doubt I would have heard about it otherwise.

 

[Rogifan]

This has been a brilliant marketing campaign. Well done to chaps at Basecamp.

I’m going to guess Cook had words with Schiller to the effect of get this sorted out before WWDC starts.

 

[Jmausmuc]

I think it should be 100% at Apples discretion to approve and reject whatever they want for any reason.
it’s their platform. They built it. That’s my opinion on the legal matter.

Morally, I think it’s good that developers speak up. 30% is a huge cut. Would be fair to take a little bit less. But that should be done voluntarily not forced.

 

[WannaGoMac]

This has been a brilliant marketing campaign. Well done to chaps at Basecamp.

I was going to say the same thing, its all bull what they did. In any case, Hey will fail, most folks aint spending $99 per year for an email app. Hey will next appear in macrumors with the following news title and summary "Hey Mail app shuts down and asset purchased out of bankruptcy. Hey is the app that made a fuss in 2020 about avoiding Apple's 30% app store fee."

 

[Just sayin...]

So, on June 18th when Phil Shiller said that Apple would not change it’s decision on “Hey” - was that just “chin music”?

 

[WannaGoMac]

I think it should be 100% at Apples discretion to approve and reject whatever they want for any reason.
it’s their platform. They built it. That’s my opinion on the legal matter.

Morally, I think it’s good that developers speak up. 30% is a huge cut. Would be fair to take a little bit less. But that should be done voluntarily not forced.

I agree with you. FYI the Apple fee is a lot less in the second year (15% versus 30% first year). Apple does spend capital maintaining the store and conducting app reviews for which they should be paid.

 

[Lounge vibes 05]

I think it should be 100% at Apples discretion to approve and reject whatever they want for any reason.
it’s their platform. They built it. That’s my opinion on the legal matter.

Morally, I think it’s good that developers speak up. 30% is a huge cut. Would be fair to take a little bit less. But that should be done voluntarily not forced.

That’s not the way things work, seeing as the App Store is the only way to distribute apps for the iPhone.

 

[cmaier]

So, on June 18th when Phil Shiller said that Apple would not change it’s decision on “Hey” - was that just “chin music”?

No. Hey did what apple told them to do - add functionality that works when the app is launched.

 

[Lounge vibes 05]

So, on June 18th when Phil Shiller said that Apple would not change it’s decision on “Hey” - was that just “chin music”?

Nope, seeing as they technically had to modify their app

 

[honglong1976]

I was going to say the same thing, its all bull what they did. In any case, Hey will fail, most folks aint spending $99 per year for an email app. Hey will next appear in macrumors with the following news title and summary "Hey Mail app shuts down and asset purchased out of bankruptcy. Hey is the app that made a fuss in 2020 about avoiding Apple's 30% app store fee."

I agree. I use Gmail and iCloud for email. I don't need to spend $99 a year. I am sure, this will disappear at some point

 

[daftpunker909]

I think it should be 100% at Apples discretion to approve and reject whatever they want for any reason.
it’s their platform. They built it. That’s my opinion on the legal matter.

Morally, I think it’s good that developers speak up. 30% is a huge cut. Would be fair to take a little bit less. But that should be done voluntarily not forced.

What an unrealistically simplistic view of the issue

 

[boss.king]

"Imbox" ??

It's a portmanteau of important inbox

 

[Mr. Dee]

Can you imagine the scrambling and email threads internally at Apple? More need to speak out so they realize because they are the 800 pound gorilla in the room they can just push anyone around. It’s amazing how near bankrupt 20 years ago company’s forget their past and where they are coming from.

 

[itsmilo]

"Imbox" ??

The Imbox: It’s not a typo
Everyone hates their bloated inbox, so HEY has a focused Imbox instead. Your Imbox is where important, immediate emails go from people or services you care about. No random receipts, no “I rarely read these” newsletters, and no special offers crowding out the stuff you really care about.

 

[Abazigal]

Can you imagine the scrambling and email threads internally at Apple? More need to speak out so they realize because they are the 800 pound gorilla in the room they can just push anyone around. It’s amazing how near bankrupt 20 years ago company’s forget their past and where they are coming from.

Every revolution in history has been like this. History has proven that there's no way to break the rules without creating new rules. Those who are rebels turn eventually into part of the system or the system itself. Those who go against the establishment eventually become part of establishment or replace it entirely. Every countercultural movement is culture by definition. Everything becomes a product, even if the creator doesn't want that. Every revolution—political, cultural, technological—in the history of the world has been like this.

 

[Rogifan]

So does this email address disappear after 14 days if you don’t subscribe?

 

[JM]

If the app developers want to cripple their business by making people go outside the appstore to pay for the app that was downloaded in the appstore, okay.

The 30% goes towards Apple because it's Apple's store: it seems like a form of consignment to me. Basecamp/Hey is just hurting themselves by not having subscription through the Appstore.

Some people will subscribe on the Hey website (100% to Hey), and some people will go through an In-App purchase. Big deal. Give people a T-shirt or something by going through the Hey website to purchase.

 

[CarlJ]

So, on June 18th when Phil Shiller said that Apple would not change it’s decision on “Hey” - was that just “chin music”?

They did not change their decision on the app that was presented at that point. The app has changed since then. Their decision on the new version is different. Did you really think his statement meant, “we’re not going to reevaluate the app no matter what changes they make?”