Apple Threatens to Remove Email App 'Hey' From App Store Over Lack of In-App Subscription Option [Updated]

[MacRumors]

A new email app called "Hey" from the team at Basecamp has run into trouble with Apple for refusing to offer a subscription option that can be purchased in the iOS app.

Hey, which launched on Monday, is priced at $99 per year. Subscriptions for the service must be purchased on the Hey website and are not offered in the iOS app because Hey's developers don't want to pay Apple a 15 to 30 percent cut of their fees.

Apple, however, has told the Hey team that customers need to be able to purchase the service in the iOS app and that if in-app purchases are not implemented, the Hey app could be removed from the App Store. Apple has a long running rule that apps can't link to outside purchase options and must use the in-app purchasing tools when offering paid content or subscriptions, but many apps skirt that rule by avoiding in-app purchases and not providing links to outside websites.

Netflix and Spotify, for example, do not allow customers to sign up for or subscribe to their services on the iPhone or the iPad, and do not link to their respective websites. Each app instead offers a message about sign ups being unavailable in the app.

The Hey email app does the same thing, and as Basecamp CTO David Heinemeier Hansson explains in an interview with Protocol, the team thought that it would be exempt from Apple's rules because it's following in the footsteps of apps like Netflix.

Downloading the Hey app presents a simple sign in screen with no sign up option, and tapping on the "Help Me" link informs users that there are no sign up options in the app. Like Netflix and Spotify, it does not direct users to the website to sign up.

Updates for Hey have been stalled until the developers comply with Apple's request to add in-app purchase options, and despite appeals and escalation requests, Apple has held firm on the requirement. Apple says that Hey does not qualify as a "reader" app, which means new users need to be able to sign up within the app using in-app purchases.

Apple didn't respond to a request for comment. But on Tuesday afternoon, it sent Basecamp a slightly softer written notice. "We noticed that your app allows customers to access content, subscriptions, or features they have purchased elsewhere, but those items were not available as in-app purchases within the app," it said. Because Hey didn't qualify as a "Reader" app, Apple said that existing subscribers could log in as normal but Hey needed to make all subscriptions available to new users as in-app purchases.

It's not entirely clear why Apple is requiring Hey to provide an in-app subscription option when it allows Netflix and Spotify to decline to offer in-app purchase options while still having their apps in the App Store.

Hey's developers do not intend to comply with Apple's request for in-app purchase options. "There is never in a million years a way that I am paying Apple a third of our revenues," Heinemeier Hansson told Protocol. That is obscene, and it's criminal, and I will spend every dollar that we have or ever make to burn this down until we get to somewhere better."

Update: Apple provided a statement to Protocol and said that it made a mistake approving the Hey app in the first place when it didn't conform to Apple's guidelines. Apple said that sign-in only apps are allowed for business services, but not consumer products.

Apple told me that its actual mistake was approving the app in the first place, when it didn't conform to its guidelines. Apple allows these kinds of client apps -- where you can't sign up, only sign in -- for business services but not consumer products. That's why Basecamp, which companies typically pay for, is allowed on the App Store when Hey, which users pay for, isn't. Anyone who purchased Hey from elsewhere could access it on iOS as usual, the company said, but the app must have a way for users to sign up and pay through Apple's infrastructure. That's how Apple supports and pays for its work on the platform.

Article Link: Apple Threatens to Remove Email App 'Hey' From App Store Over Lack of In-App Subscription Option [Updated]

 

[Lounge vibes 05]

”That is obscene, and it's criminal, and I will spend every dollar that we have or ever make to burn this down until we get to somewhere better.”
Maybe build your own mobile operating system, build your own App Store, then put your own app in it. Boom! There’s a solution. Then you don’t have to pay anyone, except yourselves

 

[Appleman3546]

Good job Apple...give the EU some more evidence of anti-competitive behavior the day that the investigation is launched

 

[CWallace]

As Apple have already set a precedent with Spotify and Netflix (plus others) then, frankly, "Hey" should be allowed to do the same since they are not offering links to their website, either.

 

[SteveJobs2.0]

Hey is developed by a small business and is relatively unknown. It is more difficult to boss around bigger players like Netflix or Spotify.

 

[EfratBarTal]

Well done. Devs are getting ripped off. 30 percent? Apple, seriously!

 

[newyorksole]

Uh ohhhh. This is the SAME guy who made a huge stink about Apple Card discriminating based on gender as it relates to credit limits.

Let me go check his Twitter lmaooo.

EDIT: Idk why so many people are “disagreeing” Lol. He literally made a huge deal about Apple Card credit limits.

 

[boss.king]

I'm confused, I thought as long as they didn't actually tell you where you could go to make an account in the app or link out to their site then that was fine?

 

[btrach144]

I like Apple but this behavior from them is frustrating

 

[zorinlynx]

”That is obscene, and it's criminal, and I will spend every dollar that we have or ever make to burn this down until we get to somewhere better.”
Maybe build your own mobile operating system, build your own App Store, then put your own app in it. Boom! There’s a solution. Then you don’t have to pay anyone, except yourselves

That argument isn't really valid because Apple FORCES you to distribute your app in their store. If you could sideload iOS apps, then Apple would have a valid argument if you wanted your app in their store.

To provide another Apple example, if Hey wanted to distribute a Mac app they'd be able to do so without having to implement in-app purchases, outside of the app store.

I wish people would stop the excuse that "Apple is letting you use your store; you should compensate them for that." Apple isn't LETTING you use their store, they're FORCING you to use it just to have access to a significant portion of the market.

Note, I like Apple products and services. I'm just willing to call them out on stuff like this.

 

[purfledspruce]

”That is obscene, and it's criminal, and I will spend every dollar that we have or ever make to burn this down until we get to somewhere better.”
Maybe build your own mobile operating system, build your own App Store, then put your own app in it. Boom! There’s a solution. Then you don’t have to pay anyone, except yourselves

I know, right? I mean, how long did we go shopping at retail stores, which ... take about a 30% cut of the purchase price of everything you buy there? Well, the answer to that is that even my family still shops at retail stores sometimes.

What the hell is wrong with these people?

 

[Alan Wynn]

As Apple have already set a precedent with Spotify and Netflix (plus others) then, frankly, "Hey" should be allowed to do the same since they are not offering links to their website, either.

It is my guess that their rule is something like: If you provide content, consumable using the App (and other platforms), you can have a reader/viewer that does not pay for anything. If all you are doing is providing a paid app without allowing others people to signup via in-app purchase, it is not allowed.

 

[Patolino]

It is like saying you don't want your product distributed through any supply chain like Walmart, Costco and etc., because you don't want to give them their cut. Believe me, some supply chains's cuts are more than 30%.

Solution: open your own supply chain.

 

[jclardy]

”That is obscene, and it's criminal, and I will spend every dollar that we have or ever make to burn this down until we get to somewhere better.”
Maybe build your own mobile operating system, build your own App Store, then put your own app in it. Boom! There’s a solution. Then you don’t have to pay anyone, except yourselves

So Apple should remove netflix and spotify apps immediately then? Because they are “breaking” this same rule by no longer offering in-app subscriptions for their web service.

 

[nutmac]

I sympathize with both parties.

On one hand, Basecamp is exploiting a loophole used by many (e.g., Amazon, Netflix). Nothing inherently different here as far as I can tell and Apple shouldn't discriminate.

On the other hand, Apple must be tired of companies exploiting this loophole.

Instead of attacking, however, Apple should devise better options.

Maybe block these apps from App Store listing? That is, apps that require subscription but does not use App Store billing can be installed only from an external link (but binaries are still submitted and hosted by Apple).

How about extending 15% second year subscription cut to 2-year subscription?

 

[Rogifan]

I sympathize with both parties.

On one hand, Basecamp is exploiting a loophole used by many (e.g., Amazon, Netflix). Nothing inherently different here as far as I can tell and Apple shouldn't discriminate.

On the other hand, Apple must be tired of companies exploiting this loophole.

Instead of attacking, however, Apple should devise better options.

Maybe block these apps from App Store listing? That is, apps that require subscription but does not use App Store billing can be installed only from an external link (but binaries are still submitted and hosted by Apple).

How about extending 15% second year subscription cut to 2-year subscription?

It’s not a loophole. Apple has a category called “Reader“ apps. That’s what Spotify and others are. They allow you to view digital media paid for elsewhere. So how does Apple define what qualifies as a “reader” app?

 

[Apple_Robert]

At $100 a year, Hey email will die a quiet, lonely death. I don’t see a lot of revenue coming in for Apple.

 

[CWallace]

So how does Apple define what qualifies as a “reader” app? Reader apps aren’t required to offer IAP.

If all you could do was read email in "Hey", that would likely not run afoul of the App Store rules. I am guessing that being able to compose email (create content) somehow triggers something.

 

[nutmac]

At $100 a year, Hey email will die a quiet, lonely death. I don’t see a lot of revenue coming in for Apple.

Unfortunately, this is probably true.

The app has many smart ideas (e.g., whitelisting sender's email address, attachments saved into a drive), but it should've been aimed at enterprise market where things like custom domain, single sign on, and user management matter.

 

[MacknTosh]

It is like saying you don't want your product distributed through any supply chain like Walmart, Costco and etc., because you don't want to give them their cut. Believe me, some supply chains's cuts are more than 30%.

Solution: open your own supply chain.

I think that’s the point of the EU investigation - you can’t open your own supply chain for iOS.

 

[Dom_]

I think there is a difference to retail shops since they don't have any benefits if customers come to the store besides the sale.
Now I know Apple still has costs regarding the creation (developer tools) and distribution of apps, no matter if paid or free ones. But they *do* have a substantial benefit of distributing even free apps, namely it makes their platforms quite a bit more attractive (and thus generates device sales). I would assume that is why Google doesn't have a problem at all providing developer tools and distribute even free apps. After all, that's why we bought a smartphone in the first place - to have good apps (at least most people I guess).

 

[Agit21]

Good. We will make Apple suffer. The EU now has even more arguments against Apple. Time to break up the iOS App Store. Apple can decide to not offer their devices in the EU

 

[1144557]

At $100 a year, Hey email will die a quiet, lonely death. I don’t see a lot of revenue coming in for Apple.

Its like they didnt see Newton crash and burn- like 3 times. There is no business model in paying for a subscription email app

 

[cardfan]

I’m guessing the dev went to lengths just to provoke this kind of response. He’s a nutjob based on his Apple Card rants. There’s probably more to it. This was probably his whole goal of doing the silly app.

 

[Ries]

”That is obscene, and it's criminal, and I will spend every dollar that we have or ever make to burn this down until we get to somewhere better.”
Maybe build your own mobile operating system, build your own App Store, then put your own app in it. Boom! There’s a solution. Then you don’t have to pay anyone, except yourselves

By that extension, you're OK with Apple having to pay network operators 30% of any product sold through the internet they provide them. They can ofc build their own network if they don't like it, right!?!?