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Apple Threatens to Remove Email App 'Hey' From App Store Over Lack of In-App Subscription Option [Updated]
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There is a reason you don’t sell like Basecamp, right? They know what they’re doing. If you knew too, you’d know Apple is breaking their own by laws here.
As a developer, I can tell you, you'll fell different when you pay $30M out of $100M for it.
People might not pay $129?
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Exactly. These are basically hobbyists making sub 10-100k a year.
Throw Apple out of every shopping mall in the world and let them build their own to put their stores in aswell?
As a developer, Apple doesn't offer:
- backend
- tax compliance??
- support
- storage (except for the app itself for which I am glad to pay, say, a $30/month subscription for 10k downloads, or $90/month for a higher tier)
What do you think happens when you charge all of 30% extra in the only flow allowed for payment in iOS apps?
(The answer is fewer paying customers.)
Also, 30% of $129 is greater than $30.
Quite unlikely. If the EU succeeds, US and others will follow suit. Either Apple will have to sell to some other race, or comply.
So is your argument that the developer of “Hey” shouldn’t pay, or that the larger companies like Netflix and Spotify ought to be made to pay more as well?
True that.
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No. It is that this is a Reader app. You can’t force an in app purchase. That’s it.
Relatively unknown? They're a major player in the cloud based PM business and seem to make a very comfortable profit.
That said, Apple may be on a sticky wicket here as they've allowed Basecamp on the app store for years and not said a blessed thing.
The exemption that Netflix enjoys is this: "Reader Apps may allow a user to access previously purchased content or content subscriptions (specifically: magazines, newspapers, books, audio, music, video, access to professional databases, VoIP, cloud storage, and approved services such as classroom management apps"
It seems pretty clear to me that "Hey" does not give the user access to a previously purchased content subscription in one of the designated categories. Their subscription is not for music, video, books or any of the designated items. And the service they offer is not on the approved list of "exempt services" -- like stuff for teachers.
They don't fall in the exemption; therefore Apple says they are subject to rule 3.1.1.
Someone prove me wrong.
It seems pretty clear to me that "Hey" does not give the user access to a previously purchased content subscription in one of the designated categories. Their subscription is not for music, video, books or any of the designated items. And the service they offer is not on the approved list of "exempt services" -- like stuff for teachers.
They don't fall in the exemption; therefore Apple says they are subject to rule 3.1.1.
Someone prove me wrong.
You price it at $129 but you have no intention of anyone actually paying in app. They pay for it for $99 through the Hey website.
They are at the exact same place they are now, with an offer of $99 for their service.
The purpose of the Netflix app is to view previously purchased content or content subscriptions. That is allow under the reader exception. Does allowing reviews to be posted change that?
That is in no way what any email program does. Email programs have nothing to do with viewing previously purchased content or content subscriptions.
Check the reply above you. Base camp is a full CMS. Unlike Hey which is just an email app. Basecamp is paid only. Yet Apple never insisted on an in app purchase. This seems to be the job of a new intern who will get fired in a bad economy.
Nope. Download Basecamp on iOS. It’s a full CMS. Comes under the Reader app category. This is an intern gone rogue in the case of Hey. Btw, Basecamp is by the same guy.
I subscribe to AboveAvalon, and an estimate by Neil Cybart pegs the profitability of the iOS App Store at around 10%. Yes, getting 15-30% of every transaction sounds like a license to print money, but don’t forget that the costs also apply to free apps which earn Apple no money, but still require money to manage as well.
Apple is not slacking around and leeching money with no contribution on their end whatsoever. They provide a service, and the costs entailed ultimately has to come from somewhere.
Really? We got into this huge argument with Apple at work for an app that had the same issue, and they were very clear with us that we didn't need to charge the same price in app as we did from our website.
That's a horrible argument; all that says to me is that BaseCamp somehow got overlooked but _should_ have been subject to 3.1.1. Nothing you said proves to me that "Hey" is a Reader app...because it's not. Shifting goal posts 🙄
edit to add:
> This seems to be the job of a new intern who will get fired in a bad economy.
stop insulting some intern who's just doing their job; I'd fire you if you worked for me, and I asked you a question and all you could do was shift goal posts and dodge the question.
Doesn‘t matter if Apple goes bankrupt. The rules have to be the same for all apps. And if anti trust is an issue for EU, they’ll have to open the App Store to third party apps or make it 100% free. Bound to happen sooner or later.
Why? Apple pays rent etc to be in those shopping malls same as every other store. Apple isn't trying to worm there way out of it.