Apple’s rejection of Hey calendar app renews an previous combat

The brand new yr was supposed to start with a brand new calendar app. However roughly 72 hours after the premium e mail service Hey introduced its newest characteristic — an built-in calendar — co-founder David Heinemeier Hansson obtained some unwelcome information from Apple: it was rejecting a standalone iOS app for Hey Calendar, as a result of non-paying customers couldn’t do something once they opened the app up.

New customers can’t join Hey Calendar instantly on the app — Basecamp, which makes Hey, makes customers first join via a browser. Apple’s App Retailer guidelines require most paid companies to supply customers the flexibility to pay and join via the app, guaranteeing the corporate will get as much as a 30 % minimize. The controversial rule has a ton of grey areas and carve-outs (i.e. reader apps like Spotify and Kindle get an exception) and is the topic of antitrust fights in a number of nations. 

However as Hansson detailed on X and in a subsequent weblog submit, he discovered Apple’s rejection insulting for one more motive. Near 4 years in the past, the corporate rejected Hey’s authentic iOS app for its e mail service for the very same motive. “Apple simply referred to as to tell us they’re rejecting the HEY Calendar app from the App Retailer (in present kind). Identical bullying techniques as final time: Push delicate rejections to a name with a first-name-only one who’ll softly inform you it’s your pockets or your kneecaps,” wrote Hansson in a submit on X.

The result of the 2020 combat really labored out in Hey’s favor. After days of forwards and backwards between Apple’s App Retailer Evaluate Board and Basecamp, the Hey workforce agreed to a quite artistic answer steered by Apple exec Phil Schiller. Hey would provide a free possibility for the iOS app, permitting new customers to enroll instantly. However the firm had a slight twist — customers who signed up by way of the iOS app bought a free, non permanent randomized e mail tackle that labored for 14 days — after which they needed to pay to improve. At the moment, Hey e mail customers can solely pay for an account via the browser. 

Following the saga with Hey, Apple made a carve-out to its App Retailer guidelines that acknowledged that free companion apps to sure sorts of paid internet companies had been not required to have an in-app fee mechanism. However, as Hansson mentions on X, a calendar app wasn’t talked about within the record of companies that Apple now makes an exception for, which incorporates VOIP, cloud storage, hosting — and naturally — e mail.

“After spending 19 days to overview our submission, inflicting us to overlook a long-planned January 2nd launch date, Apple rejected our stand-alone free companion app ‘as a result of it doesn’t do something’. That’s as a result of customers are required to login with an current account to make use of the performance,” wrote Hansson within the weblog submit. 

As Hansson particulars in an X submit, Hey plans to combat Apple’s determination — although he didn’t specify what route they are going to be taking. The Verge has reached out to each Hey and Apple for remark.