The specific target here is Apple's business/consumer distinction — the claim that HEY, an email service sold to businesses, somehow falls outside the IAP rule. If that line doesn't hold, the rule's scope is whatever Apple says it is on a given day, a point inessential reinforces by arguing the App Store's draw is exclusivity, not exceptional distribution value.
First-order effects
HEY's app update stays blocked, and every subscription developer selling to businesses now has to guess whether Apple's business/consumer line applies to them — the justification's flimsiness makes the rule unpredictable in practice.
Second-order effects
Apple's confrontational posture on commissions, as Daring Fireball later framed it in its 2024 follow-up, invites rather than deflects regulatory scrutiny — each arbitrary-sounding enforcement decision becomes evidence for regulators weighing platform power.
Third-order effects
If the pattern holds, App Store policy enforcement shifts from written rules to case-by-case gatekeeping, pushing developers and regulators alike toward demanding external, codified constraints on Apple's discretion over distribution.
The trend: Developer pushback against discretionary App Store enforcement is converting individual rejection disputes into the public record regulators will use to constrain platform gatekeeper power.
A hill I would die on: curated app stores have been hugely, unambiguously good for users and software developers, and especially for user security and privacy. 1/
The Basecamp/Hey thing has driven a conversation about iOS being opened up and Apple's control of the App Store being loosened. That's totally overthinking it. Apple should just charge a lower fee and be consistent about applying clear, transparent rules.
Bottom line on Apple's behavior with Hey: (from @gruber ) “the distinction is not so much between [..] what is or isn't a “business” app, but between which companies are too big for Apple to push around” https://twitter.com/...
“I'm paying for Hey using the same company credit card I use to pay for Basecamp. How is that not a business service? I'm sure as shit reporting it to my accountant that way”, @gruber destroys the consumer v biz argument 🎯 https://daringfireball.net/...
I fully agree with @gruber 's takedown on Apple's seemingly arbitrary implementation of its App Store rules https://daringfireball.net/... https://twitter.com/...
Spot on piece by @gruber re: Apple, HEY, what's pro/business, what's consumer, what's prosumer, and what any of it means anyway —> https://daringfireball.net/...
I keep coming back to the business vs consumer part as well. In that one paragraph they admit their reviewers don't know how to apply their own policies consistently AND they have additional unwritten policies they apply. How can we be expected to know what's allowed then? https:…
The EU is ultimately asking whether its right and fair that companies have to go through Apple to reach consumers. Apple takes a 30% commission on other company's App Store revenues including rivals like Spotify https://www.cnbc.com/...