Apple rejects HEY appeal, noting email apps must work without paid subscription; Apple suggests offering in-app sub or to reconfigure app as IMAP and POP client
Ever since the story broke … Mikey Campbell / AppleInsider : House antitrust committee ready to subpoena Apple CEO Tim Cook for big tech investigation Kara Swisher / New York Times : Is It Finally Hammer Time for Apple and Its App Store? Arooj Ahmed / Digital Information World : Facebook's gaming faces rejection from Apple's iOS app store once again Evan Selleck / iDownloadBlog.com : Phil Schiller says Apple won't be changing App Store rules anytime soon Michael Tsai : It Doesn't Work — Matthew Panzarino (also: MacRumors, Hacker News): Maria Deutscher / SiliconANGLE : Apple stands by controversial rejection of Hey email app update Laurent Giret / OnMSFT.com : Microsoft's Brad Smith says app stores need to be regulated Rebekah Valentine / GamesIndustry.biz : Apple repeatedly rejects Facebook Gaming app for App Store inclusion Bryant Francis / Gamasutra : Facebook prepares to wage war over release of Gaming app on iOS Michael Simon / Macworld : Apple refuses to relent as fight with Basecamp over Hey app rages on Charlotte Henry / The Mac Observer : Apple Rejects ‘Hey’ App Store Appeal Tristan Rayner / Android Authority : Ford claims hands-free driving for the new Mustang, and more tech news today Scott Bicheno / Telecoms.com : Apple under increasing monopoly pressure over App Store Julio Cachila / International Business Times : Why Apple Rejected Facebook's Gaming App From App Store Kelly Earley / Silicon Republic : Apple doubles down on controversial App Store rules Sean Keane / CNET : Microsoft's Brad Smith calls for more antitrust scrutiny of app stores Sean Endicott / Windows Central : Microsoft's Brad Smith calls out Apple's App Store policies Prakhar Khanna / Pocketnow : Facebook Gaming app rejected by Apple, yet again Tweets: Marco Arment / @marcoarment : Whoever at Apple wrote this — a few days before WWDC! — should never be allowed to communicate with developers again. Let's be clear, Apple: in addition to the $100/year developer fees and any search ads we buy, we add value to your highly profitable hardware FAR beyond the 30%. https://twitter.com/... Marc Edwards / @marcedwards : A few days out from WWDC, and this is Apple's message to developers. It reads as “you have no value to us unless you're earning us tons of cash”. https://techcrunch.com/... https://twitter.com/... Mark Gurman / @markgurman : Apple's rejection letter to Hey attached. Company also says Basecamp hasn't generated revenue for the App Store in 8 years. https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/... Matthew Guay / @maguay : It's not that @apple charging 30% for the App Store is so crazy; it's what nearly every software and game store charge, after Apple led the way to this pricing. It's that modern SaaS software doesn't need what Apple's selling for a 30% cut. https://capiche.com/... Ed Bott / @edbott : I agree with this take from @mgsiegler. Apple can either adapt to the world in 2020 and change its policies or wait for antitrust regulators to force them to make changes that might not be nearly as palatable or profitable https://twitter.com/... David Pierce / @pierce : Totally agree with this. Apple told me on our call that its guidelines go back to the beginning of the App Store, when paying for things on the internet was sketchy and complicated — it was a way of protecting everyone involved. The world feels different now, but the rules don't https://twitter.com/... @dhh : “Tollbooth is just the right metaphor. While you can use various services like https://hey.com/ on the web through browsers, when it comes to mobile, app developers are subject to whatever guidelines Apple and Google impose and the fees they charge” https://www.nytimes.com/... Ryan Jones / @rjonesy : 1,000% this. - Instagram, Uber, Whatsapp should pay more than 0% - Netflix, Hey, Kindle should pay less then 30% https://twitter.com/... Dave Wiskus / @dwiskus : Conspiracy theory: Apple doesn't care about the 30% from app developers, but changing it willingly would mean pressure to change the 30% for music, movies, and TV, which would cost Apple billions. If a government forces it, those contracts are protected. M.G. Siegler / @mgsiegler : We're getting too far into the weeds with all this. It seems pretty simple at a higher level: App Store rules and policies were created for the world as it was a decade ago. The world is not as it was a decade ago. Apple should create new guidelines for the world as it is now. Marco Arment / @marcoarment : A realistic solution that would give Apple and devs most of what they want, and remove most antitrust pressure, would be the older, less-strict version of the rule: Allow non-IAP payments to exist, but not be reachable in-app, and let apps say “Go to our website to sign up”. https://twitter.com/... Benedict Evans / @benedictevans : The basecamp founders spent a decade marketing themselves by deliberately insulting their peers, employees & half the tech industry. That's their brand - a cool app run by trolls. Apple still needs to rewrite its payment policies. If it doesn't the EU will, and no-one wants that. John Siracusa / @siracusa : Wow, this is extremely flimsy. Who is Apple protecting with this stance? The poor iOS user who might download the *free* Hey app and be shocked to learn that it doesn't function without an account? ...or maybe it's about that 30% cut of in-app purchases? Yep, a real stumper. https://twitter.com/... Brianna Wu / @briannawu : I know Apple feels like it's sticking to its guns here, but it's fundamentally misreading the room. This comes off as greedy, not principled. #WWDC is next week, where Apple will debut slickly produced videos about how much they love developers. These actions show otherwise. https://twitter.com/... Daniel Jalkut / @danielpunkass : The way Apple is coming off right now is way more comparable to the US government than I wish it were. Gaslighting domination is not a good look. https://twitter.com/... Merlin Mann / @hotdogsladies : See, they install that TruCoat at the factory. There's nothing we can do about that. https://twitter.com/... Mehedi Hassan / @mehedih_ : Make no mistake, if it wasn't for the apps and the high quality of apps iOS developers churn out on a regular basis, I would be using a Pixel right now. https://twitter.com/... Mustapha Hamoui / @beirutspring : To borrow @dhh's phrase, I think @apple is the one playing 4D chess here and fanning the flames. This storm may end in a good news climax on Monday when apple announces some kind of dev-friendly changes to the rules in WWDC and Jujitsu its way out of all anti-trust action. https://twitter.com/... Matthew Panzarino / @panzer : Apple sent a letter to press (and to @dhh and @jasonfried) about Hey's rejection. I also spoke to Apple's Phil Schiller about the issue. Schiller (and Apple) has not changed stance. https://techcrunch.com/... Chris Welch / @chriswelch : What a random mix of shit to string together. For every example, you can name a giant company with an app that Apple can't really afford to lose. And all companies that Apple wouldn't want complaining to regulators. https://twitter.com/... Jane Manchun Wong / @wongmjane : I afraid the Hey-Apple controversy will be drown out in 3 days when WWDC comes, everyone will move on to the next big tech and forget about it https://twitter.com/... Kyle Pflug / @kylealden : As a Windows Phone veteran, I sympathize with Apple's position here. There's absolutely no value to a rich ecosystem of high quality apps like Basecamp if they are not directly monetized. Who needs 'em! (Apple does.) https://twitter.com/... Harry McCracken / @harrymccracken : The fact that Apple has trouble following its own rules (it accidentally approved Hey at first) may suggest there's an issue here. https://techcrunch.com/... Dieter Bohn / @backlon : At the height of its mad powers in the 90s Microsoft wasn't this tone deaf. https://www.theverge.com/... Luc Vandal / @lucvandal : I don't mind the 30% cut but that last sentence sounds like apps that do not benefit @Apple financially are useless. They created amazing platforms for us to take advantage of but our apps also made those platforms thrive. This is insulting to all developers. https://twitter.com/... Steve Troughton-Smith / @stroughtonsmith : ...and Apple didn't just send it to the developer, they shared it with the press. A middle finger to everybody just before WWDC — who thought that paragraph was a good idea? Come on https://twitter.com/... Layton Duncan / @polarbearfarm : Haven't followed the details of the latest App Store controversy, but the vibe of this isn't pleasant. iOS wouldn't be what it is without devs producing apps. Apple couldn't have done it alone. Cash isn't the only value Apple extracts from the App Store. https://twitter.com/... Tom Warren / @tomwarren : Apple's arrogance knows no bounds 🙄 https://twitter.com/... Charles Arthur / @charlesarthur : @siracusa this is going to get Apple slaughtered in EU antitrust. Look at what happened with Google and Android sideloading. This will be way bigger. Russell Ivanovic / @rustyshelf : This whole “has generated no revenue for the App Store” line holds no water. If Apple removed all third party apps from their iOS store today, what would iPhone sales look like for the next 2 years? The abundance of apps makes Apple's phones sell. Without them they'd be dead. https://twitter.com/... Daniel Eran Dilger / @danieleran : @appleinsider @Apple The definition of insanity is submitting a game platform to the App Store repeatedly and expecting a different result. Why does Facebook have time to submit a shit package of web games five times but not Instagram for iPad? Must be some real good surveillance motive behind it. Eugene Wei / @eugenewei : Per the Apple App Store debate, it's worth remembering that Amazon and Facebook burned crazy resources trying to build mobile phones—their own phones!—just to hedge the mobile platform risk. As world shifted to mobile both companies considered it an existential risk. John S. McCarley / @jmccarley : #Apple is like the opposite of the Supreme Court this week - All Bad News... @Apple https://twitter.com/... Barak Gila / @barakgila : idea for https://hey.com/: allow iOS users to subscribe but charge an insane, specific number like $9,138,452 per fortnight, for which the first search result is an anti-Apple screed & regular payment page. Apple lets developers charge a markup, so this should be kosher? Peter Steinberger / @steipete : So, add a super basic IMAP client and everything is fine? 😶 https://twitter.com/... Neal Khosla / @nealkhosla : “Large company w/ unrecognized monopoly unwilling to relinquish major revenue source” https://twitter.com/... @denzhadanov : Very solid response by @pschiller. From this perspective Hey does vialote the rules. Our Spark, provides the service for free to users, businesses can pay on the website and access extra features. https://twitter.com/... Will / @ws : I thought DHH was being a whiney little baby and overreacting about this whole thing, but the level of gal here is staggering. Trying to armchair quarterback a business model around your cut is not a good look. https://techcrunch.com/... https://twitter.com/... Steve Troughton-Smith / @stroughtonsmith : 🙅♂️ The app is only crippled on the App Store because that's what they had to do to fit Apple's written and unwritten rules. By the book. It's not ‘an email app’, it's the Hey app; Apple's framing is BS, and it's disappointing to see people fall for it https://t.co/ONJjr0uzTA Ben Thompson / @benthompson : Generous of Apple to not claim responsibility for Basecamp's 1999-2012 revenue. @dhh : And another. Maybe Apple wants a cut of all banking too? #YouDownloadTheAppAndItDoesntWork https://twitter.com/... @dhh : Here's another “You download the app and it doesn't work, that's not what we want on the store”. https://twitter.com/... @dhh : And another #YouDownloadTheAppAndItDoesntWork. https://twitter.com/... @dhh : Apple doubles down on their rejection of HEY in the App Store, but adds some spice to it at the end: YOU UNGRATEFUL PEASANTS! No mention of how Basecamp differs, how Gmail differs, how Outlook differs, how Fastmail differs. Just more edicts from the monopoly king! https://twitter.com/... Daniel Jalkut / @danielpunkass : If I worked in Apple Developer Relations, engineering, product marketing, or App Store editorial, I'd be FURIOUS at whoever in the company is fomenting a developer-hostile public image the week before WWDC. Steve Troughton-Smith / @stroughtonsmith : This ‘the App Store is a business, they can do what they want’ thing is nonsense. The App Store is a utility. It defines the future of software. If you're not on it as a developer, you don't exist. If you don't have access to apps, as a user, you're excluded from the modern world Steve Troughton-Smith / @stroughtonsmith : That passive-aggressive bullshit 'you're not worth anything to us' paragraph in writing, from Apple. Oof https://twitter.com/... Steve Troughton-Smith / @stroughtonsmith : For sure, I'm worried about retaliation for mentioning anything to do with App Store & antitrust. Last time I did, Phil blocked me. Apple have threatened my livelihood on App Store more than once, and know they could snuff me out in an instant. Just like they could for any of us Jane Manchun Wong / @wongmjane : Not that I agree with Apple's attitude on their policy, but I like how they gave a shout-out to the open email protocol standards like IMAP and POP https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/... Phil McTimoney / @philmctimoney : @theloop What would a free version of Hey look like? They're hosting your email account - how can that be free if they are making a stand against ads and everything that comes with them? Why doesn't Apple just sell a free version of the iPhone while we're at it? Ad supported! Brandon Titus / @bjtitus : @theloop @jdalrymple Why is it ok for whole categories of apps ("Readers") to be broken but not others? This reeks of concessions made for large VOD services and others to allow them to selectively apply this rule. Nilay Patel / @reckless : Good interview from @panzer with Schiller here on the Hey controversy. In my conversations with Apple people today, a repeated theme was definitely “if we change the rule for Hey, what's next?” — eventually the entire IAP services revenue strat falls down. https://techcrunch.com/... @slasher : gatekeepers Apple have now rejected Facebook Gaming from the App Store 5 times, which would be a big deal if anyone used Facebook Gaming https://www.nytimes.com/... Alex Hern / @alexhern : Has anyone heard a single reason from Apple as to why this policy doesn't apply to @superhuman? https://twitter.com/... Steve Troughton-Smith / @stroughtonsmith : I'll miss Phil; this antitrust action is a self-inflicted wound, and was completely avoidable for Apple if it were not for the continued prevalence of a Jobs-era mindset that has already seen Apple hit for illegal wage-fixing and eBook price-fixing https://twitter.com/... M.G. Siegler / @mgsiegler : This isn't the Constitution. Apple holds the unilateral ability to change what it wants. They've been doing it in piecemeal fashion — Amendments? And worse, seemingly for preferred partners/deals, which has just pissed people off more over time. Rewrite the whole thing for 2020. Karissa Bell / @karissabe : Wow, definitely not passive aggressive at all! Really struggling to see the wisdom of picking a fight with a developer literally *days* before WWDC https://twitter.com/... Ed Bott / @edbott : Like a rejected Sopranos scene: “Basecamp, you come to us asking for a favor, but how long since you've given us a taste?” https://twitter.com/... Alex Barredo / @somospostpc : the last paragraph isn't illegal or anything but the snark is utterly unwarranted and would fall flat in Brussels. Apple is playing a political game and should treat this issue as such instead of punching down Basecamp for distributing the app in the only way available to them https://twitter.com/... @rileytestut : the fact that the world's most valuable company sent this email with such a condescending last paragraph is absolutely bonkers https://twitter.com/... Christina Warren / @film_girl : This is just tripling down right now and honestly, it's painful to see this sort of thing. https://twitter.com/... @dhh : @pierce @jasonfried Isn't it amazing that Apple, of all companies, is telling us that we can't integrate a service and a product? This has literally been their playbook for the last twenty years!! @dhh : @TimSweeneyEpic We should talk! Sar Haribhakti / @sarthakgh : “The HEY Email app is marketed as an email app on the App Store, but when users download your app, it does not work.” https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/... Natasha Mascarenhas / @nmasc_ : *the plot thickens and triples down* https://twitter.com/... Casey Newton / @caseynewton : Apple has $192.8 billion in cash on hand https://twitter.com/... Myles Udland / @mylesudland : The App Store definitely operates in the background of most public investors' consciousness, but the Apple v. Hey thing — if not resolved cleanly — has some “a butterfly flaps its wings” risk for Apple. https://stratechery.com/... https://twitter.com/...