• Apple rejects Hey calendar app for not allowing non-paying users to do anything within the app.
• Hey had previously faced a similar rejection from Apple for its original iOS app four years ago.
• Hey plans to fight Apple’s decision, but the specific approach is not yet known.
The issue is that Apple should not advertise the app a FREE on the AppStore. It’s should advertise it as a subscription app or something like that.
The real issue is almost certainly that Hey doesn’t want to pay Apple 30% so you can’t do anything without an external subscription and they don’t allow you to pay with In App Payments/Subscriptions.
This guys entire marketing plan is generating controversy.
That’s exactly the same marketing plan as Neflix/Amazon prime/HBO Max… whatever. You download a FREE app but can’t do anything with it without a subscription.
Every single one of those apps supports in app payments/subscriptions. You can subscribe directly from the app.
So, no, you don’t.
And if Hey added that, they would be fine.
This is the reason Apple didn’t lose their antitrust cases - they apply their rules pretty uniformly unlike Google which made all sorts of exceptions and side deals.
Last I checked you cannot sub from within the Netflix app.
Have you checked in the actual app? The App Store page often shows legacy info. I know it was possible before, but afaik they changed it some years back.
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That’s not quite correct. At least for Netflix I know that you can browse, add to watchlist etc. without a sub. Just need an account. So you can do something, just not watch anything.
We really need Apple to open their platform to other app stores.
I mean… maybe? I don’t actually care. My MIL will absolutely get tricked into downloading some spyware or scam app from some shady 3rd party App Store if they existed.
The walled garden approach isn’t for everyone - but I don’t actually mind it at all.
Leave the walled garden up. Just allow an opening of the user wants to.
The issue is for the technically illiterate it’s often not nearly as intentional.
No one reads pop ups or warnings, they just click ok when they’re told.
My MIL was on her way to Home Depot to buy gift cards when my FIL called me because he couldn’t talk her out of it and thought I could.
She had clicked a popup and then called the number - then somehow googled for Apple support number and called another scam.
Literally anything that makes that more likely or easier is a net negative for a very sizeable percentage of users.
I am certainly a power user - but there aren’t really any android apps that I think I’m missing out on.
There’s 1/10th the spyware / garbage ware in the Apple Store vs Play store, and that’s before we get into 3rd party stores.
Mac has a good-ish solution where you need to go into settings to allow unapproved apps. It’s not a pop up. You need to go there manually.
It’s not that great of a solution, though. I dunno if anyone remembers but, when Gatekeeper (the interface to do this) first was added to MacOS, it was in response to a malware “virus scanner” that was out called MacKeeper. It was advertised as a malware scanner/Mac maintenance tool but it was just an ad platform that would inject all kinds of crap into your browser and run all kinds of keyloggers and things in the background.
As soon as Gatekeeper was released, the MacKeeper website made a specific page that had step-by-step instructions for how to disable Gatekeeper and it would prompt you to visit the page if MacKeeper ever made it onto your system. If you ever re-enabled it, it would prompt you to disable again and show you the instructions.
It’s an endless cat and mouse game. The only way this works is if they put it in as a multi-step terminal process. Novice users will not fuck with the terminal unless they know what they’re doing and are comfortable with the consequences.
Apple does that for enterprise profiles and vpn profiles on iOS. Guaranteed you can talk most people into doing that without much trouble.
There are more Android users than Apple users worldwide. Lots of them are not very tech savvy, but they don’t get tricked into installing random apps. You can’t even do that unless you go into settings and enable third-party app installs. I don’t think it’s really a big problem like you think it is
Just because you married the daughter of someone dumb, the rest of us should suffer? Due to this walled garden approach, the big companies are carving pieces of once open Internet to create their own secluded corners which only stifles competition. I always liked apple as a technology company, but their transition into a lifestyle brand only emboldened their gatekeeping. I am glad they were forced to adapt to USB-C, and I hope that in future, they be forced to open their AppStore.
First off, she isn’t dumb at all. Just easily overwhelmed by technology. She was suspicious and took the time to try to find apple’s phone number to call them, but probably got bit by someone scamming google’s SEO so google spit out a scam number.
They started using USBC on Macs and iPads forever ago. They weren’t forced to do anything. When they switched from 30 pin to lightning everyone was pissed. They guaranteed 10 years of support for lightning. Which drum roll… expired in 2022. https://www.theverge.com/23312359/apple-iphone-lightning-cable-anniversary-10-years
If you don’t like it just buy android and windows devices? It’s not like there’s no choices and you’re screwed. It’s also not like they changed their stance over time. Whether you bought iPhone 1 or iPhone 15 the experience has been more or less the same ecosystem wise.
You hit the nail on the head. Apple needed to add a whole in-app purchase interface to the store UI to make it clear that the free game you’re about to download charges $50 for berries and the game is practically unplayable without them.
They now need to categorize apps as requiring a subscription as the only means to “buy” it or even just use it.
If the software is free to download but requires a subscription for the service, the button needs to say “Subscribe”, not “Get”. And the app info needs to show you, in loud type, the minimum buy-in cost.
The don’t advertise any apps as free. Apps that are free to download say “Get”. Nowhere does it say free. Before you get the app you can see if there are subscriptions as well.
I was a Hey user from the beginning until I learned about how they treat their employees.
I ditched my account immediately.
Yeah, DHH is a total piece of shit.
Yeah literally same. I signed up for a year and as soon as this happened i ditched it and canceled my plan
DHH is a clown who is trying his best to become Elon.
I’m really hoping he doesn’t race in the WEC this year
Maybe he will and break his expensive car
DHH threw his toys out the pram again 🤣
He’s a twat
This is the best summary I could come up with:
But roughly 72 hours after the premium email service Hey announced its latest feature — an integrated calendar — co-founder David Heinemeier Hansson received some unwelcome news from Apple: it was rejecting a standalone iOS app for Hey Calendar, because non-paying users couldn’t do anything when they opened the app up.
The controversial rule has a ton of gray areas and carve-outs (i.e. reader apps like Spotify and Kindle get an exception) and is the subject of antitrust fights in multiple countries.
Close to four years ago, the company rejected Hey’s original iOS app for its email service for the exact same reason.
Same bullying tactics as last time: Push delicate rejections to a call with a first-name-only person who’ll softly inform you it’s your wallet or your kneecaps,” wrote Hansson in a post on X.
“After spending 19 days to review our submission, causing us to miss a long-planned January 2nd launch date, Apple rejected our stand-alone free companion app ‘because it doesn’t do anything’.
As Hansson details in an X post, Hey plans to fight Apple’s decision — though he didn’t specify what route they will be taking.
The original article contains 512 words, the summary contains 190 words. Saved 63%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
More of Apple trying to tax everyone for everything done on a iPhone.
What…?
Apple wants all apps to charge through the app store so they can tax 30%.
If you let people pay outside the app, Apple will ban so they get their cut.
You don’t think providing security for users is a good thing? I’d rather not give my credit details to every app I want to use. Also the fee is 15% for the first million. Which would be most apps.
