Apple’s rejection of Hey calendar app revives an old feud
Apple’s rejection of Hey calendar app revives an old feud
Basecamp founder and app creator David Heinemeier Hansson referred to Apple’s decision as “bullying tactics.”
• 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.
73The 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.
60You 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.
37And an another category that, this app requires to signup for an account to use it
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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.
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I was a Hey user from the beginning until I learned about how they treat their employees.
I ditched my account immediately.
34Yeah, DHH is a total piece of shit.
10Yeah literally same. I signed up for a year and as soon as this happened i ditched it and canceled my plan
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DHH is a clown who is trying his best to become Elon.
21I’m really hoping he doesn’t race in the WEC this year
4Maybe he will and break his expensive car
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DHH threw his toys out the pram again 🤣
He’s a twat
5This 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.
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