4 ms·

Thank you for clarifying the exact rule Hey broke. The easiest way to get around it is to provide an in-app purchase option for Apple users, and charge a higher

by evv 6y ago

Thank you for clarifying the exact rule Hey broke. The easiest way to get around it is to provide an in-app purchase option for Apple users, and charge a higher price. Hey could easily offer a $15/mo plan through Apple, and still clear more money than the $99/yr external offering. Instead of quietly using this tactic, they are utilizing Apple to stoke outrage and garner attention. May be brash but it is not a terrible strategy. I have no sympathy for Apple- this is the exact position they have put themselves in.

michaelbuckbee 6y ago
But why "Hey" and not Slack or any of the other thousands of SAAS that have a mobile iOS client completely separate from billing.
gruez 6y ago
>The easiest way to get around it is to provide an in-app purchase option for Apple users, and charge a higher price. App store agreement from the parent comment: >and your general communications about other purchasing methods are not designed to discourage use of in-app purchase. I'd say that making IAP more expensive would count as "discourag[ing] use of in-app purchase"
dmitriid 6y ago
15/mo comes down to 10/mo after the 30% that Apple takes. So, I really doubt they would "clearly make more money".
- evv 6y ago
  It is not uncommon to have a different price for monthly vs yearly billing. IAP customers will pay more, but they can afford that anyways, and the bright ones will subscribe online. Hey currently charges $99/yr. If they added an IAP tier of $15/mo, and Apple takes 30%, that leaves $126/yr. (Clearly more money, in my humble calculation)
  - dmitriid 6y ago
    That's not enough of a difference to justify paying 30% to Apple. Additionally, "IAP customers will pay more" is actually in clear breach of App Store policy: you cannot price differentiate iOS purchases.
untog 6y ago
> Hey could easily offer a $15/mo plan through Apple, and still clear more money than the $99/yr external offering. No, they can't. You're not allowed to charge more money for an in-app subscription.

by evv 6y ago

michaelbuckbee 6y ago

But why "Hey" and not Slack or any of the other thousands of SAAS that have a mobile iOS client completely separate from billing.

gruez 6y ago

>The easiest way to get around it is to provide an in-app purchase option for Apple users, and charge a higher price. App store agreement from the parent comment: >and your general communications about other purchasing methods are not designed to discourage use of in-app purchase. I'd say that making IAP more expensive would count as "discourag[ing] use of in-app purchase"

dmitriid 6y ago

15/mo comes down to 10/mo after the 30% that Apple takes. So, I really doubt they would "clearly make more money".

evv 6y ago
It is not uncommon to have a different price for monthly vs yearly billing. IAP customers will pay more, but they can afford that anyways, and the bright ones will subscribe online. Hey currently charges $99/yr. If they added an IAP tier of $15/mo, and Apple takes 30%, that leaves $126/yr. (Clearly more money, in my humble calculation)
- dmitriid 6y ago
  That's not enough of a difference to justify paying 30% to Apple. Additionally, "IAP customers will pay more" is actually in clear breach of App Store policy: you cannot price differentiate iOS purchases.

untog 6y ago

> Hey could easily offer a $15/mo plan through Apple, and still clear more money than the $99/yr external offering. No, they can't. You're not allowed to charge more money for an in-app subscription.