4 ms·

They have a specific section in the rules for "Reader" apps like Netflix and Spotify. It's not unclear, it's been there since 2018.

lern_too_spel 6y ago
How about Gmail or Yahoo! Mail?
- scarface74 6y ago
  Is there anything none free about either?
  - lern_too_spel 6y ago
    You can buy a subscription to remove ads in the latter and add storage in the former.
    - scarface74 6y ago
      Yahoo mail has a 99 cent in app purchase according to the page in the App Store.
    - tssva 6y ago
      The Gmail app is not exclusive to the Gmail email service. You can use it to access other email services. Google Photo and Google Drive which are tied to only Google services offer in-app purchase of additional storage.
basch 6y ago
How is "reading my email from the hey server" different from "reading a video from the netflix server"? Neither app functions without a separate, non apple subscription. The main criticism of Hey, from apples perspective, is that the app doesnt just work when you download it, but the same applies to netflix. I personally think Hey could get around it by adding some other kind of feature to the app, like a way to read their blog. When it opens on IOS you have a "sign in" or "continue with the free version" and the free version aggregates basecamp marketing copies, as long as that free version isnt just a webview, but some enhanced native experience. Can they also advertise the cost of their service, through the applepay experience, as "x+30% apple tax"? With how much of their app is server side (nearly all of it, minus the translation from HTML to native,) I wonder how much they can get away with, without updating the client. The other interesting thing about this dynamic is, Apple shipped Leopard with Ruby on Rails, which Basecamp created. So in the past, Apple took Basecamp's open source code to make OSX more valuable, but now when Basecamp wants to benefits its users, at no real cost to Apple, Apple says "not without paying us our cut." Maybe not morally wrong, but at least stinks of bad karma.
- Despegar 6y ago
  Read the full statement that Apple gave to Hey and the media [1]. If Hey made their email client a standard works with any email account then it'd be fine without in-app purchases. The specific Hey service could be purchased outside the App Store if they want to avoid giving Apple a cut. [1] https://twitter.com/markgurman/status/1273719726196187136 https://twitter.com/markgurman/status/1273719726196187136
  - basch 6y ago
    I don't think Hey wants to be an email client that works with other providers. They should make their free feature something else entirely.
  - slenk 6y ago
    I do not understand how they don't qualify as a reader app
- whywhywhywhy 6y ago
  >How is "reading my email from the hey server" different from "reading a video from the netflix server"? Because Netflix is the dominant one in the relationship, an iPad without Netflix is a broken iPad to the sort of people who buy iPads. and email service without an iOS app is a broken email service so Apple intends to take advantage of that.

lern_too_spel 6y ago

How about Gmail or Yahoo! Mail?

scarface74 6y ago
Is there anything none free about either?
- lern_too_spel 6y ago
  You can buy a subscription to remove ads in the latter and add storage in the former.
  - scarface74 6y ago
    Yahoo mail has a 99 cent in app purchase according to the page in the App Store.
  - tssva 6y ago
    The Gmail app is not exclusive to the Gmail email service. You can use it to access other email services. Google Photo and Google Drive which are tied to only Google services offer in-app purchase of additional storage.

basch 6y ago

How is "reading my email from the hey server" different from "reading a video from the netflix server"? Neither app functions without a separate, non apple subscription. The main criticism of Hey, from apples perspective, is that the app doesnt just work when you download it, but the same applies to netflix. I personally think Hey could get around it by adding some other kind of feature to the app, like a way to read their blog. When it opens on IOS you have a "sign in" or "continue with the free version" and the free version aggregates basecamp marketing copies, as long as that free version isnt just a webview, but some enhanced native experience. Can they also advertise the cost of their service, through the applepay experience, as "x+30% apple tax"? With how much of their app is server side (nearly all of it, minus the translation from HTML to native,) I wonder how much they can get away with, without updating the client. The other interesting thing about this dynamic is, Apple shipped Leopard with Ruby on Rails, which Basecamp created. So in the past, Apple took Basecamp's open source code to make OSX more valuable, but now when Basecamp wants to benefits its users, at no real cost to Apple, Apple says "not without paying us our cut." Maybe not morally wrong, but at least stinks of bad karma.

Despegar 6y ago
Read the full statement that Apple gave to Hey and the media [1]. If Hey made their email client a standard works with any email account then it'd be fine without in-app purchases. The specific Hey service could be purchased outside the App Store if they want to avoid giving Apple a cut. [1] https://twitter.com/markgurman/status/1273719726196187136 https://twitter.com/markgurman/status/1273719726196187136
- basch 6y ago
  I don't think Hey wants to be an email client that works with other providers. They should make their free feature something else entirely.
- slenk 6y ago
  I do not understand how they don't qualify as a reader app
whywhywhywhy 6y ago
>How is "reading my email from the hey server" different from "reading a video from the netflix server"? Because Netflix is the dominant one in the relationship, an iPad without Netflix is a broken iPad to the sort of people who buy iPads. and email service without an iOS app is a broken email service so Apple intends to take advantage of that.