At the start of the new year, Apple was supposed to launch a new calendar app. But about 72 hours after premium email service Hey launched its latest feature, integrated calendaring, company co-founder David Heinemeier Hansson received some not-so-friendly news from Apple: Apple refused to make an iOS app for HeyCalendar because non-paying users couldn't do anything when they opened the app.
This is because new users can't sign up for HeyCalendar directly on the app, with Hey's developer Basecamp requiring users to sign up through a browser first. Apple's AppStore stipulates that most paid services must provide users with the ability to pay and register through applications to ensure that the company gets a 30% cut. This controversial rule has many gray areas and exceptions (reader apps like Spotify and Kindle are exceptions, for example) and is the subject of antitrust battles in several countries.
But as Hansen detailed on X and in a subsequent blog post, he considered Apple's rejection an insult for another reason. Nearly four years ago, the company rejected an iOS app originally developed by Hey for its email service, citing the exact same reasons. "Apple just called us to tell us that they refuse to list the HEYCalendar app (current version) from the App Store, which is exactly the same overbearing strategy as last time." Hansen wrote in an article published on X.
The outcome of the 2020 struggle ultimately favored Hey. After days of back-and-forth between the Apple App Store Review Board and Basecamp, the Hey team agreed to a creative solution proposed by Apple CEO Phil Schiller. Hey will offer a free option for the iOS app, allowing new users to sign up directly. But the company promised a small change: Users who sign up through the iOS app can get a free, temporary random email address that's valid for 14 days, after which they must pay to upgrade. Currently, Hey email users can only pay for their accounts through a browser.
After the Hey incident that year, Apple made an exception in its AppStore rules, that is, free companion applications for certain types of paid network services do not need to have in-app payment mechanisms. But, as Hansen noted on X, there's no mention of a calendar app on the list of services Apple is now making an exception for, which includes VOIP, cloud storage, web hosting and, of course, email.
"After spending 19 days reviewing our submission, causing us to miss our long-planned January 2 launch date, Apple has rejected our standalone free companion app 'because it doesn't do anything,'" Hansen wrote in the blog post. "This is because users need to log in with an existing account to use the feature."
As Hansen detailed in an X post, Hey plans to fight Apple's decision, but he didn't say how they would go about it.