If the app was like $1 or $2 on the app store just to avoid this headache, I would pay it.
Apple sends a letter to Hey: Change your app or get out of the App Store
21–30 of 227 posts
Re: Apple sends a letter to Hey: Change your app or get out of the App Store
#22I'm probably in the minority with this view, but I do think that Apple's response makes 100% sense and is fair and reasonable.
- I don't like how everyone claims they want a 30% cut. That is factually not quite true. It is 30% for non subs, which I think is fair. If I want to sell a product on a specific distribution channel then the cut should represent the possible reach and sales opportunity. In the case of subs it's only 15%. This is quite different than 30%. 30% is only for the first 12 months and for a sub which is paid annually this is nothing. Given that the first 12 months are very crucial in gaining critical mass I think 30% is fair and later it is really only 15%.
- I have huge respect for DHH, but he criticises that Apple has published their response to journalists, which is a bit rich given that he started this "dog fight" in the public
- The apps to which DHH compares Hey with are very different in nature and all the mail apps he constantly mentions are also different in nature. They all implement the suggestions which Apple has suggested in their response, so it's really Hey who wants to be treated with different rules because DHH thinks his online status can bully Apple into giving in? Not sure if that is right
- Also I think it is possible to do both. You can disagree with the rules and fight them in a civil way in court, whilst also temporarily comply with the rules like everyone else to get your app public. This approach of not wanting to play by the rules, put them on fire and still publish an app whilst everything is burning seems like a weird strategy to me. Slightly unnecessarily aggressive in tone.
Re: Apple sends a letter to Hey: Change your app or get out of the App Store
#23"These apps do not offer in-app purchase — and, consequently, have not contributed any revenue to the App Store over the last eight years." This is pretty grotesque coming from a trillion-dollar company that anyway already charges developers a yearly fee.
"We didn't get our cut" should only apply if they add value. What value does the App Store provide Hey?
A distribution platform that reaches millions of users.
Re: Apple sends a letter to Hey: Change your app or get out of the App Store
#24Apple’s position is clear and legal, and it’s how the economy works including the proposed hey.com business model . There’s no antitrust violation here, so pay your fees or go somewhere else. Apple don’t owe hey.com a place in the App store, just like hey.com doesn’t owe me a free email address @hey.com.
But 50% of the smarphone market users might want to install software on they own property which Apple has clearly shown to be quite possible, if only Apple wouldn't stand in the way as the sole gatekeeper. It might not be specifically anti-trust violation, but if Ford behaved the same as Apple there would be 1-2 cars to pick from world wide!
Apple is about 20% of the market, not 50%.
This isn't anti-trust.
Re: Apple sends a letter to Hey: Change your app or get out of the App Store
#25> We understand that Basecamp has developed a number of apps and many subsequent versions for the App Store for many years, and that the App Store has distributed millions of these apps to iOS users. These apps do not offer in-app purchase — and, consequently, have not contributed any revenue to the App Store over the last eight years. They literally have paid 8 years of Developer Program fees for supporting the AppS…
It's a different matter whether 30% is a valid cut for Apple to make on Hey In App subscriptions. But $2,400 (8*$300/year?) for the delivery and update, notifications and Siri integration etc to millions of apps/devices sounds a pretty good deal.
Re: Apple sends a letter to Hey: Change your app or get out of the App Store
#26Re: Apple sends a letter to Hey: Change your app or get out of the App Store
#27It seems like we soon see movement on this issue given the EU antitrust and other social unrest. People are tired of things being not only unfair but not even remotely reasonable. It is laughable that Apple Music on Android doesn't use the built in IAP but forces you to pay via Apple. This will come back to haunt them. It doesn't matter that the ToS don't forbid this but in civil suits, it doesn't give them a leg to…
> If Apple was smart they would lower their percentage and move on
Smart and Apple on the same phrase has becoming less common lately. The anti-trust action seems to not be dissuading them from their actions.
Re: Apple sends a letter to Hey: Change your app or get out of the App Store
#28Would it be allowed under the App Store guidelines to offer IAP, but then give customers who purchase the service through the website 30% cashback? The price would be the same in both places, you'd be purchasing the exact same service. But a certain group of customers would get a 'loyalty bonus'…
Or do as Tinder, and charge 30% more in the app compared to their prices on tinder.com
You have to raise the price by 43%: 1.43 * 0.7 = 1.00
Re: Apple sends a letter to Hey: Change your app or get out of the App Store
#29Finally a great breakdown of the issue and a fair look into what both sides, namely Apple, are trying to do here.
> That, Apple said, is not what Hey is. Hey is a consumer app, paid for by users. And Apple takes issue with the idea that when one of those prospective users downloads the app, there's nothing they can do with it — they can't sign up, they can't pay, they have to go somewhere else before they can use the app. Apple doesn't like apps like that, at least when it feels they should be more accessible to their intended audience.
Re: Apple sends a letter to Hey: Change your app or get out of the App Store
#30Apple’s position is clear and legal, and it’s how the economy works including the proposed hey.com business model . There’s no antitrust violation here, so pay your fees or go somewhere else. Apple don’t owe hey.com a place in the App store, just like hey.com doesn’t owe me a free email address @hey.com.
Bell didn't owe rival companies use of their phone lines, either... Until the 1974 antitrust lawsuit [1].