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Apple Rejects the Hey Calendar from Their App Store

world.hey.com

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Re: Apple Rejects the Hey Calendar from Their App Store

#21

Post by 1123581321 »

hightrix wrote: post #11

> After spending 19 days to review our submission, causing us to miss a long-planned January 2nd launch date If this review time period caused Hey to miss their launch date, this is a major signal that their developers do not have ANY experience with the iOS App Store. > That is because users are required to login with an existing account to use the functionality. Again, this is clearly spelled out in the Apple App S…

I think you're misreading. They are being rejected because the account requires a login to a service that isn't sold via IAP, not because they failed to provide a demo login to reviewers. There's no way they haven't been providing demo logins for Basecamp all these years.

As for review turnaround times, it's been quite awhile since multiple weeks without a response has been normal. In a normal app store submission process, with an app this size, an experienced team can plan to make requested changes with that much lead time before a launch date.

I'm surprised though that they didn't ship this calendar app with a simple calendar you can use without paying. That's how they handled the email app deadlock; there's a temporary random email generator feature that anyone can use, which gives the app the requested out-of-the-box functionality. Seems like the same workaround could have been successful here.

Re: Apple Rejects the Hey Calendar from Their App Store

#22

Post by wbkang »

mertbio wrote: post #7

DHH really needs to control his temper. Instead of focusing on the discrimination of his app (while there are other apps similar to HEY Calendar, why theirs rejected), he keeps mentioning about Apple’s 30% commission but this commission only applies to small number of developers. If you don’t earn more than $1 million in a year, you only pay 15%. If you earn more than that but have subscriptions (like HEY) then you p…

It's still a valid point. Is it ok to take 15% more if you make more money? Does the marginal cost of supporting an app _increase_ as opposed to stay the same or decrease?

Re: Apple Rejects the Hey Calendar from Their App Store

#24

Post by Workaccount2 »

TheLoafOfBread wrote: post #20

Can't wait when App Store model is finally dead and installing from multiple sources like I can on Windows or MacOS is normal on phones as well.

I remember when Epic tried to do this and the internet piled on them for being greedy.

Re: Apple Rejects the Hey Calendar from Their App Store

#25

Post by paulddraper »

lawgimenez wrote: post #19

As someone who has deployed dozens of apps to the App Store for clients, avoid submitting first time apps during the holidays and add free account solely for Apple reviewers.

It appears they submitted the app before the holidays?

> After spending 19 days to review our submission, causing us to miss a long-planned January 2nd launch date

Re: Apple Rejects the Hey Calendar from Their App Store

#26

Post by hightrix »

1123581321 wrote: post #21
hightrix wrote: post #11

> After spending 19 days to review our submission, causing us to miss a long-planned January 2nd launch date If this review time period caused Hey to miss their launch date, this is a major signal that their developers do not have ANY experience with the iOS App Store. > That is because users are required to login with an existing account to use the functionality. Again, this is clearly spelled out in the Apple App S…

I think you're misreading. They are being rejected because the account requires a login to a service that isn't sold via IAP, not because they failed to provide a demo login to reviewers. There's no way they haven't been providing demo logins for Basecamp all these years. As for review turnaround times, it's been quite awhile since multiple weeks without a response has been normal. In a normal app store submission pr…

> They are being rejected because the account requires a login to a service that isn't sold via IAP

I'm extremely skeptical of this claim. I have apps in the app store that behave exactly as you've described and Apple has not rejected any of our submissions. One app uses a third party login, one uses a first party login. One allows for registration within the app, the other requires registration outside of the app.

>it's been quite awhile since multiple weeks without a response has been normal

You are correct that typically reviews are very fast. That said, we recently had a new version of an app take 2 weeks (14 days) to get reviewed and rejected due to a similar, but different, issue. My guiddance is always submit very early (4+ weeks), especially when you have a launch date with marketing or other real-world tie-ins.

There are easy ways to work around Hey Calendar's rejection, but only if you submit early and are prepared to do the work. Similar to your suggestion, providing a "Demo Mode" where a user can see what the app does without login easily solves the rejection issue. I can say this with confidence as I've done it in the past with an app that is still on the app store.

Re: Apple Rejects the Hey Calendar from Their App Store

#27

Post by Terretta »

mertbio wrote: post #7

DHH really needs to control his temper. Instead of focusing on the discrimination of his app (while there are other apps similar to HEY Calendar, why theirs rejected), he keeps mentioning about Apple’s 30% commission but this commission only applies to small number of developers. If you don’t earn more than $1 million in a year, you only pay 15%. If you earn more than that but have subscriptions (like HEY) then you p…

And, shops with no monopoly and less customer loyalty are charging by and large the same percentage.

For that matter, even supermarkets charge for shelf positioning.

Re: Apple Rejects the Hey Calendar from Their App Store

#28

Post by Terretta »

wbkang wrote: post #22
mertbio wrote: post #7

DHH really needs to control his temper. Instead of focusing on the discrimination of his app (while there are other apps similar to HEY Calendar, why theirs rejected), he keeps mentioning about Apple’s 30% commission but this commission only applies to small number of developers. If you don’t earn more than $1 million in a year, you only pay 15%. If you earn more than that but have subscriptions (like HEY) then you p…

It's still a valid point. Is it ok to take 15% more if you make more money? Does the marginal cost of supporting an app _increase_ as opposed to stay the same or decrease?

Depends on the app, but for some apps, the more users, the more your cost per user increases, because of the type of user in each cohort.

Early adopters tend to explore and self-support more. Late majority need more TLC.

Re: Apple Rejects the Hey Calendar from Their App Store

#29

Post by rakoo »

hightrix wrote: post #11

> After spending 19 days to review our submission, causing us to miss a long-planned January 2nd launch date If this review time period caused Hey to miss their launch date, this is a major signal that their developers do not have ANY experience with the iOS App Store. > That is because users are required to login with an existing account to use the functionality. Again, this is clearly spelled out in the Apple App S…

Or

Maybe you don't have all the information because it is not entirely spelled out in the blog post, they have all the engineers they need because they have experience, they already did everything you said but Apple keeps being Apple, and your advice is not needed ?

Re: Apple Rejects the Hey Calendar from Their App Store

#30

Post by hightrix »

rakoo wrote: post #29
hightrix wrote: post #11

> After spending 19 days to review our submission, causing us to miss a long-planned January 2nd launch date If this review time period caused Hey to miss their launch date, this is a major signal that their developers do not have ANY experience with the iOS App Store. > That is because users are required to login with an existing account to use the functionality. Again, this is clearly spelled out in the Apple App S…

Or Maybe you don't have all the information because it is not entirely spelled out in the blog post, they have all the engineers they need because they have experience, they already did everything you said but Apple keeps being Apple, and your advice is not needed ?

They missed their launch date due to Apple Review.

That does not scream "they have the experience they need".

While they may not listen, they absolutely need to hear the advice to submit earlier.

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