Do they also ban apps that show public transport schedules, because you can't buy tickets through them?
Apple sends a letter to Hey: Change your app or get out of the App Store
71–80 of 227 posts
Re: Apple sends a letter to Hey: Change your app or get out of the App Store
#72Finally 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…
If someone were to look at the reviews on the App Store, they would realize that users are extremely happy with the Hey app, despite how Apple attempts to portray the situation.
Re: Apple sends a letter to Hey: Change your app or get out of the App Store
#73Honestly, Apple's response is actually pretty reasonable, all things considered. Read the full letter — it was clear, fair, and professional — despite coming off the back of a lot of bad press. I see plenty of comments are focussing on this quote, re their Basecamp apps: > These apps do not offer in-app purchase — and, consequently, have not contributed any revenue to the App Store over the last eight years Apple hav…
Once, phone makers thought that apps were a benefit to their phone, not a cost.
Re: Apple sends a letter to Hey: Change your app or get out of the App Store
#74Apple’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.
Don't take this the wrong way, but I think you should put more time in understanding how the basics of economics and works to understand why monopolies or duopolies are bad for societies. I'm sure there are some great online lectures to be found on economics 101.
No offence taken, we are all students :) Monopolies (and duopolies, where there is collusion) can be bad for society, which is why we have specific exceptions in law to deal with them. Apple doesn’t hold a monopoly position in the smartphone market. In fact, they don’t even hold a majority position in the smartphone market. This is like going after Dr Pepper with antitrust...it’s never going to happen.
Re: Apple sends a letter to Hey: Change your app or get out of the App Store
#75Honestly, Apple's response is actually pretty reasonable, all things considered. Read the full letter — it was clear, fair, and professional — despite coming off the back of a lot of bad press. I see plenty of comments are focussing on this quote, re their Basecamp apps: > These apps do not offer in-app purchase — and, consequently, have not contributed any revenue to the App Store over the last eight years Apple hav…
> Apple have (freely) provided Basecamp a platform to grow their business via the App Store, whilst giving Apple (effectively) nothing in return.
It's not free though, is it? You have to pay $99 a year, and purchase Apple hardware to develop and test software for their platforms. Basecamp, who hire 50+ people most likely all run Apple hardware, so that's tens (if not hundreds) of thousands of dollars to Apple over the years.
Re: Apple sends a letter to Hey: Change your app or get out of the App Store
#76I'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 i…
I absolutely despise Apple and will never own an iPhone but what they did here is perfectly reasonable. Apple doesn't force users to use in-app purchases. It only forces developers (not users) to provide the option of purchasing access to services directly within the app. This isn't eliminating any choices for users and Apple isn't inserting itself between completely unrelated businesses to extend their reach beyond the Apple ecosystem.
Re: Apple sends a letter to Hey: Change your app or get out of the App Store
#77Earlier quoted context omitted.
"We didn't get our cut" should only apply if they add value. What value does the App Store provide Hey?
I take it you have never run a startup. Otherwise you would realise that having an effective and profitable channel to market is one of the most difficult things to achieve. Apple gives you one on a silver platter and for a pretty fair cost per acquisition compared to other channels.
I have no problem with Apple offering the services they do in their app store for developers who'd like to use it.
The issue is that it's not really an honest choice - This company has decided that they'd rather not use it, and they have effectively lost access to the platform entirely.
Basically - What you're saying is that Apple should have the legal monopoly over building channels to market for iOS (because they prohibit any other form of distribution). I don't believe that should be true. I'd actually say that's exactly what put Microsoft into a world of pain for IE, and they were actually much more open about it - a user was free to install a different browser on Windows, a user is not free to install a different app store on iOS.
Re: Apple sends a letter to Hey: Change your app or get out of the App Store
#78If the app was like $1 or $2 on the app store just to avoid this headache, I would pay it.
So would everyone else. Part of the problem is that hey is still in invite-only, and everyone who is able would just pay $1 or $2 to get around the invitation list.
Wish there wasn't a stupid invite list so I can use it now instead of waiting :/
Re: Apple sends a letter to Hey: Change your app or get out of the App Store
#79> 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…
Yeah, Apple keeps pushing this narrative that they are giving away a free service to developers that don't accept payments. It costs $99 a year to put anything on the App Store.
And if Apple is really that concerned about free distribution, I'm sure they could set up an AWS-like pricing model where there's a set price for data transfer, updates, maybe even push notifications.
Re: Apple sends a letter to Hey: Change your app or get out of the App Store
#80Apple’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!
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