Hey Calendar approved by App Review, now available

Hey faced another App Review battle with its Calendar app, but was ultimately approved despite not getting reader status like Netflix.

Fighting with App Review is nothing new for Hey, as Apple previously blocked updates to Hey Email for not offering functionality without a login, despite apps like Netflix doing the same. In both cases, Hey got around App Review by creating basic functionality without a login.

After Hey's Calendar app was rejected, the company resubmitted the app with a sample calendar containing dates from Apple history.

Apple has approved that update after being in App Review for less than a day. Basecamp co-founder David Heinemeier Hansson said he only gave the update 30% odds of getting past App Review.

"We were never seriously going to give Gmail or iCloud a run for their marketshare," DHH said in a blog post. "We have many tens of thousands of customers, but they have hundreds of millions. All we're asking is to be allowed to sell the niche product that is a paid email and calendar system to people who really care."

The entire debacle is one of Apple's making, and isn't ideal given the impending launch of Apple Vision Pro. Without developer support, Apple's platforms wouldn't have apps, and Apple Vision Pro is launching with at least 1 million in the App Store.

Hey's customers have to create an account and subscribe from an external website. Apple takes issue with this despite apps like Netflix taking the same approach.

The US Department of Justice has been investigating Apple on antitrust concerns for going on four years, yet it seems a filing is always around the corner. The EU continues to push for regulation, suggesting Apple uses its monopoly power over the App Store to coerce developers to use its payment systems and pay fees.

Get the Hey Calendar app from the App Store.

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5 Comments

chasm 10 Years · 3624 comments

About 11 months ago

Hey are smartasses, but at least they’re not assHOLES like Epic.

Apple was probably in the wrong to reject them the first time Hey Calendar got reviewed, but I think we all knew before Hey came along that super-powerful players get a little more leeway at Apple than little guys with a track record of being annoying. :smile:

foregoneconclusion 12 Years · 2857 comments

These guys apparently have really huge egos if they think Apple is worried about competing with them. It's so stupid.

JMaille 4 Years · 18 comments

I don't get the point of this article.

It appears to me that Apple originally rejected the app because it didn't follow published developer guidelines. And, apparently, the developers expected this to happen because they knew they didn't follow those guidelines and they know their app is not a "reader app" like Netflix. Apparently, they then added some free functionality, per guidelines, and Apple approved the app in accordance with their published guidelines.

So I don't get what the story is here.

Also, two questions and a comment for the writer:

Questions:

What does the obvious statement that developers won't write apps for the upcoming Apple headset unless they support the developers have to do with Apple, apparently, following their published guidelines?

What does the ongoing US DoJ and EU investigations have to do with Apple, apparently, following their published guidelines?

Comment:

Why don't you spend ten minutes searching the Internet and figure out why a paid email/calendar app obviously isn't a reader app.

Respite 1 Year · 111 comments

Tongue-in-cheek? I thought it was "spiteful"?

michelb76 8 Years · 700 comments

JMaille said:

I don't get the point of this article.

It appears to me that Apple originally rejected the app because it didn't follow published developer guidelines. And, apparently, the developers expected this to happen because they knew they didn't follow those guidelines and they know their app is not a "reader app" like Netflix. Apparently, they then added some free functionality, per guidelines, and Apple approved the app in accordance with their published guidelines.

So I don't get what the story is here.

Part of the story here is that other, similar apps, did not have to do this. Ever. The rules are not enforced consistently. The salesforce app is similar, and did not have to do this. There are hundreds of others like it. I have been bitten by it as well, with several client apps. Sometimes you can resubmit without changes and you get through after all. This can make developing for iOS a really frustrating experience.

JMaille said:

What does the ongoing US DoJ and EU investigations have to do with Apple, apparently, following their published guidelines?

The EU will most likely require sideloading or multiple app stores, or forcing apple to relax on their fees, removing this and other frustrations.