screwycaboose

Is it anti-competitive? Apple literally told them how they could reapply the app in a way where they would owe Apple $0.

Which again, Basecamp already does. They know this is how it is and how to work around it, but they're pitching a fit because they don't want to do it.

I'm a bit ornery about this because Basecamp is using the plight of other developers now only because it suits their bottom line. Where have they been for the past decade? They've been raking in money off the App store for years.

Recently enough that they happened to be working on Hey at the same time.

Last year in front of Congress (while actively developing this new product). They never mentioned it despite Basecamp being in the app store for years and paying Apple $0.

The "oh my this is shocking and unfair" act is all a ruse. They've been well aware of this since the onset, they even copied Netflix's app text so they can feign "see we're just like them!" despite knowing they're not.

Because it's not a monopoly. Apple is roughly half of the marketshare in the US, and dramatically lower than that worldwide.

They're also not saying that Hey can't be in their store, or even needs to pay them anything. Hey could offer a free tier and wouldn't owe Apple a dime. Basecamp already does this so they know it very well.

Probably could be a lot less than $43/mo if Basecamp didn't feel the need to spend 7 figures on a domain.

They're not filling some massive need; it's yet another email service. If they can't justify it at $142 a year how do they justify it at $99 a year? You reap what you sow.

Seems like a lot of these examples are intentionally ignoring the rules that allow them as exceptions just to build up a bigger strawman:

* Netflix: Reader app (reader is a special Apple exception for movies/tv, books, news... mass-market media)

* Github: Offers a free tier

* App store connect: I mean come on, it's an Apple dev tool

* Tesla: exception for physical goods

Basecamp/Hey knew this was going to happen. It's a wonderful marketing campaign for them.

Apple has zero incentive to change this. The buzz around it is niche and they'd lose countless dollars if they opened the door for exceptions. Basecamp knows this.

Also, where has Basecamp been for the decade prior? Funny how they're propping this as some rightgeous issue when it suddenly impacts their bottom line.

it's only 30% of the first year if you allow subscriptions in app, then 15% the following years

There is a difference. Subscriptions only pay 30% of the first year. Every year after drops to 15%.