Apple has definitively approved HEY in the App Store!! No IAP, no 30% cut, but we’ve opened the door to a free temp address service, and use same app for work accounts. I’m so incredibly relieved! And now HEY is open to EVERYONE! No invite code needed 🎉❤️ https://t.co/J7OCCTFX2Z
— DHH (@dhh) June 25, 2020
Hey is now open to everyone, and it does not require an invite code. The app promises a more organized approach to email, for $99 per year. But perhaps more importantly, Hey is an example of how developers can avoid paying Apple 30 percent of IAP and subscription fees.
“Hopefully this paves an illuminated path for approval for other multi-platform SAAS applications as well. There are still a litany of antitrust questions to answer, but things legitimately got a little better. New policies, new precedence. Apple took a great step forward,” Hansson tweeted.
The European Commission recently opened dual investigations into the App Store and Apple Pay over its rules requiring developers to use its own payment and in-app purchase system. That investigation was spurred by Spotify’s complaint, but the debate over whether the App Store is fair is not new. Apple may appease some developers if it allows them to follow Basecamp’s lead and offer free trials instead of IAP.