Last week, a new email service was launched in the App Store. It violates an important App Store policy and is therefore banned from the expulsion threatens. Now the company boss has spoken out.
The "Hey" app includes an annual subscription of $99, which is not processed via in-app purchases but via the company's own website. This clearly violates the current App Store guidelines. Apple then asked the company to include a corresponding option. Jason Fried, CEO of Hey Mail, has now spoken out in an open letter. Fried's main argument focuses on making it clear that Apple's current payment policy is driving a wedge between a customer and app provider. In the process, the head of Hey Mail emphasizes that it is the company that spends the time, money and effort to acquire a customer - not Apple. Fried writes:
Billing questions cannot be answered
When someone signs up for your product on the App Store, they're technically no longer your customer - they're essentially Apple's customer. They pay Apple, and Apple then pays you. So the customer you've spent years acquiring is handed over to Apple. And for the privilege of doing that, you have to pay Apple 30%!
Fried also explained that app providers are unable to assist their customers with billing issues if they have chosen Apple's payment method. The letter states:
You can no longer help the customer who purchases your product with the following requests: refunds, credit card changes, discounts, trial extensions, hardship exceptions, installments, non-profit discounts, educational discounts, downtime credits, tax exemptions, etc. You can't control any of this when you bill your customers through the Apple platform. So now you're forced to sell your customers a product - with your name and reputation on it - and yet you're helpless and unable to help them when they need help with any of the above.
"Ask Apple"
But the problems are not limited to the business/customer relationship, but extend deep into the company. Many providers have already set up an infrastructure for billing and Apple's lack of integration with external systems leads to a greater burden for those who have to operate them. Fried argues as follows:
In addition, like many sophisticated software companies, we already have a centralized billing system tied into our own back office systems. Administration, accounting, account management, data search, customer support, etc. If one of our customers is forced to pay using Apple's payment system, we are blind. We can't look them up, we can't help them. Our only answer is "Ask Apple." What a terrible, hopeless message. Developers who are forced to send this message today are often accused of cheating their customers, stealing their money, etc.
"It's our business, not your business"
The Hey-Mail boss closes his letter by asking Apple to give developers the choice of using Apple's payment system or not. The letter states:
Apple, please just give your developers a choice! Let us bill our own customers through our own systems so we can help them with extensions, refunds, discounts, or whatever in our own way. This is our business, not your business.
The App Store guidelines have been controversial for a long time. While the recent case of “Hey” mail is currently being discussed, more and more companies are demanding regulation of the digital marketplace – not least because of antitrust concerns. If you would like to see the full letter, you can find it on the official company website of "Hey". (Photo by bigtunaonline / Bigstockphoto)
