苹果公司决定拒绝新的电子邮件服务iOS应用程序的未来更新。在发给Hey creator Basecamp并由Verge获得的一封信中，苹果概述了App Store的规则，称Hey应用违反了该规则，并建议公司如果Basecamp希望继续在iOS上更新软件或在Mac上发布软件，应遵守开发者指南。该公司还表示，拒绝在其应用商店中发布Mac版的应用程序，这与苹果早些时候承认其根本不应该批准iOS版的Hey应用程序相呼应。

这封信是由苹果公司的应用程序审查委员会签署的，但苹果公司营销总监席勒（philschiller）在接受今日出版的TechCrunch采访时也发表了类似的评论。Basecamp公开质疑苹果的决定，称不应强迫用户通过应用内购买注册Hey，并因此将其每年99美元订阅费的30%交给苹果。目前，Hey的最新版本允许您登录该应用程序，但您必须先在其网站上购买该公司服务的订阅。Hey将于下个月向公众发布，但目前对受邀用户提供****模式。

信中写道：“HEY Email应用程序在app Store上以电子邮件应用程序的形式销售，但当用户下载你的应用程序时，它就不起作用了。”。苹果引用了三项应用程序商店政策——指南3.1.1和指南3.1.3（a）和3.1.3（b）——概述了公司对大多数应用程序的应用程序内购买的要求，例外情况仅限于Netflix和其他流媒体服务等“阅读器应用程序”的一部分。

苹果提供了另一种解决方案：Basecamp可以允许Hey应用程序支持第三方电子邮件提供商，从而为其提供一个免费选项，允许该应用程序的功能与其他电子邮件客户端类似，其中许多客户端与Hey没有类似的商业模式，通常为Gmail等现有电子邮件提供商重新设计收件箱。（Hey每年收取99美元的费用，用于使用其电子邮件服务和访问@嗨。com电子邮件地址，不支持与其他提供商登录。）

然而，首要的问题并不是苹果公司在上面概述的具体规则，而是它在应用这些规则时前后不一的历史。在今年之前，苹果已经允许众多具有类似商业模式的应用程序存在于应用商店中，而不要求这些应用程序包含应用内购买选项。亚马逊和Netflix等大型竞争对手要么禁止用户在应用程序中购买订阅或内容，要么在某些情况下将用户引导到浏览器上购买内容，该公司还对这些竞争对手进行了著名的豁免。

本周早些时候，随着Hey的正式发布，这场争论开始了，它引发了一些重要的问题，比如苹果对App Store的管理，以及iPhone**商是否通过其规定的30%的降幅和不一致的应用程序，对来自第三方开发者的竞争服务行使反竞争优势应用商店规则。

这场斗争发生在苹果公司岌岌可危的时刻。该公司将于下周以虚拟形式举办年度开发者大会。在Spotify和其他公司就苹果30%的“苹果税”以及苹果应用商店流程可能对竞争市场构成的威胁向苹果提出投诉后，该公司目前还面临着欧盟发起的两项反垄断调查。

继Basecamp联合创始人兼首席技术官David Heinemeier Hansson一系列直言不讳的推特和采访后，Heinemeier Hansson称苹果为“黑帮”，游戏开发商Epic和Tinder母公司Match Group等其他公司也纷纷出面支持Hey。

今天早些时候，众议院反托拉斯小组委员会主席、众议员大卫·西西林（D-RI）对《边缘报》说，“由于苹果的市场力量，它正在收取过高的租金— 基本上是高速公路抢劫— 强迫人们支付30%的费用或者拒绝进入他们的市场。” 他接着说，“它’它压垮了那些能够’靠这些钱是活不下去的。如果这个市场有真正的竞争，这是不可能的’不会发生的。”

苹果信函的最后一段承认，Basecamp在App Store中提供了企业应用程序，这是目前App Store规则的另一个明显例外，除了Hey的iOS应用程序之外，它不提供应用内购买或注册选项。苹果公司说，它这样做没有采取任何金钱的方式，听起来不祥，它要求感谢免费搭车。但至关重要的是，苹果似乎将Hey区分为一款似乎不符合应用内购买豁免标准的消费者电子邮件应用程序，尽管有证据表明其他应用程序（包括类似的电子邮件提供商，如Newton）在过去也做过同样的事。

“据我们了解，Basecamp多年来为App Store开发了许多应用程序和许多后续版本，App Store已经向iOS用户分发了数百万个这些应用程序。信中写道：“这些应用不提供应用内购买服务，因此，在过去8年里，它们没有为应用商店贡献任何收入。”。“我们很高兴继续支持您的应用程序业务，并为您提供免费服务的解决方案—只要您遵守并尊重所有开发人员必须遵守的app Store审查准则和条款。”

信的全文如下：

Hello Jason,

We are writing to let you know the appeal results for your app, HEY Email.

The App Review Board evaluated your app and determined that the rejection was valid. Your app does not comply with the App Store Review Guidelines detailed below. As you are aware, this is the reason your Hey Email app was rejected when it was submitted to the Mac App Store on June 11, 2020.

The HEY Email app is marketed as an email app on the App Store, but when users download your app, it does not work. Users cannot use the app to access email or perform any useful function until after they go to the Basecamp website for Hey Email and purchase a license to use the HEY Email app. This violates the following App Store Review Guidelines:

Guideline 3.1.1 - Business - Payments - In-App Purchase

If you want to unlock features or functionality within your app, you must use in-app purchase. Your app requires customers to purchase content, subscripti***, or features outside of the app, but those items are not available as in-app purchases within the app as required by the App Store Review Guidelines.

Guideline 3.1.3(a) - Business - Payments - “Reader” Apps

Reader apps may allow users to access previously purchased content and content subscripti***. Your mail app is not one of the content types allowed under this guideline for “Reader” apps (specifically: magazines, newspapers, books, audio, music, video, access to professional databases, VOIP, cloud storage, or approved services such as classroom management apps). Therefore, customers must be given the option to purchase access to features or functionality in your app using in-app purchase.

Guideline 3.1.3(b) - Business - Payments - Multiplatform Services

Apps that operate services across multiple platforms may allow users to access content, subscripti***, or features they have acquired in your app on other platforms or on your website, provided those items are also available as in-app purchases within the app. Your HEY Email app does not offer access to content, subscripti***, or features as in-app purchases within the app. In fact, the app does not function as an email app or for any purpose until the user goes to the Basecamp Hey Email website to start a free trial or purchase a separate license to use the app for its intended purpose.

Next Steps

To resolve this issue, please revise your app such that it does not violate any of the App Store Review Guidelines and terms.

There are a number of ways that you could revise your app or service to adhere to the App Store Review Guidelines. Customers who have previously purchased access to content, subscripti***, or features elsewhere may continue to access these items in your app, as long as new iOS customers are given the option to purchase access using in-app purchase as required by the App Store Review Guidelines.

If you would prefer not to offer users the option of in-app purchases, you could c***ider having the app function as marketed — an email client that works with standard IMAP and POP email accounts, where customers can optionally configure the Hey Email service as their preferred email service provider. This would allow the app to function as an email client without requiring an additional payment to use its features and functionality. Under this approach, what you sell on your website is clearly an email service separate from the function of your app as distributed on the App Store.

We are here as a resource as you explore these or other ideas to bring the Hey Email app within compliance of the App Store Review Guidelines and terms.

Thank you for being an iOS app developer. We understand that Basecamp has developed a number of apps and many subsequent versi*** for the App Store for many years, and that the App Store has distributed milli*** of these apps to iOS users. These apps do not offer in-app purchase — and, c***equently, have not contributed any revenue to the App Store over the last eight years. We are happy to continue to support you in your app business and offer you the soluti*** to provide your services for free — so long as you follow and respect the same App Store Review Guidelines and terms that all developers must follow.

We hope to assist you in offering the Hey Email app on the App Store.

Sincerely, App Review Board