Basecamp’s HEY and Apple

I generally do not like DHH’s tweets, but this case is a bit different.

Wow. I’m literally stunned. Apple just doubled down on their rejection of HEY’s ability to provide bug fixes and new features, unless we submit to their outrageous demand of 15-30% of our revenue. Even worse: We’re told that unless we comply, they’ll REMOVE THE APP.

— DHH (@dhh) June 16, 2020

Monopolies mustn’t be allowed. Apple can crush software makers, small or big, just like that. On a closed platform like iOS, software makers are pretty much at the mercy of Apple.

I am glad to see DHH voicing Basecamp’s concerns in the public. Members from the EU antitrust division are looking into this issue, other companies are sharing their stories as well, and in the event something positive comes out of this, it’s not just Basecamp that would benefit.

It’d be all software developers publishing to the App Store.