Apple Inc., which this week became the subject of an antitrust probe over its rules around in-app purchases on iOS, has drawn criticism for rejecting an update to a new email app over its lack of an in-app payment option.

The email app in question, Hey, was launched on Monday by Basecamp Development Ltd. Basecamp is best known as the developer of a popular team collaboration service of the same name. The controversy erupted on Tuesday after report in Protocol revealed that Apple had prevented Basecamp from rolling out an update containing bug fixes to its newly launched Hey iOS client.

An Apple reviewer reportedly told the firm that the decision was made because Hey violated a section of its App Store guidelines that relates to payments. Specifically, the issue was that Hey allows iOS users to log into the app with a subscription bought elsewhere but doesn’t provide a way for users to sign up for new accounts directly in the app interface. Apple permits this practice for certain types of apps, but email services such as Hey are not allowed to implement it.

Basecamp has accused Apple of being inconsistent in how it enforces its policies. The firm pointed out other apps, including email services, that are allowed to be on the App Store even though they enable users to log into existing accounts but don’t provide them with ability to sign up directly in the app interface.

Apple has stuck by its stance. According to the Protocol report that detailed the Hey update rejection, Apple argued to the publication that “the actual mistake was approving the app in the first place, when it didn’t conform to its guidelines.”

Whether or not users buy an app subscription through an iOS app’s interface is significant because Apple takes a 30% commission on all in-app payments. Some developers have complained to regulators about the way the fee is applied. 

The iPhone maker’s rejection of the Hey update has attracted criticism on Twitter from many media observers and tech industry figures. David Heinemeier Hansson, Basecamp’s chief technology officer, wrote in a tweet that “we keep trying to find logic, consistency in Apple’s App Store decisions. What’s different about Fastmail? Why not Gmail? Outlook? But it’s looking at the question the wrong way. The answer is much more basic: power. Apple can do what they want, when they want, so they do.”

Heinemeier Hansson directed even sharper criticism at the company in another tweet. “There is no chance in bloody hell that we’re going to pay Apple’s ransom,” he wrote. “I will burn this house down myself, before I let gangsters like that spin it for spoils. This is profoundly, perversely abusive and unfair.” 

The timing of the controversy is significant because the European Commission on Tuesday opened two antitrust investigations into Apple. One of the probes seeks to determine whether Apple harmed competing apps through its restrictions around in-app payments. The other probe, which is likewise related to mobile payments, focuses on Apple Pay. 

Photo: Pixabay