Apple Approves Basecamp's Email App 'Hey' With Newly Added 14-Day Free Account Option [Updated]
Just ahead of WWDC, Apple has approved a new version of Basecamp's email app "Hey" for release on the App Store, as noted by The Verge.
In response to Apple's marketing chief Phil Schiller saying that "you download the app and it doesn't work," Basecamp says that version 1.0.3 of the app introduces a free account option, allowing users to sign up directly in the app to receive a temporary randomized @hey.com email address that works for 14 days.
Basecamp is still not adopting Apple's in-app purchase system, which was at the center of the back-and-forth controversy, so users will have to visit the "Hey" website to sign up for a paid account after the free two-week period.
"Hey" has also gained multi-user support for enterprise customers, after Apple initially took issue with the app's consumer focus.
Apple has faced renewed scrutiny over its App Store practices in the weeks leading up to WWDC, including the European Commission's announcement that it will be investigating Apple's in-app purchase system. In particular, Basecamp and some other developers have taken issue with Apple's long-standing 30 percent commission from in-app purchases.
Basecamp founder David Heinemeier Hansson recently described the commission as a "ransom," calling it "profoundly, perversely abusive, and unfair." However, he called the newly approved version of "Hey" a "good compromise."
Update - June 25: Apple has approved version 1.0.3 of "Hey" with the 14-day free account option.
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