Hey Calendar resubmitted with spiteful Apple history feature

Hey Calendar

Apple’s history isn’t secret or unfindable, nor is the notion of putting it in a calendar. However, David Heinemeier Hansson, aka DHH and co-founder of Basecamp, took the concept from a successful Kickstarter campaign and turned it into a spiteful weapon against App Review.

Hey Calendar was rejected by Apple on January 5 for not functioning without a login. Like with Hey Mail, the company hoped to submit an app and have it treated as a “reader” app like Netflix, which doesn’t function without a login.

Apple won’t consider either app as a reader app and hasn’t disclosed why. Instead, Hey must provide basic functionality to have the app approved.

DHH and his team spent the weekend implementing a new idea for the app as a nod in Apple’s direction. They have resubmitted the app with an Apple history calendar that displays if the user hasn’t logged in.

The concept on its face is harmless enough. However, DHH went out of his way to point out where the concept’s inspiration came from.

The information is public knowledge, so it seems unnecessary to admit they took the idea from Stephen Hackett’s Apple History Calendar Kickstarter, gave it to a team of people, and made it free. Hackett’s calendar is a physical one, and Hey’s move likely won’t impact his ability to sell them, but a .ics file is included with the purchase to incentivize users to own a physical calendar in a digital-first world.

DHH could have created a basic holiday calendar or a history of Basecamp but instead took inspiration from someone else’s work. Apple’s stance against Hey Calendar and previously Hey Email create unnecessary problems, but Hey’s solution may have crossed a line.

Since the Hey Calendar app has basic functionality due to this addition, Apple will likely approve the submission.