Breaking Better : Update to How Unpublished Apps Are Displayed in the App Store
Historically, app listings on the Shopify App Store for published and unpublished apps, were almost identical. Because of this, merchants viewing the listing didn’t realize that some of these apps had not obtained the status of published, meaning they had not been thoroughly vetted by the Shopify Apps Team.
With our ecosystem being open, anyone can create a public API key, create an app, and distribute their app to any Shopify merchant with the desire to install it. However, to now be listed in our app store, your app will need to go through the full review process to ensure it meets our standards. For more information on the review process, and how our App Quality Assurance Specialists will walk you through this process, check-out our other post on Guidelines and Resources for Getting Listed in the Shopify App Store.
What is the value of being listed in the app store?
Apps in the App Store have been checked and tested by our App QA Specialists, ensuring that they function properly and are worth the money merchants pay for them. Being listed on the App Store serves as an indication of quality, and will help merchants feel more comfortable with installing your app to their Shopify store.
In addition, in Shopify’s own app recommendations and marketing materials, we only promote published apps.
So how are unpublished apps displayed now?
We’ve changed the way unpublished apps are listed to make the app’s status clearer to merchants.
Before the change, unpublished app listings were visible to anyone through the app listing URL created during the app submission process.
After making changes to how these apps are listed, unpublished apps are now only visible for a viewer who is logged into a Shopify Partner Account.
Note: To see an unpublished app listing simply:
- Sign into your partner dashboard
- Click “Apps”
- Select your app
- Click “Create an app store listing”
- Click “View App Listing”
If you’re not logged into a partner account, an unpublished app will redirect to a page that looks like this:
We’ve also updated our authentication screen to let merchants know if the app they’re installing is on the App Store or not.
The authentication page now looks like this:
What happens if a merchant currently has your unpublished app installed, or would like to install your app despite its status as unpublished?
If a merchant made the installation before this change was made, there will be no change in how they interact with your app. Merchants will only see the above changes when attempting to find your listing or install your app.
As well, since unpublished apps no longer have a hosted app listing, you’ll have to direct your merchants to the application URL you’ve created and setup in your partner dashboard. This can be embedded into any website.
To view your application URL:
- Sign into your partner dashboard
- Click “Apps”
- Select your app
- Click “App information”
To initiate the install, since the ‘Get’ button which grabs the store’s name and returns it as a parameter no longer exists in the unlisted state, you will need to have the merchant provide the shop name or capture it for authentication:
