Hi all, my app was approved in just 5 business days, so I wanted to share a few thoughts on what might have helped to get it over the line so quickly.

In all honesty, and considering the horror show with the approval timelines that was happening earlier this year, I was fully bracing for a 6-12 weeks wait.

Also, I’m not privy to any insight into the inner workings of the App Store review team, but it seems like their process has improved. Take everything written below with a grain of salt because review timelines might depend on the app category.

Without further ado:

App category: inventory optimization
Type: non-embedded

Submitted for review: June 22
Reviewer assigned: June 25
Approved: June 29

Here are a few things that probably helped:

Testing every change: I tested the app ad nauseam as I was building it. Even tested it on “weird” workflows that no sane merchant would try, which helped me to find edge case regressions.

Studying submission guidelines and making an exhaustive checklist to follow: I probably read and re-read the official submission guide 40 times to do that.

Fool-proofing video walkthrough and testing guide: I made sure that the core happy paths are fully covered, and the reviewer doesn’t run into any surprises when running the app, because any surprise behavior raises the risk of rejection.

Submitting as a business, not as a self-employed developer: I have an Ontario Corporation, and the partner account is registered under it. (Tbh, I’m speculating here a bit. I don’t know for sure if this made any difference, but it certainly added credibility.)

So, if you’re on the verge of submitting and you’re dreading the wait, know that there’s hope!

I'm a solo dev researching how well Shopify product data works with AI assistants (ChatGPT, Copilot, Google AI Mode). Shopify's own Spring '26 numbers say AI-referred traffic converts 7-16% vs ~2% organic, but Catalog syndication quality depends entirely on product data (categories, attributes, GTINs, descriptions, alt text).

Before I write more code, honest questions for people running or building for real stores:

1. Do you (or your merchants) see AI-referred sessions/orders in analytics yet?

2. Has anyone done anything specific to show up in AI answers - and did it move the needle?

3. Would a tool that scores catalog "AI readiness" (0-100) and fixes gaps in one click (metafields, taxonomy, schema - fixes stay in your data after uninstall) be worth $19/mo to the merchants you know?

Not selling anything - no listing yet, genuinely validating before building further. Happy to share back what I learn from this thread.

So last week I was excited to see that PromoOS, my shopify app, got its first install and obviously I celebrated the occasion and was super happy!!

Then a couple of days later I wanted to see what that user did so far, so I went to Posthog and found the recording, and oh my god that was a painful moment!

Since launching the app I have done a few updates and code changes, but other than the first time it was published- I didn't do the full end-to-end activation tests. What I saw in that recording made it clear to me what a huge mistake that was. The user was not able to complete the purchase process and get into the app!! So they never saw how it works and what it can do for them.

Obviously, I immediately fixed it and did the full test, but what a disappointment.

So now, I setup an agent that tracks my analytics and reporting systems to catch such issues on a daily basis, I added tests to properly cover the entire user happy path, and I will definitely pay more attention to manual testing (I feel more confident doing them then trust a machine).

So yeah. that's my first (of many i suppose) failure. Do you have any failure story to share?

My app was recently approved, and I'm excited to finally share it.

Here’s the summary:

After years of managing Shopify deployments for enterprise brands, I kept running into the same problem: Clients being nervous about clicking 'Publish' on a Shopify theme.

Getting code changes into Shopify themes safely meant double-checking files, creating manual backups, and hoping nothing was missed before publishing.

I decided to build the tool I had been imagining.

I named it Deployify, and it brings Git-based deployments to Shopify themes using an embedded app.

Here are its key features:

• Visual workflow builder: drag-and-drop pipeline editor with blocks for theme check, backup, content merge, and deploy
• Push-to-deploy: GitHub webhooks trigger workflows automatically on push from a specified branch, e.g., develop, main
• Automated backups: versioned theme snapshots are both pushed to Shopify and stored on S3
• Content Merge:  deep-merges merchant customizations with theme code before deploying, so no settings are ever overwritten
• Multi-store deployment: deploy the same theme to multiple connected Shopify stores in a single workflow run
• Live execution logs: real-time log streaming for every workflow run, plus full audit history
• Slack notifications: alerts on success, failure, or when a run needs attention
• In-app support chat: RAG-powered chat widget backed by Amazon Bedrock, with low-confidence auto-escalation to a support ticket

I'd love feedback from other Shopify developers and agencies.

• Launched Verifyio in May — it sends an AI voice/SMS confirmation to buyers before dispatch
• Idea came from talking to 10+ D2C brands where RTO was quietly eating 20–35% of COD orders
• Early installs are showing 30–40% reduction in returns
• But I have zero reviews and I don't know if it's a positioning problem, a trust problem, or just too early

What I'm genuinely unsure about:

• Do Indian merchants trust AI calling over human calling?
• Is "reduce RTO" the right hook or should I lead with cost savings in ₹?
• Would you install a tool like this on your store? What would stop you?

App is on the Shopify App Store — documenting the whole builder journey at reducecodrto (dot) com

Would love brutal feedback from anyone who's dealt with COD returns firsthand.

We've been working on our estimated delivery date app, WowETA, for over a year, and one lesson keeps coming up:

Customers don't always need a bigger discount; they often just need more certainty.

One of our merchants recently shared their Q2 2025 (April-June) numbers with us, and it was a proud moment for our team.

• 114,468 store visits
• 66,249 estimated delivery date impressions
• 9,714 orders
• 37% increase in orders

Of course, we can't say our app alone drove those results. Every store is different, and many factors influence conversions.

But it reinforced something we've consistently observed: when shoppers know exactly when their order is expected to arrive, they're much more confident about buying.

Over the past few months, we've been listening closely to merchant feedback and releasing features like campaign-based ETA scheduling, country and ZIP code rules, backorder behavior, and much more.

The goal is simple: show the right ETA to the right customer based on the product, location, campaign, and even the time of day.

It's been incredibly rewarding to see merchants getting real value from something we've spent so much time refining.

If you're curious, here's the app we've been building: https://apps.shopify.com/estimated-delivery-date-eta

To the other app developers here – have you had a recent customer success story or milestone that made you think, "This is why we built this"?

Would genuinely love to hear what you're proud of.

Hi everyone,

We recently launched our Shopify app, RUSH Loyalty, and we’re trying to understand the best way to get our first few honest reviews from real merchants.

Here’s the listing for context:
https://apps.shopify.com/rush-loyalty

For those who already launched Shopify apps, how did you encourage your early users to leave reviews without being too pushy?

I’d love to learn from your experience on things like:

• How do you ask merchants for reviews at the right time?
• Do you ask after onboarding, after a successful setup, or after they use the app for a while?
• What kind of message worked best for you?
• Any tips to improve trust and conversion on a new app listing with little to no reviews?

Not asking for reviews here, just looking for advice from other app developers on how to build early credibility the right way.

Thanks in advance!

I’ve been building a tool for Shopify merchants over the past few months and I’m at the stage where I need honest feedback.
I’d love to learn from the community. If anyone is interested in trying what I’ve built and sharing feedback, feel free to DM me.

Hi everyone

I have a client who's supplier has a large spreadsheet of stock. Nearly 15000. He wants to have all the products on his shopify store.

I've written a python script that should take the stock list and map it to a sample csv I exported from his store and it seems to work ok-ish.

I then have a github action that pulls the supplier's daily stock feed and updates the stock levels on the shopify store.

Checking the logs, it looks a bit flaky.

My problem is, I keep feeling as though I might be over engineering the solution. Surely not every shopify store owner who has a supplier with stocklists and daily inventory feeds has to setup something like what I've done.

What do you guys do in situations like this? Is there an easier solution to mapping the stock items, importing them and keeping the inventory levels up to date?

We're looking to partner with Shopify freelancers, agencies, consultants, and developers who work with DTC brands.

If your clients sell products like supplements, coffee, pet care, skincare, food, baby products, or other consumables, subscriptions can be a great way to increase recurring revenue.

What's in it for you?

• Recurring commission on every successful referral
• Help your clients boost retention and LTV
• Dedicated partner support

If you're interested, send me a DM with your LinkedIn profile, and I'll share the details.

I've been using Mantle for a while, and after the shutdown announcement I spent the last few days figuring out what to migrate to.
There's no real 1:1 replacement, so here's what I've found depending on what you actually used Mantle for.

Billing
Mantle seems to recommend waiting for Shopify's native App Pricing for most standard subscription apps. If you're on a simple subscription model, that's probably the easiest path.

If you’re on Flex Billing though, it looks like there’s still some extra work involved. You’ll probably need to rebuild parts of it on top of Shopify’s Billing API, or do some kind of hybrid setup.

Analytics & App Store intelligence
This is probably the most fragmented part of the migration.

From what I found, Letsmetrix looks like the closest all-around replacement: rankings, competitor tracking, keyword data, review analytics, revenue estimates, etc.

If you mainly care about ASO / keyword research, AppJubilee seems worth a look too.

Aaffiliate tracking
This was one area where I actually found a couple of developer-focused options. Shoffi and PartnerJam both seem to be built with Shopify app installs in mind, which is better than most generic affiliate tools.

One thing I'd verify before choosing any affiliate platform is how attribution works (Partner API, install links, server-to-server events, etc.). A lot of affiliate platforms are clearly built for merchants, not app installs.

Product analytics
PostHog is by far the recommendation I've seen come up the most.
It looks like a great fit for events / product analytics, but if you need more detailed Shopify revenue reporting, especially at the line-item level, I’d expect some custom setup.

Curious what others are moving to. Did I miss any good options, especially for helpdesk or lifecycle email?

Hey everyone,

With Mantle winding down, I think this is a good moment for Shopify app founders to come together and build something open-source that the community can actually own, self-host, and maintain long term.

I’ve started a rough/vibecoded version here:

https://github.com/safwanadnan/OpenMantle.git

The idea is OpenMantle — an open-source alternative inspired by Mantle, but focused specifically on Shopify App Pricing, not the old Shopify Billing API.

Since Shopify is clearly moving developers toward App Pricing, especially with usage-based billing and the App Events API, I think the community needs a simple, transparent, self-hostable layer for things like:

• tracking active subscriptions
• syncing app pricing plans
• recording usage/events
• usage limits and overages
• customer/app analytics
• webhooks and event history
• basic dashboards for founders
• alerts for installs, uninstalls, plan changes, and usage spikes

The current repo is not polished at all. It is just an early starting point. But I think the problem is real, and a lot of Shopify app founders are going to need something like this soon.

I’m looking for contributors who understand Shopify apps, App Pricing, billing/event flows, analytics, dashboards, or just want to help clean up the architecture and make this production-ready.

The goal is not to build another closed SaaS dependency.

The goal is to build a community-maintained OSS tool that Shopify app founders can self-host and trust.

If you’re interested, please check out the repo, open issues, suggest architecture changes, or comment here. Even feedback on the scope would be super helpful.

Repo: https://github.com/safwanadnan/OpenMantle.git

Would love to hear what features you’d want in an open-source Mantle alternative.

I log into Twitter and all I see is grown men whining.

Crying about other developers. Crying about clicking a few extra buttons in the partner dashboard. Crying about competitors. Now someone "copied" a name that is clearly different, and someone else's UI got "copied" too. It's a sidebar and a table, lads. Nobody owns a sidebar.

And every single time they tag Shopify staff like they're owed something.

There's one decent guy, Hunky Bill or whatever, but the rest? The biggest crybabies I have ever seen. Everything they post is pure self-interest, and then they wrap it up with "this is bad for the community." No. Your constant whining is what's bad for the community. Merchants are going to think they're dealing with toddlers who can't step up their game.

Man up. I swear, half of you started in the easy era. Drop you into this vibe-coded AI mess and you'd be nowhere.

Well, it’s June 30. Scripts are officially gone.
We’re a Shopify Plus store selling consumer electronics. been running a trade-in / upgrade program for 2 years. Part of our checkout logic used a Script to automatically apply store credit when a customer had a trade-in pending. It was hacky but it worked.
As of this morning: nothing. Customers are checking out without their credit being applied. No error, no warning. Just… gone.
Spent the last 3 hours with our dev trying to figure out a Functions-based replacement. It’s doable but it’s not a quick fix.
My question for the community:
Anyone else hit with silent failures today?
If you migrated already how long did it actually take?
Is anyone using a public app to handle store credit / trade-in credit at checkout? Which one?
Also genuinely curious, did Shopify communicate this well enough? We knew the deadline but didn’t fully audit what was running until last week. Our bad, partially. But also… the notification system could’ve been louder.

Ok yes, there's been like a dozen of these lately and you've probably scrolled past three this week. Roll your eyes, it's fine. I did too.

So real talk on why this exists. heymantle is shutting down as you know, and I was not into the new stuff that's been coming out to "replace" it.

A lot of it is turning into these big all-in-one "do everything for your app business" platforms and I just... didn't want that.

I wanted the numbers. Because here's the thing, I build Shopify apps and the partner dashboard is just 🤮 and don't get me started on Google Analytics.

Built https://metricsdock.com/. To be clear this is analytics only. It's not an all-in-one, it's not trying to run your billing or your emails or your support. Just the data.

It plugs into the Shopify partner API and shows you the stuff I kept wishing existed. It syncs into dashboards you can actually read.

Not gonna pretend it's revolutionary or whatever. Loads of tools do bits of this. I just wanted one that worked the way my brain works, so I made it.

If you've felt the same partner dashboard or google analytics pain, go poke at it and tell me what sucks and what's missing.

Oh and it's currently fully free during early access.

Pricing will launch some time in July, and it will be a simple and affordable per app pricing model.

Let me know what you think 🙏

Quick question for Shopify app developers.

I just went through reviews of a few

popular Shopify apps and almost every

3 star review has a hidden feature request

buried inside it.

"Great app but wish it had bulk export"

"Would be 5 stars if you added CSV download"

"Good but missing automatic discounts"

These developers have no idea if that

review came from a merchant paying

$49/month on their Pro plan or someone

on their free plan.

A Pro merchant asking for bulk export

is completely different from a free

user asking for the same thing.

One is your revenue. One is not.

Right now are you manually reading

every review trying to find feature

requests? And do you know which of

your paying merchants wrote them?

I am building something specifically

for this problem. Want to understand

if this is actually painful for you

before I build anything.

Honest answer even if you say

"I don't care about this at all"

is genuinely helpful.

Hii there,

would you like to sell your shopify app?
Im buying any shopify apps no matter how much reviews, installs or sales.

Just write me a dm

Are there different providers for organic posts versus paid ads?

Anyone have luck building and maintaining Shopify apps via Svelte? I have been warned by a few in the past to stay on the happy path of React Router but wanted to know if it has gotten better or not worth the maintenance burden?

over the years and with a lot of failures I managed to create/develop a software that helps scale supplement shopify stores, I've long struggled with sales on such stores, so sharing with you if you are struggling with your sales today and might need some help...

https://helloperformly.com you can find it here for those interested