Shopify App development and performance updates

With best in class in mind, Shopify is looking to deliver on many fronts for Businesses, Shopify Experts, and the overall Shopify community. In this article, we will cover a critical topic that enables web development for online businesses to capitalize on the tools that deliver a high-quality Shopify App that can positively impact an online store. At June Editions where many software engineers joined us, Shopify unveiled various new capabilities for world-class experiences. One of the critical capabilities is "Full-Screen Mode" development for admin immersive experiences. Integration of your own Shopify App navigation as a sub-nav in the Admin area. Additionally, Shopify Apps load 2x faster when the "App Bridge mobile enhancements" is enabled. With improved load times, it gives a greater choice for businesses to choose and apply functionalities they are looking for before they might be ruled out due to page load impacts.

Updated OAuth Functionalities

Previously, OAuth recommended flow brought unnecessary upload time impacts and created visual artifacts. Shopify has updated the flow for a faster upload time with the removal of visual artifacts and a cleaner process for the user experience all around. For Shopify Apps that were built with templates of August 23rd, 2022 will need to update your OAuth with migration instructions. New Shopify Apps will automatically follow the new OAuth flow and will be at the right level of performance. This includes all Shopify App Store items and Shopify Private Apps.

Shopify Speed Improvements

Shopify has been focused on improving performance without the intervention of the development community to update their Shopify Apps. One of these actions is in Pre-loading - where Shopify's architecture will pre-load frequently used Shopify Apps, with the improvements being significant. Shopify has also focused on the Shopify user experience when it comes to the Shopify App loading times. Page load times are smaller by design, making the online store rank better with Google and giving users a much better experience. Preloading the App header (App Name and Icon) before the merchants open an App, so the user gets a more instant App load. Additionally, a Loading indicator (spinning wheel) has been added so as not to show the page is unresponsive while the App is loading.

What's Next

New App Bridge APIs are coming soon, which will give you the ability to measure your core web vitals. This performance data will come with guidelines for the largest contentful paint, first input delay, and cumulative layout shift performance metrics. The Apps that apply these recommendations in addition to the OAuth applications above will get featured in the highest converting services (more visibility and more direct access to business owners).

Conclusion

Whether you might be starting a business or running a Shopify Plus store, your Shopify Apps need to load fast. Page load is important as a conversion metric, especially with smartphones. It might be a social media app that is client-side, but it still can impact your page load as it is not all due to Shopify but might be slow due to the social media platform providing the content. In our opinion, the Shopify API still has the opportunity to improve its performance, but this is a small but solid step forward for all Shopify shop owners. Shopify Apps are instrumental to tailor your business model into your Shopify store. If you have some needs in the areas of Shopify Apps, feel free to talk to us at wish@thegenielab.com