App developer special 👨🏻‍💻

Good morning! This is Shop Pulse, delivering your e-commerce news fresh off the press. There was so much to unpack in Summer Editions ‘23, so we figured why not do a developer special:

• Polaris v12 🎨

• App Store changes 🧐

• Admin extensions 🔌

• Generic trademark controversy 👀

Polaris V12 🎨

One of the major announcements in Summer Editions ‘23 was the visual overhaul of the admin dashboard. This is the most significant design update to come to Shopify’s Admin in the last 7 years.

In order to get apps to match Shopify’s new design language, Polaris version 12 is now in its initial beta release. According to the Polaris v12 doc, the beta will automatically update out-of-the-box components but any custom components will require additional work.

Timeline:

1. July 26: Initial beta release

2. July - Sept: Incremental beta releases

3. End of Sept: Polaris v12 release with stable API

There’s also a handy Polaris migrator tool to make codemod transformations to upgrade your Polaris codebase.

If you are planning to apply for Built For Shopify and are working on updating your app to use Polaris, you have a tough decision to make:

• Either use the stable Polaris v11 to get your BFS badge, and then be ready to update the design again once a stable Polaris v12 is released.

• Or design directly in Polaris v12 beta but with the risk of components breaking.

App Store changes 🧐

Built for Shopify

BFS was launched on July 26th alongside Summer Editions ‘23. Apps with BFS have a special badge and will be having promotional placements in the App Store.

BFS launched with 68 apps but in barely 2 weeks since then, the Built for Shopify collection has grown to 76 apps.

This looks like the next App Store gold rush with more and more apps trying to get the BFS badge to boost their installs and organic rankings.

App review summaries

Shopify has also shipped an AI-themed improvement to the app store - Review summaries.

This is only available for apps with at least 100 reviews. The feature is still new and Shopify is collecting feedback on these app review summaries. Expect this to evolve further in the coming months.

Admin block extensions 🔌

Admin block extensions will change how apps work with Shopify and allow you to integrate app functionality directly into Shopify admin.

These can insert contextual information and inputs directly on the resource pages in the Shopify admin.

Admin block extensions will be very helpful to allow merchants to view and modify information from your app without having to open the app.

Imagine being able to see reviews for a specific product directly on that product’s page in your Shopify admin. Or being able to log delivery/quality issues on a product and track whether they have been resolved.

This will open up a whole new world of possibilities to upgrade your app.

Generic trademark controversy 👀

In a rare app developer controversy, several app developers in the back-in-stock niche reported receiving a trademark notice.

One of the incumbents in the back-in-stock category, SureSwift Capital filed for a trademark on the phrase “back in stock” with USPTO which went into effect in February 2023.

There’s nothing wrong with filing for a trademark.

But when you’re doing so on a category-defining term and actively sending trademark notices to your top competitors, it’s straight-up bullying.

Enter Glen and Tobi.

Within a day of first reporting the issue, Glen Coates (Shopify VP of Product) promised to address the issue. And Tobi followed up shortly after with a response that sums up app developer sentiment:

Pulse Check ⚡️

1. Mr.Beast's latest video: ‘7 Days Stranded at Sea’ features a huge shoutout to Shopify along with the latest sidekick AI feature

2. ShopPay has reached a cumulative GMV of $100 Billion since launching in 2017

3. Most requested report ‘the Total Sales Breakdown’, makes its way back onto the dashboard. Enable it via Analytics > Customize.

That's a wrap for this week! Join us over on Twitter to chat about all things e-commerce. It's like attending the coolest virtual shopping party – no long lines, pushy salespeople, or shopping cart collisions in sight (@theshoppulse)