New Performance Improvements for Shopify Apps

Shopify’s mission is only possible with best-in-class commerce apps that let merchants customize Shopify for every kind of business. That’s why we’re laser focused on providing the tools that developers need to build better apps and succeed in the Shopify ecosystem. In this article, we'll explore new performance standards and how we're improving load time.

Shopify’s mission is only possible with best-in-class commerce apps that let merchants customize Shopify for every kind of business.

That’s why we’re laser focused on providing the tools that developers need to build better apps and succeed in the Shopify ecosystem.

At June Editions we launched a host of new features to help create world class app experiences. Developers can now take advantage of full-screen mode to create immersive experiences in the admin. You can also integrate your app’s own navigation as a subnav within Shopify. Plus, apps now load 2x faster on mobile devices when you turn on App Bridge mobile enhancements. 

Now, we’re improving load time and introducing new performance standards that make it easier for merchants to access the apps they need. Here's a detailed breakdown of what's changing.

Updated OAuth recommendations

First impressions are critical and we need your help to improve a key part of the app experience: the initial load. Until now, our recommended OAuth flow added unnecessary time to the app load and created significant visual disruption. Today, we’ve updated our recommendations to make the initial app load faster, cleaner, and more enjoyable for merchants.

For apps created with Shopify templates before August 23, 2022, you need to update your OAuth following these migration instructions.

For new apps, you will automatically meet our performance guidelines by building with the latest app templates or simply following Getting started with OAuth.

Our performance improvements

We're also updating all we can to improve performance without developer action. This starts with pre-loading. Shopify will automatically preload frequently used embedded apps, significantly improving load time. You may see extra traffic to your app as a result of this change.

Shopify will also improve the app loading user experience, giving merchants a faster and less painful experience. We’re doing the heavy lifting here, so no need to worry about these details unless you’re curious. We will pre-load the app header (app name and icon) before merchants open an app so it's available instantly and add a new loading indicator so it does not appear that the page is unresponsive before the app has loaded.

Looking ahead

As the saying goes, “you can't improve what you don't measure.” That’s why, later this fall, we will introduce new App Bridge APIs that will make it easier for you to measure your apps’ Core Web Vitals.

Web vitals in the embedded app loading process

This performance data is important because, following the release of these APIs, we will also release guidelines for Largest Contentful Paint, First Input Delay, and Cumulative Layout Shift performance. 

Apps that meet these guidelines - in addition to having implemented our updated OAuth recommendations and enabled optimized loading on mobile devices - will be eligible to be featured on our highest-converting surfaces. Your apps get more visibility, and business owners get access to the best commerce apps available.