I’m building a platform where one of the core features is allowing users to create products and publish them directly to their Shopify stores through my web app.
From what I’ve gathered, I need to use Shopify’s OAuth flow to support this, and here’s the current setup I’ve implemented:
- Users sign into my platform.
- They connect their Shopify store via the OAuth flow (
/connect → /callback ).
- I receive and securely store the access token from Shopify.
- Using that token, users can publish products directly from my app to their connected Shopify store.
- I handle the
app/uninstalled webhook and all traffic runs over HTTPS.
I’ve tested everything on a development store, and it works as expected. But now I’m trying to figure out the next steps for production setup.
When I tried using this with a real store, I saw a message saying “This app is under review” , and things didn’t work properly. So here are my questions:
- Do I need to pay the one-time $19 Shopify fee to allow any store to install and use my app?
- Is app review required in my case? I’ve read that if the app isn’t embedded or listed on the Shopify App Store, then a review might not be needed but I’m confused, especially since I’m using a Public App and targeting multiple stores.
What I want is simple:
- Any user should be able to connect their store to my app, ideally via OAuth or whatever works.
Would love some guidance or real-world experiences from folks who’ve done something similar. 
Hi Rishab,
It sounds like your app would be a unlisted public app. It is intended for use by multiple merchants so it would be distributed via the Shopify App Store (so a “public app”), but it would would not be listed on the Shopify App Store (so “unlisted”).
Merchants would install your unlisted app from the app’s App Store listing or directly from your website.
It will still need to be reviewed and you’ll still need to pay the $19 registration fee.
Hey @Liam-Shopify, thanks for getting back to me.
I have a couple of follow-up questions:
-
Since my app will be unlisted, do I still need to meet the full set of criteria shown in this screenshot for app review?
-
For the app configuration section, my use case is just to publish products via my website. What exactly should I select here? Also, I noticed the Embedded option is greyed out and can’t be unchecked. Will that cause any issues during the App Store review?
Hey @Liam-Shopify, thanks for getting back to me.
I have a couple of follow-up questions:
-
Since my app will be unlisted, do I still need to meet the full set of criteria shown in this screenshot for app review?
-
What exactly should I select here (my use case is just to publish products via my website)? Also, I noticed the Embedded option is greyed out and can’t be unchecked. Will that cause any issues during the App Store review?
Yes - you’ll need to meet all of these.
What exactly should I select here (my use case is just to publish products via my website )?
I’m not sure if you should select “Connector” if you’re just publishing products - this is usually for when you’re sending data to a platform that is not yours (eg: a sales channel).
Thanks @Liam-Shopify. Just one more question, so if embedded option will do the work then do I still need to use App bridge? My application is completely third party and as of now I’m not using App bridge and I’m still able to publish products on my development store. So, I’m not sure what is its purpose and is it really required or not, especially for third party apps like the one I’m developing.
If you want to be embedded that you should use App Bridge which provides a more native experience for users of your app as the UI will be more consistent. But it’s not a hard requirement.
