We have a couple of UAT applications for testing of our main (public) app. And we have advanced flows for user onboarding, installs/reinstalls, also subscription management, and we basically need to be able to install/reinstall our apps on multiple dev stores. And we had no issues with that till recently.
Shopify changed something and now it is not possible to install the app on multiple stores if the app is not reviewed and if it does not have the public distribution.
I talked to support about this and their response was the following:
Hello Siarhei,
You’re correct that your UAT1 app works because it’s an older “unpublished app”. These apps were grandfathered in, but this is why your newer apps in a “draft” state, like UAT2, are showing the “application must be reviewed” error and can’t be installed on multiple dev stores.
Here’s a breakdown of what you should do:
How to create dev apps for multiple dev shops: To get your newer apps (like UAT2) to work on multiple dev stores, you must create them as a public app and set their visibility to unlisted. This will allow you to install them on any dev store using a direct URL without making them publicly available on the Shopify App Store.
What about your UAT1 app? Your UAT1 app will eventually be affected by these changes. To ensure it continues to work, you will need to submit it for review and publish it as an unlisted public app.
What should you do with current draft apps? You should fill out the app listing for your current draft apps and submit them for review. Again, you can choose to set their visibility to unlisted if you don’t want them discoverable on the App Store.
Unlisted Apps: The solution for installing on multiple dev shops is to create a public app and set its visibility to unlisted. This requires an app review but keeps the app private.
Custom Apps: If you only need to install an app on a single, specific store for testing, you can use a Custom app, which does not require an app listing or review.
I hope this clarifies things. Please let me know if you have any questions about this process.
Best Regards
So far so good. We submitted UAT apps for review, and got this:
Hello there,
We’re writing to let you know that we’ve spotted some core issues with your app, so your submission process has been paused until you make the required fixes.
What you need to do
Fix these core issues with your app:
We understand from your testing instructions that this app was resubmitted for development and staging purposes.
However, we must clarify that the Shopify App Store review is strictly for applications that are complete, functional, and intended for public merchant use, and it cannot be used as a sandbox for testing development versions of an existing app. Submitting a separate version of a live app, intended solely for development, or testing (UAT), is considered a duplicate app, which is a prohibited app type under our requirements.
While the limited visibility setting is a useful tool, it is intended for new, unique apps, not for creating test-only copies of existing ones. To prevent future submission issues, kindly be advised that a third submission of this duplicate test app will result in suspension. We are confident our Partner Support team can help you find a compliant testing solution.
Make sure your app meets all other review requirements.
Go to your Partner Dashboard to submit your fixes. Please note: you won’t be able to talk to an App Review Specialist until we verify your app meets all core review requirements.
Basically, the support says to submit apps for review.
The review team says that dev apps cannot be submitted and will be suspended.
So what do we do? How to resolve this issue? Shopify changes have no sense and now they simply block important development flows. It is not even possible to test subscription functionality now, because the API fails with “recurring charges are not available for not reviewed apps“ error.