POS UI Extension smart grid tile fails to load on iPad Air 3 / iPadOS 15.6.1, works on iPhone

Extensions
1

Hi everyone,

I’m migrating a Shopify POS UI extension to the newer POS UI extension/web component setup and I’m seeing a device-specific issue where the smart grid tile fails to load on an older iPad, but works on iPhone.

Environment (iPad)

  • Device: iPad Air 3rd gen, model iPad11,6

  • iPadOS: 15.6.1

  • Shopify POS app: 11.6.1

  • Extension API version tested: 2026-04

  • Also reproduced on: 2026-01

  • Target: pos.home.tile.render

  • Companion modal target: pos.home.modal.render

  • Same store/app works on iPhone

Environment (iPhone)

  • Working device: iPhone 12 Pro

  • iOS: 26.4.2

  • Shopify POS app: 11.6.1

Issue

On the iPad, the smart grid tile shows:

App failed to load

This happens before the modal opens. The extension never becomes usable from the smart grid.

What I tested

I reduced the extension to a minimal diagnostic version with no backend calls, no cart/session APIs, no product APIs, no settings calls, and no app-specific code.

I also tested a version with no Preact/JSX/imports, only vanilla DOM-created POS web components:

export default function extension() {
var tile = document.createElement("s-tile");

tile.setAttribute("heading", "Draft Orders Diagnostic");
tile.setAttribute("subheading", "Vanilla POS tile");
tile.addEventListener("click", function () {
shopify.action.presentModal();
});

document.body.appendChild(tile);
}

Even this minimal/fresh smart grid POS extension fails to load on the iPad.

I also tried removing and re-adding the smart grid tile. The same extension works on iPhone.

Troubleshooting already tried

I’ve gone through the common recommendations from existing forum threads and docs, including:

  • Force closing and reopening Shopify POS

  • Removing and re-adding the smart grid tile

  • Testing with a fresh/dev smart grid extension

  • Testing with a minimal pos.home.tile.render implementation

  • Testing with no backend calls, no cart/session APIs, and no modal app logic

  • Testing both 2026-01 and 2026-04

  • Confirming Shopify POS is updated on both devices

  • Confirming the same store/app works on iPhone with the same POS app version

Despite that, the iPad still shows App failed to load before the tile becomes usable.

Question

Is iPadOS 15.6.1 expected to support POS UI extensions using pos.home.tile.render with the newer web component runtime? Shopify’s public POS requirements appear to allow iPadOS 15.1+, but this device seems unable to load even a minimal POS UI extension.

Is this a known limitation or bug with POS UI extensions on older iPadOS/WebKit runtimes?

Thanks!

2

Hey, have you tried the POS debugger? This will normally show you the exception message that is causing the app to show failed to load.
Theres steps for android and iOS here Development and debugging