Publishing a custom app on the App Store

Hello all,

I have built a custom application on the Partner portal and it is being used by one of the client. Now I want to publish the app onto the Shopify App Store and had a few queries around it.

a. Can I publish a private/custom app on to the App Store without having any downtime?
b. If there will be down time, what is the best way to go around it? Can we clone a custom app and make it public with exact same call back URLs and configurations?

This is the first time I am trying to publish an app on the App Store. Any guidance is appreciated. Thanks.

Hi Aekiva,

The approach would be to clone the app so you have a separate app for the Shopify App Store - once a custom app is created you can’t change it’s distribution method. This also means the client using the custom app won’t experience any downtime.

In terms of configuration - it’s hard to say what will/won’t need to be changed. You would need to test out that all the functionality is working and you’ll also need to go through the Shopify App Store requirements, to ensure your app meets these standards: Checklist of requirements for apps in the Shopify App Store

Thanks for the response. Our doubt was primarily around using the same URLs for the App and Redirection. So if it can be common, we will have no downtime issues with cloning of the app and submitting it for App Store.

You should have no downtime for the existing custom app - but still make sure you test everything throughly.