Leaving code in the theme after uninstalling the app

[dmitry_pokidov]

Hi there,

I started developing a public app. It's my first one and I'm worry about finishing it and then get rejected on review process.

The app is adding a new section to the current merchant's theme. I could not find a way to delete those sections when merchant decides to uninstall the app. I created "Delete Sections" button in the app with a text above saying "Please delete sections prior to uninstalling the app", but I'm not sure if it's ok.

There are 2 questions that I have:

• Is there a way to clean up theme assets before uninstalling the app (did I miss it in documentation?)?
• Could it be a problem during review process?

Also, I know about script tags, but I can't use them cause one of the feature of the app is high performance. 

Thank you.

[Vellir]

Hey  dmitry_pokidov,

One way to approach this is to subscribe to the app/uninstalled webhook and use the assets API to delete/update any custom code left behind. 

[dmitry_pokidov]

Thanks for the reply! My understanding was that when uninstalled hook is executed the access token is not valid anymore, isn't it true?

[JoesIdeas · Accepted solution]

Since you can't access the shop after uninstalling, another approach would be to send a farewell email with uninstallation instructions.

I see a lot of stores with extra theme code from uninstalled apps, so I bet they'd appreciate that email (and side bonus you might also get some feedback why they uninstalled).

[dmitry_pokidov]

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@JoesIdeas wrote:

Since you can't access the shop after uninstalling, another approach would be to send a farewell email with uninstallation instructions.

I see a lot of stores with extra theme code from uninstalled apps, so I bet they'd appreciate that email (and side bonus you might also get some feedback why they uninstalled).

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Thanks, farewell email is a great idea! 

I'll probably do a button "Delete Theme Files" and farewell message. Thanks a lot @JoesIdeas for your help!

[JoesIdeas]

That's a nice move having the "delete theme files" option before they uninstall. Could essentially function as an "Uninstall" button that removes the files, then says to complete uninstall delete the app from your Apps section.

I like this idea of thinking about the user's journey after they've moved on, that's respectable 👍

[kavishatalsania]

@dmitry_pokidov How can you remove code from "Delete theme files" button? Don't you need access token for that also? Right now only way is to give instruction. Correct? 

[dmitry_pokidov]

So, what we've done is put a button on the app saying "Clean up" and instructions. It's deleting theme files and we have token cause the app is still installed. You could see an example in our app - https://app.shopify.com/hero-banner.

[kavishatalsania]

Understood. Thanks for the reply!

[darrynten]

One way to approach this is to subscribe to the app/uninstalled webhook and use the assets API to delete/update any custom code left behind. 

As crazy as it sounds, this isn't possible.

Shopify do not let you remove theme code after the user has clicked the trash can icon on their app list. It's the leading cause of 1-star reviews.

Why we're not allowed to clean up remains a mystery, I've asked so many times.

To me it seems very straightforward to increase the blacklist timeout by 10 seconds for apps that have theme.write permission so they can clean up after uninstall - not sure why this is still an issue six years after it was first reported on this forum.