Shopify App Bridge

[Shayne]

App Bridge rollout meter : 100%

Revised Launch Date : Thursday, November 8th, 2018.

We’re excited to announce that we're launching a new way for apps and channels to be embedded directly into the Shopify admin, including Shopify mobile and POS. This new library is called Shopify App Bridge. This consolidated tooling brings together the functionality previously provided by the Embedded App SDK and the POS App SDK and makes building and testing embedded apps easier through:

• Modern development workflows (npm, TypeScript support, and more!)

• Support for Redux DevTools

• More and better error reporting

• Strict versioning using semver

This update is currently being rolled-out to all current consumers of the EASDK, and since it’s backwards compatible, no new work is needed to get it set-up. It’ll also be available as open source on GitHub soon as well.

The titlebar has had a much needed redesign, adding extra space for future features and separating primary actions from secondary (screenshot below).

Embedded apps using App Bridge will also be able to access a new navigation menu builder, available as a new app extension in the Partners dashboard.

These improvements will help cut down your development time and ensure your app renders consistently across platforms—desktop, mobile, and Shopify POS.

For more information, please check out the docs here.

EDIT: 
Some people have been emailing in asking about the why of these changes, specifically the change to the title bar structure. 

We're working towards a future that includes more titlebar actions, with deeper, more extensible connections into the product. Offering support, leaving reviews, and a ton of other ideas are on the table. The old title bar just didn't give enough space to offer the kind of improvements that we're working on, so it made sense to release it with App Bridge.

The only method that was removed was ShopifyApp.Modal.input, due to it's exceptionally low use (only 77 total clients). In it's place, iFrame Modals can be used,

We're always looking for feedback; post it in the forums, or email us and we can set up a call — we're happy to talk about the future of the platform and want to make sure your voice is heard.

[DiscountNinja]

Hi Shayne,

Is it possible that this change is causing some issues for EASDK users?

Our app was working fine until this was rolled out and now every page seems to be loaded twice. The user experience is really horrible.

Also I read other app developers are reporting issues with query parameters not being passed correctly (see https://ecommerce.shopify.com/c/shopify-apis-and-technology/t/embedded-app-modals-not-passing-query-...). Could this be related?

Regards,

Bart

[Shayne]

Hey Bart,

The fix for query parameters is on the way.

I'm not seeing the "double loading" issue that you mentioned though, feel free to email support with a screencast if you're still seeing it, and we'll do our best to resolve the problem with you.

[SVISHAL]

I am also getting the same issue and caused many uninstalls from my app.

[Zapfor_Apps]

I notice that as well. From my tests, it happened when clicked on buttons placed on the ShopifyApp Bar

[Andrew_Womersle]

Hi,

We are getting the double page loads too since the upgrade. As Zapfor Solutons says, it only happens on links from with the ShopifyApp Bar.

Also, I have noticed there is a deprecated warning on the EASDK page now. Is there a time frame for how long the EASDK apps will carry on working for?

Thanks

Andrew.

[Shayne]

The last thing that we want to do is cause any uninstalls or negavite reviews for your apps.

That being said, we've rolled back the launch so that we can get the bugs that slipped through the cracks fixed.

Thanks for the reports, keep an eye on this thread for when we're going live again.

[HunkyBill]

The big thing you did was cause a lot of your Plus Merchants to lose a lot of patience and money. If only you heard what I heard from YOUR customers, about this mistake. Since they called Shopify to complain, and Shopify Gurus has NO CLUE about this, they deferred that the problem must lie with Apps. 

And to boot, it continues. I am not seeing any fix for broken query string parameters to Apps processing tens of orders per minute.  

I do hope you are aware of this, and working on a fix. Thanks for bridge!!

[Shayne]

Hey Dave,

Which change are you talking about specifically? If you're seeing any issues other than the missing query string parameters, either post it here or send us an email and we'll get it sorted ASAP.

[HunkyBill]

It is a Query String parameter problem, suspiciously starting when you released Bridge. I am seeing when you gather ID's to send to Apps, you now have them styled as parameters ids[][]=123456789 which completely trashes all previous App codes. 

Sorry for confusing issues but the timing is too coincidental. And when I read complaints about Query Parameters in EASDK, well, you know... connections are made... so ya... and if you have in fact rolled back ALL aspects of Bridge, the fact is, the transfer of ID's to Apps is still pooched and causing mucho aggressive pain for merchants.

[Shayne]

It is a Query String parameter problem, suspiciously starting when you released Bridge. I am seeing when you gather ID's to send to Apps, you now have them styled as parameters ids[][]=123456789 which completely trashes all previous App codes. 

Sorry for confusing issues but the timing is too coincidental. And when I read complaints about Query Parameters in EASDK, well, you know... connections are made... so ya... and if you have in fact rolled back ALL aspects of Bridge, the fact is, the transfer of ID's to Apps is still pooched and causing mucho aggressive pain for merchants.

Believe it or not, that's an unrelated issue with unfortunate timing — we're working on it.

[luke_pxu]

I'm curious if we're able to avoid implementing the changes to the navigation bar from this recent update as they make for what appears like a broken layout, pushing secondary buttons to the left with the single primary button to the right? This is not how Shopify admin pages (and most forms) work, coupling Save/Cancel buttons next to each other on the right. I'm excited for possibility of adding tabs to this new navigation bar, but want to avoid using it until it's available to us.

I'm also disappointed such a visual change like that wasn't documented anywhere; it's an unpleasant surprise.

[HunkyBill]

Second that. In seeing the New Look it is an experiment run amok. Would be nice if Shopify resisted change for change sake, and spent more time working from their perspective combined with testing things from our perspective, all without changing things until we collectively hit a GO button. 

As per the new corporate Shopify, running the show, putting us in our place, it sucks to be part of corporate experiments that are half-baked, not tested, and had little or no input from us, the end users/creators/artists/developers that Shopify now seems to pretend to love. 

[SVISHAL]

I hope this will be fixed soon, I talked to developer support over email, but they are bhaving like there is nothing wrong from their side, they says you should check your app code and fix the issue.

[Seller_Panda]

I had the query issue with 2 of my apps last week, after talking with support guru they said it was rolled back 2 days after our talk, and the apps were working again, yesterday i tried to implement the new app bridge library into my test app, but for some reason nothing was working, its like the parent shopify window doesn't receive the post messages.

Any update on this? what is working or what is not?

https://ecommerce.shopify.com/c/partners-technical/t/app-bridge-doesn-t-work-548432

P.S 

Can you update the docs if something i not working? not everyone sees those forums posts, and also Shayne post said that and i almost missed that even after readying every post, the Shopify guru doesn't know anything about it (or takes few days untill they get back to you with the answer), so how can we know things like that?

[HunkyBill]

A brief test shows Shopify changed everything back to the way it was for ten years or so, in terms of links to Apps and the Query Parameters. To me the problem this issue exposed is clear:

• No one at Shopify sent out a letter saying things are busted
• When we pointed out things were busted, they denied for the most part
• When they finally acknowledged things were busted, they still never clarified why, for how long or when a fix would be done
• they fixed the bug, but again never told anyone, when, nor what happened there

So in the end, a lot of merchants got steamed, lost some time/reputation as did developers. 

Is there some kind of recognition here from Shopify that treating merchants and developers so poorly is something you are trying to improve upon? So far, no happy smiley faces can be clicked.

[Seller_Panda]

BTW, the app bridge library is now partly working, and they have rolled the new style for most of my apps (3 out of 5),

With the new app bridge the TitleBar does work for me but the flash messages doesn't, I guess we have to keep our eyes on shopify new features and check daily to see if our apps are still working as expected and nothing was changed.

[Andrew_Womersle]

Hi,

The problem with the pages loading twice still happens with the updated roll out.

Only happens with the links / buttons within the title bar section.

Andrew.

[DiscountNinja]

We're observing the same problem as Andrew.

[HunkyBill]

It is a little unsettling being guinea pigs. Sometimes the canary in the coal mine died 😉