February 4th, inventory locations, and apps deprecated API calls

[oehlschl]

I've heard that on Feb 4th, 2020, shops/accounts must enable inventory location support or be disabled, but that that option is blocked for some by the use of apps that are still making deprecated API calls.

I've also read that Shopify only checks app compatibility (whether deprecated API calls are being made) only every 7 days, as described here: https://help.shopify.com/en/api/guides/inventory-migration-guide

Shopify checks your app's compatibility every seven days. If a check fails, then the locations error banner is shown for seven days, even if the error is fixed within those seven days.

In other words, apps that upgrade their APIs today would still need to be removed by shops on 2/4, because it's still in the 7-day window in which the error banner will show. Is there any solution for apps that just recently stopped making deprecated calls? 

I would think this puts some apps/shops in a tough position where they are currently in compliance but will experience an interruption in service due to not making these changes in time.

Thanks in advance for your support.

[_JB]

Hey @oehlschl,

Shopify automatically enabled the multi location inventory feature for some shops yesterday (Feb 4th), but only included shops that were verified not to be using any private apps making legacy calls.

Please note that the multi-location inventory feature was made available in 2018 so that developers have ample time to make changes to their apps. We're nearing the very end of support for the legacy inventory behaviour, so it's recommended you update your apps ASAP. For shops with private apps still making legacy inventory calls, communication regarding migration to multi-location inventory will go out at a later date.

[oehlschl]

Hi @_JB ,

Thanks for the response. Since this original post, there's good news and bad news.

Good news:

- the app in question displays "OK" for API health on the Partner dashboard
- the API health screen displays "No deprecated calls were detected in the past 30 days"
- we log deprecated calls ourselves and haven't seen any in our logs

Bad news:
- we still see the "You have apps that don't support shops with multiple locations" banner for this application, and shops with multiple locations are not able to install this app

It's also worth noting that:
- we created a new private app with all the same logic, and that one is working just fine and can be integrated with multi-location shops
- the app in question is an unpublished app  from over two years ago and is integrated with multiple shops, so this was before the current "one private/custom app, one shop" rule

I recently reached out to support@ but was directed back here. Do you have any idea why this app still shows the error banner? Again, because we have the same code implemented as a private app that works (and both apps make all the same API calls, etc.), it does not seem to be anything on our end. Do you know if "legacy" apps are handled any differently?

Thanks in advance for your support.

[_JB]

Hey @oehlschl,

I believe the stats for that banner are recalculated every week, so it can take up to 7 days for the banner to disappear once you fix the calls. How long ago did you fix your calls?

[oehlschl]

Hi @_JB ,

We fixed our API calls about a week before February 4th, 2020, and currently, we see the "No deprecated calls were detected in the past 30 days" message on our API health dashboard. (On the apps dashboard though, we still see "These apps are using outdated APIs".)

Additionally, we created a new private app that is the exact same integration with our system (same API calls, etc.), and that app does not display the error banner. Therefore, it seems to be something with our app itself, and we have no additional visibility on our end.