Custom apps now replace Shopify Private apps

In January 2022 Shopify announced that Private apps were now deprecated and that going forward you will now need to use Custom apps and authenticate with access tokens instead of using the API Key/Password and basic HTTP authentication that Private apps use. Existing Private apps can still be used and modified so if you have an existing Private app you do not need to take any action at this stage.

From February 2022 you can no longer add a new Private app to your Shopify store so you will need to create a Custom app instead and use the Access Token for authenticating with the Shopify Admin API.

We have updated v2 of fmEcommerce Link (Shopify Edition) to now work with Custom apps only going forward – given Private apps have been deprecated by Shopify and can no longer be added to a Shopify store it made sense to focus solely on working with Custom apps. It only takes a few minutes to create and install a new Custom app on your Shopify store and generate the Admin API access token. Version 2.1 of fmEcommerce Link (Shopify Edition) now works with Custom apps and access tokens and is a free update to all v2 customers.

If you have an existing integration or customised version of fmEcommerce Link (Shopify Edition) that you would rather update to support Custom apps and access tokens it is fairly straightforward to make the necessary changes. We’ve documented the process on our support site for both v1 and v2:

• Updating to support Shopify Custom Apps/Access Token v1
• Updating to support Shopify Custom Apps/Access Token v2

We’ve focussed on having to make the minimal amount of changes in these guides so you can make the switch from a Private app to Custom app as quickly as possible. In our updates to v2.1 we have taken the time to update the file and removed/renamed any fields etc that were used by Private apps, so the changes in our v2.1 file will look a bit different to the v2 update guide.

Version 2.1 now supports Custom apps only – you can also download this and copy/paste the updated script steps across if that will be easier for you. Existing customers can download this version from the link on your original order email (contact us if you need the link to be reset etc).

We have a short video on the fmEcommerce Link Videos page showing how to create a Custom app on the Shopify website.

You can get more information on Custom apps and authenticating with access tokens here:

• Shopify Custom Apps
• Access tokens for custom apps in the Shopify admin