Shopify App Store Listing Checklist: Assets, Copy, and Pricing

Last updated October 23, 2026 · By Chad Norris

A Shopify App Store listing is mostly fixed-size fields plus a handful of content rules, and nearly every limit below is checkable before you submit. The biggest traps are putting pricing, statistics or testimonials in the wrong places, shipping duplicate or logo-only images, and discovering that the editor locks once you submit. Disclosure: we build Shopify apps under Orbitloft (disclosure); notes marked “in our experience” are from our own listings.

All specs are from Shopify’s best practices and requirements checklist and App Store requirements, as read in October 2026. Shopify edits these pages, so confirm before you upload.

Field-by-field limits

Alt text is required for the feature image and screenshots. In the Partner Dashboard form we used, the alt-text field capped at 64 characters; that cap is from our notes and not on the best-practices page, so write short.

Copy rules that trigger rejection

The numbered requirements matter more than the lengths:

Shopify’s changelog says AI-assisted checks on English listings flag subtitle use, reviews or testimonials, pricing outside designated areas, statistics or data, links or URLs, generic app names, and screenshots with reviews or statistics. Flagged items don’t block submission, but they predict a reviewer’s reaction. The image-standards update (4.4.4, 4.4.5) was announced as enforced from March 26, 2026, per Shopify’s changelog.

Images: how we produce them

Our process, from internal notes, for a set of 1600 x 900 screenshots without desktop clutter:

1. Add an unauthenticated demo route that renders the actual dashboard component using the app’s own pipeline, so screenshots show genuine UI instead of mockups.
2. For tools whose dashboard is one screen tall, add a second view of the main output so you can show three different states (this satisfies 4.4.5).
3. Capture with a headless browser at a 1600 x 900 viewport. Don’t clip a page taller than the viewport: it scales the whole page down and the content renders tiny. Wait for fonts to load.
4. Build the feature image separately: brand color, app name, one headline, one clean product vignette. No Shopify logo, little text.
5. Keep sample data realistic and free of statistics claims or testimonials.

Check the files for pricing text, customer names, and real store data before uploading. If your listing editor’s file chooser rejects automation, you may need to upload the files by hand.

Writing the copy within the limits

The limits force a specific shape: the 100-character introduction states one benefit, the 500-character details field explains what the app does and what is distinct about it, and each feature line (80 characters) describes what the merchant gets instead of naming technology. A workable pattern:

Read each line against 4.3.3 and 4.3.4: if it needs proof to be believed, rewrite it as a plain description. Also list any geographic or API-permission requirements (4.3.8) and select “Merchant must have online store” if the app embeds features in the Online Store (4.3.1).

Pricing display

Pricing is entered in the pricing details section only. Pick a billing method: free to install, recurring charge, or one-time payment. Shopify recommends a 14-day free trial; for free plus paid plans, choose recurring and mark one plan free; and link to pricing details and any charges billed outside Shopify. The plans you list must match what the app does at charge time: if you use Shopify App Pricing, the plans live in the dashboard, as in Managed Pricing vs the Billing API. Mismatched names and prices between listing and app fail review as pricing inaccuracy (4.2.1).

Testing instructions and screencast (4.5)

Shopify requires clear setup and functionality instructions, valid credentials with access to the full feature set (4.5.4, 4.5.5), an emergency developer contact in the Partner Dashboard (4.5.6), and a complete English screencast (or English subtitles) that shows the expected outcome of each test case (4.5.3). The checklist states no length limit. If your app has a sample-data toggle, document it, but make sure the real-data path also works. Our review-failure patterns are in Why Shopify Rejects Apps.

The editor lock

In our experience, while an app shows “Submitted” the listing form is locked: every field is disabled and the Save button won’t enable, including testing instructions. Forcing a value into a disabled field through the page produced a phantom unsaved-changes bar that only a reload cleared. We did not find this documented on shopify.dev, and a forum search returned inconsistent answers, so treat it as observed behavior. Practical rule: complete the icon, plan names, testing instructions and screencast URL before you click Submit. Withdrawing to edit may reset your place in the queue, according to our notes. For what happens next, read what to expect from Shopify app review.

URLs that fail checks

Two small ones from our pipeline: listing URLs containing “shopify” failed the App Store URL check in our experience, so we used our own domain’s subdomains for app URLs;. Verify against the live form.

After approval: visibility

Shopify’s visibility page says every App Store app needs a listing, and you choose between Make fully visible and Limit visibility. Fully visible apps are indexed and appear in category pages, search and third-party search engines; limited-visibility apps can still be installed from the listing URL but don’t appear in those places. You can change it at any time under Apps, your app, Distribution, Manage listing, App Store visibility.

The docs do not state the default. In our experience, apps landed on limited visibility after approval; several live apps were invisible in search until we flipped each one, and there was no global setting. Make it a standing post-approval step, and read the true listing URL from the Distribution page because slugs can carry a suffix.

Final pre-submit checklist

• Name, icon, intro, details, features within limits; no stats, reviews, superlatives or links
• Feature image and 3 to 6 unique screenshots at 1600 x 900, with alt text
• Pricing only in the pricing section, matching the app
• Privacy URL, support docs, emergency contact
• Testing instructions, credentials, English screencast
• Billing, data access and embedded checks done: see protected customer data and the embedded app check

Common listing mistakes

• Mentioning a price or “free trial” in the subtitle, icon or screenshots.
• Re-using one screenshot at several crops and calling them different views.
• Referencing your other apps in the listing text.
• Leaving a placeholder privacy page, or linking a cloud document as the policy.
• Naming something generic (“Review App”) rather than leading with a distinctive brand word.