With the Shopware app system, we're breaking new ground. Since Shopware 6 relies on API-first, the decoupling of modules and, consequently, clear communication, the app system is the logical next evolutionary step.
Your app runs externally and communicates with Shopware via webhooks and the API, giving you absolute control over your app.
The app system gives you more freedom, flexibility and many insights into its usage. And best of all, you open up to a wider audience and new customers as apps run with Shopware self-hosted as well as cloud distribution.
Shape the future of app development with us! Lead the way, benefit from a larger audience, and gain new customers.
How it works
Interface to the API
With apps, your business logic is contained within its own server. Webhooks enable your app to stay up-to-date. These translate events from the shopware event bus into a JSON payload and push them to an endpoint of your app. You can then use the API of the store to react to those events.
You can search for entities through a JSON representation of criteria and access CRUD functionalities in the same way as through internal repository services.
Connect your services
Due to the almost universal interface provided by HTTP, it's easy to connect existing services. The app system automates the exchange of API credentials, allowing for a smooth connection to existing solutions that integrate Shopware 6 through its API.
Customize the User experience
Apps allow you to ship templates and javascript code to extend the storefront according to individual needs.
Folder structures and templates work in the same way as classic plugins. You can further extend the administration with custom modules and additional actions that the user can trigger. The modules allow you to embed a web UI into the administration through an IFrame. The actions are embedded as buttons on the listing and detail pages of entities.
Hosting
Modern PaaS (platform as a service) providers are a quick way to deploy and scale apps according to your customer's needs. We recommend Platform.sh as a fast way to deploy your code from your git repo directly to servers that fit your needs.
What about Plugins?
The Shopware 6 plugin system is designed to extend and customise a self-hosted store. This system opts within Shopware, which means that the extension becomes part of the application and can thus intervene deeply in Shopware processes and modules. This has many advantages for customising a self-hosted store. Therefore, the plugin system will remain next to the app system.
The plugin system cannot be used in the cloud, as our SaaS version is a multitenant system. The instances share resources - consequently also the Shopware application. Installing and executing third-party code is impossible, as errors or security problems would directly affect all cloud instances.
Facts of the plug-in system
Great dependency of the plugin on internal code
High error and complexity rate
Additional costs due to frequent breaks during Shopware updates
Cannot be applied in the cloud
Your app will be automatically updated in all stores, which simplifies your development process.
Sell your app in Shopware cloud as well as self-hosted. Be the first to offer an app in your category in Shopware cloud!
Choose your preferred programming language and enjoy full flexibility inside your application. This also allows you to react a lot faster to bugs and problems.
Get full control over your app and all its data. Gather useful insights about user behaviour.
