Breaking new ground - The modern way of app development
The e-commerce landscape is constantly evolving - are you keeping up?
Change is in Shopware's DNA. As a core value, issuing and living "visionary" means allowing the community to stay one step ahead of the competition. In other words, grow more accessible, faster, and sustainably!
The different cloud!
In e-commerce, installing and creating a store is not the merchant's goal. Instead, it is about running a store tailored to his needs. Installation and setup are just necessary steps.
It's the same in the physical world: it's not about building a mall but creating a shopping experience that meets customers' needs.
Shopware Cloud provides an intuitive base installation that either the merchants themselves or agencies can build on. In the future, this offering will continue to grow and become even more important to more and more merchants: Just a click and a new store is ready to be customized.
The best part? Shopware Cloud is open source. No matter which edition, cloud or self-hosted: Your store always runs on the open-source core you find on GitHub. This means that even if you use Shopware Cloud, you can switch to your own server at any time and know precisely how the online store is run. Nothing hidden, no black box.
Shape the future of app development together with us. Enter the Shopware app universe and gain a new, larger audience!
Shopware Cloud needs a different kind of extension than we have known. A sort of extension that can be run securely in a multi-tenant environment. That's why the App System was invented. Although it was designed for this purpose, it is not limited to Shopware Cloud. In short, the App System outsources the business logic of an extension to an external system, which the App System-based app vendor controls. All communication with Shopware is done via webhooks and the API. Since Shopware 6.4.8.0, you can now use App Scripting and have even more possibilities.
This is how it works
Connecting via API
With apps, your business logic resides on a server. Webhooks allow your app to stay up to date. They translate the events of the store event bus to a JSON request which is then sent to an endpoint of your app. Your app can then modify the store data via the API. All operations of the repositories are available to you via the API.
Connecting external services
By using the existing admin API, apps can easily connect existing services. The app system provides the ability to automatically exchange API keys, making it easy to use apps as connectors for existing API-based services.
Customize the user experience
Apps allow you to customize templates and JavaScript with the same structure used for themes based on classic plugins. Additionally, apps can extend the Administration with more modules and actions. The app modules allow you to integrate your own web UI into the Administration via an IFrame. New context-sensitive activities can be displayed as buttons on listing and detail pages of entities.
Hosting
Modern Platform as a Service (PaaS) providers allows you to deploy and scale your app server code quickly. We recommend platform.sh as a quick start to deploy your code directly from your git repo to the server and meet your requirements.
What's in it for you?
With new tools come new possibilities, new opportunities, and new challenges. App system-based apps allow you to build on technologies that were previously unavailable to you. Whether it's a specific PHP extension, a specific programming language, or data analysis across multiple stores, you're free from all the limitations that come with the plugin system that can run alongside Shopware. So you can use resources that weren't available before and program your app faster and more robustly. Another advantage: Since it is decoupled from the Shopware code, you can update your app immediately for all stores.
Apps like plugins can also be distributed via the Shopware Community Store. However, extensions are often customer or project specific. In these cases, you can use the private app feature, which allows you to add features via the app system for selected stores only. This also works in Shopware Cloud and will enable you to create highly customized experiences.
App Scripting
Now apps are even more powerful: With App Scripts, you can create richer extensions that integrate deeply with Shopware. You can now also include code in your apps - which runs securely, easily, and maintainable in Shopware Cloud and Shopware self-hosted. Even shopping cart modifications are possible now, and, e.g., sophisticated functionalities like "product bundles" can be created via apps. Load additional data from the database and extend your possibilities in the storefront. App Scripts are also handy for using different APIs: they allow you to create custom admin or storefront endpoints. Learn more in the Shopware-Docs.
A new chapter!
For all we know today, a big part of the future will be in the cloud. To be a part of it, we must change how we work and do business. You're moving from an extension manufacturer to a service provider. But you can start slowly - with a few private apps for selected customers. Sooner rather than later, you will realize the full potential of App System-based apps. And as you learn about the app system and its new possibilities, it will continue to evolve. By being part of this process as soon as possible, you'll be shaping the future of the App System, us as Shopware, and yourself. We need curious people like you who feel deeply connected to the Shopware ecosystem and are ready to shape the app universe together with us.
We would love for you to be one of the people who join us on this journey!
App Training with Jisse Reitsma
"Some topics are great for getting started and serve as a step-by-step guide; others depend on the app development you want to do yourself and therefore belong more to a kind of app cookbook."
That's how Jisse describes this comprehensive app training for Shopware Apps, from short and understandable videos. Many hours of material have been created for beginners and professionals who want to get started with app development. Whether about the manifest.xml or the use of webhooks - in five main topics, Jisse Reitsma leads all interested parties to develop Shopware Apps.
The Shopware 6 plugin system is designed to extend and customize a self-hosted Shopware shop. This system acts within Shopware, which means: The extension becomes part of the application and can thus intervene very profoundly in the Shopware processes and modules. This has many advantages for the individualization of a self-hosted store. The plugin system, therefore, continues to exist alongside the app system.
The plugin system is unsuitable for the cloud, as our SaaS version is a multi-tenancy system. The instances share resources - and, therefore, also the Shopware application. Installing and running third-party code is not possible, as errors or security issues would directly affect all cloud instances.
Facts about the plugin system
Existing dependency between the plugin and internal code
High error-proneness and complexity
Additional effort due to more frequent breaks in Shopware changes
Not suitable for use in the cloud
Therefore: On to the App System
Your app will be automatically updated in all stores, which greatly simplifies your development process.
Sell your app in Shopware Cloud and self-hosted and be one of the first to offer an app in your category in Shopware Cloud!
Choose your preferred programming language and get total flexibility within your application.
Keep complete control over your app and all data. Generate exciting insights about user behavior!
The app documentation
Get information about the app structure. What is the file structure of an app, and what is in manifest.xml?
