Shopify updates in September 2025: New dev platform, more possibilities with Sidekick, and the new Shopify Launch Check—an overview of all the new features!

September 2025 brings a whole host of exciting new features for Shopify merchants and developers. From a completely new dev platform for easier app management to expanded capabilities with the AI assistant Sidekick to practical features such as Shopify Launch Check and multi-store reporting, the updates are designed to simplify processes, make workflows more secure, and target customers more effectively. In this article, we summarize all the important changes for you.Do you need help implementing your Shopify project? We are happy to assist you! Simply contact us and we will discuss your requirements.

Shopify now makes creating apps much easier with its new dev platform.

The Dev Platform allows you to manage apps and test stores centrally in one place.

What's new:

• Everything in one place: You can see all your apps and test stores clearly arranged in a “Dev Dashboard.”

• Quick preview: With a simple command (shopify app dev), you can immediately see how your app looks and works, without any complicated setup.

• Better control: Developers can set and update important data structures directly in the app to make everything run more reliably.

• Recommended reading: You can find our recommendations for the 25 best Shopify apps here. Test stores for every app: You can create stores for testing, no matter which Shopify plan you have, to try out your app in a realistic environment.

The platform helps you stay organized, keep your apps up to date, and collaborate more easily with developers or partners. This ensures that your customers get the best possible experience.

Sidekick: More options for simple, fast support

Recommended reading: What can Shopify AI do? An overview of all tools and features. now supports voice input: you can speak directly to the AI assistant and receive spoken responses. This makes interaction more natural and helps you get support without interrupting your workflow in the Shopify admin. Currently, the voice feature is available in English and for desktop; additional languages and mobile support will follow soon.

There is also now a full-screen mode for Sidekick. This gives you more space for longer conversations and working on complex tasks without losing the functionality of the panel. You can activate full-screen mode in three ways:

1. Click “Expand” in the Sidekick panel

2. Hold down the Shift key and click on the Sidekick icon

3. Directly via the /sidekick link in your admin URL

Sidekick also helps with app searches: you can ask for apps or describe your goals, get recommendations, compare apps, and install them directly in the chat. This replaces the previous guided search and app comparison in the App Store, making searching faster and easier.

Shopify Launch Check: Fast, easy, and personalized

With Shopify Launch Check, you can check your store's readiness to go live in less than 2 minutes. The app scans your entire store setup in real time, uses AI for analysis, and provides easy-to-understand instructions.

You'll receive personalized recommendations based on your actual store data—everything you need for a successful launch. This way, you can be sure that your store is ready to go live and designed for conversion from day one.

The app is available for download in the Shopify App Store.

Multi-store reporting: All branches at a glance

With multi-store reporting in Shopify Analytics, you can now see the performance of all your stores in a single view. No more manual switching between administrators.

Track sales, orders, and other metrics across your entire business or for individual stores. Compare performance by store, region, or brand—even across multiple currencies. Use the new default multi-store dashboard or create a custom dashboard that shows your most important KPIs.

Multi-store reporting is available for Plus organizations with multiple stores. Users need full permissions for organization analytics to access it.

Shopify Flow: More control and security for your workflows

Select resources specifically: Many Flow actions require a resource ID, e.g., for updating a product. Previously, Flow selected the ID automatically, which sometimes led to errors in workflows with multiple resources or “execute code” steps. Now you can specify a specific resource or variable directly to ensure that the correct ID is used.

Hash data securely: When you connect Flow to external APIs, you can hash sensitive information such as API keys or customer data directly in the workflow. Flow supports the familiar hashing functions from Liquid: sha1, sha256, md5, hmac_sha1, and hmac_sha256. Simply apply the appropriate filter to a variable and specify an authentication code for HMAC filters.

Examples:

• Hash customer email: {{ customer.defaultEmailAddress | sha1 }}

• Hash customer email with HMAC-SHA256: {{ customer.defaultEmailAddress | hmac_sha256: “your-secret-key” }}

Shopify & Klaviyo: Unified commerce powered by AI

Shopify and Klaviyo are combining their strengths to create a unified solution that seamlessly connects commerce and CRM—with AI support. With K:AI, brands benefit from personalized customer experiences via email, SMS, mobile, and WhatsApp without having to rely on developers.

The integration ensures that Shopify data flows into Klaviyo in real time, enabling precise segmentation, predictive analytics, and intelligent campaigns.

Updates for meta fields: New meta field types and filter options

You can now filter your orders by up to five custom meta fields to find orders with special processing, individual order fulfillment, or specific business attributes more quickly. The filters can be saved as custom views and seamlessly integrated into your existing workflow.

In addition, API 2025-10 introduces two new meta field types:

• article_reference – refers to an article in the online store

• Recommended reading: Shopify Meta-Objects: Shop customizations with user-defined data structures.list.article_reference – a list of article references in the online store

These new types expand your options for precisely managing data in workflows and reports.

Customer segments by product category

You can now segment customers based on the product categories they have browsed or purchased. This allows you to send targeted promotions and recommendations.

Segmentation automatically takes higher-level categories into account—for example, a purchase of “face wash” will also be assigned to the ‘beauty’ and “health & beauty” segments.

The new filtering works with over 16,000 defined product categories from the Shopify standard taxonomy and can be integrated directly into existing segmentation workflows. Use the segments for Shopify Email, targeted discounts, or any marketing tool that supports customer segments to target your campaigns even more precisely.

Conclusion

With these updates, Shopify once again underscores its focus on efficiency, user-friendliness, and smart automation. Whether it's app development, customer communication, data analysis, or workflow optimization, the new features give merchants more control and make it easier to run successful stores. 

Latori: Your Shopify Premier Partner

As a Shopify Partner and Germany's first Shopify Premier Agency, Latori has first-hand knowledge and is always up to date with changes to the shop system. We have already supported numerous national and international brands in their transition to Shopify Plus.