How the theme works with Shopify apps, accelerated checkout, and Shopify's built-in commerce features.

Theme app extensions

The theme supports app blocks (theme app extensions) in six sections. When you install a Shopify app that ships with app blocks, those blocks become available to add inside the following sections:

  • Product (product page)
  • Featured product (home page or any other page)
  • Cart (cart page)
  • Complementary products (product page)
  • Promotion grid (any page)
  • Rich text (any page)

To add an app block:

  1. From your Shopify admin, go to Online Store > Themes > Customize.
  2. Open one of the supported sections.
  3. Click Add block and select the app block from the list.
  4. Configure the block in the right sidebar.
  5. Save.

If a section does not list app blocks under Add block, the section does not support them. The header, footer, and other sections that are not listed above accept theme blocks only.

App embeds

App embeds are app features that load globally across your store (chat widgets, analytics scripts, popup tools, review widgets that auto-attach to product pages). The theme renders these through Shopify's standard content_for_header tag, which means any app embed approved by Shopify will work without theme changes.

To enable or disable app embeds:

  1. From your Shopify admin, go to Online Store > Themes > Customize.
  2. Click the App embeds icon in the left sidebar (it looks like a puzzle piece).
  3. Toggle the apps you want active.
  4. Save.

Accelerated checkout buttons

Accelerated checkout buttons (Shop Pay, PayPal, Google Pay, Apple Pay, and other dynamic checkout options) appear in two places:

  • Product page and Featured product section: below the Add to cart button. Controlled by the Show dynamic checkout buttons setting on the Buy buttons block (product page) or the section settings (featured product).
  • Cart page: below the main Checkout button. Shown when supported accelerated checkout methods are enabled in your Shopify Payments settings.

The cart drawer uses a standard checkout flow. Customers tap Checkout to proceed to the standard checkout, where Shop Pay still applies if the customer is signed in.

Which buttons appear, in what order, and in which colors is controlled by Shopify, not the theme. Per Shopify's branding policy, payment provider buttons render in their official branded colors and cannot be restyled by the theme.

Shop Pay Installments

The product page renders Shop Pay Installments messaging (for example, "Pay in 4 installments of...") below the buy buttons using Shopify's payment_terms tag. The message appears automatically when:

  • Shop Pay Installments is enabled on your store.
  • The product price falls within the eligible range.
  • The customer's region supports installments.

The theme does not configure or control installment terms. Eligibility, messaging, and presentation are controlled by Shopify and may change as Shop Pay updates the feature.

Payment icons

The footer can display payment method icons for the payment providers you have enabled. Controlled by the Show payment icons setting on the Footer section.

The icons come directly from Shopify (shop.enabled_payment_types). To change which icons appear, change which payment methods are enabled in Settings > Payments in your Shopify admin. The theme will render whatever Shopify reports as enabled.

The product page also has a Show payment icons setting on its Buy buttons block, which displays the same icons inline below the price.

Product recommendations

Two sections use Shopify's product recommendations engine:

  • Product recommendations (product page): general "you may also like" recommendations. Uses Shopify's default related intent.
  • Complementary products (product page): products that pair well with the current product. Uses Shopify's complementary intent.

Recommendations are generated by Shopify based on your store's product catalog, sales data, and metadata. The theme does not influence which products are recommended. To improve recommendation quality:

  • Make sure all products have complete metadata (type, vendor, tags, descriptions).
  • Use the Shopify Search and Discovery app to set up complementary product associations manually if you want to override Shopify's automatic suggestions.

Shopify Search and Discovery

The theme is built to work with the free Shopify Search and Discovery app:

  • Filters: configured in the app, rendered on collection and search pages by the theme. See the filtering and discovery reference for details.
  • Synonyms: improve search matching for terms like "tee" and "t-shirt".
  • Search boosts: promote specific products in search results.
  • Complementary product overrides: hand-pick products to recommend.

Install Shopify Search and Discovery from the Shopify App Store if you have not already. The theme uses whatever you configure there with no extra setup.

Markets and Translate and Adapt

The theme works with Shopify Markets and the Translate and Adapt app:

  • Multi-currency: prices display in the customer's local currency when Markets is configured. The theme uses Shopify's standard money filters and respects market-specific pricing.
  • Multi-language: the theme's locale files cover its own user-facing strings (button labels, form messages, navigation text). Content you create (product titles, descriptions, page text) needs translations added through Translate and Adapt or another translation app.
  • Country and language selectors: the footer can display selectors for both. Controlled by the Show country selector and Show language selector settings on the footer.

See the markets and localization reference for setup details.

Other apps

Most other Shopify apps fall into one of the categories above and require no theme-specific work:

  • Reviews apps: typically install via app embed (auto-attaches to product pages) or app block (you place it manually). Both are supported.
  • Loyalty and rewards: usually app embed for the floating widget plus an app block on the cart or product page.
  • Email capture and popups: usually app embed.
  • Subscription apps: most install an app block in the Buy buttons area of the product page. The theme exposes app block support inside the product section so subscription widgets can render alongside the variant picker.
  • Upsell and cross-sell: app block in cart, product, or rich text section.

If an app provides a theme app extension, install the extension and place its blocks where you want them. If an app provides a code snippet to paste, paste it where the app instructs (usually theme.liquid, but follow the app's documentation).

Things to know

  • App block availability is per-section. If you do not see app blocks listed under Add block in a section, that section does not support them. The six sections listed above are the ones with explicit app block support.
  • Accelerated checkout button visibility is controlled by Shopify, not the theme. If a button does not appear, check Settings > Payments in your admin to confirm the payment method is active.
  • Recommendation quality depends on your catalog data. Shopify needs accurate product types, tags, vendors, and sales history to generate relevant recommendations. New stores will see less relevant suggestions until enough data accumulates.
  • The theme does not bundle any third-party apps. All apps mentioned in this document are optional. Shopify Search and Discovery is recommended because filters depend on it, but the theme will still function without it.
  • Apps that modify checkout require Shopify Plus. Checkout extensibility apps run inside Shopify's checkout, not the theme. The theme has no control over checkout appearance or behavior.
  • App-installed code can affect performance. If you notice the storefront slowing down after installing an app, check the app's documentation for performance settings, or uninstall it to confirm it is the cause. Theme support cannot debug third-party app code.