Hey everyone, I hope you're doing well and that your app is growing.

This email is more data-focused than usual. I also want to show you how that data is shaping what I am building with App Store Pulse.

Today:

• Why I am changing the positioning of App Store Pulse

• What 26,000+ apps taught me about growth

• What the new Mantle replacements mean for your Partner API data

• What happened on the Shopify App Store in July 2026

Let's go! 🔥

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1. App Store Pulse positioning: Becoming more than a monitoring tool

I recently started rewriting the App Store Pulse landing page. One thing changed immediately: I stopped describing it as only a Shopify App Store monitoring tool.

The new positioning is broader: an operating system for Shopify apps. 🙏

It sounds ambitious. But the reason is simple.

After Mantle shut down, founders asked me for analytics, email workflows, subscriber data, and a way to connect activity inside their app to revenue. Many were already willing to pay for a solution that no longer existed.

So I decided to follow the need.

The first part will be email. Founders will be able to create workflows, send campaigns, manage subscribers, and see the revenue each email generated.

Sending an email is useful. Knowing whether it created revenue is better. 😌

The second part is product analytics. I use Mixpanel constantly to understand what happens inside an app. I want to bring that kind of system into App Store Pulse.

You will be able to track key events, add user attributes, and see what people do before and after becoming customers.

I also plan to share the dashboard I use, plus a short tutorial on which events to add. One click will create the same reports inside App Store Pulse.

No empty analytics screen. No afternoon lost wondering what to track.

You start with a working structure, then adapt it to your app.

The scope could become large: monitoring, analytics, email, subscribers, and revenue reporting. That is the risk.

But the direction is clear. App founders do not need ten disconnected dashboards. They need one place to understand what is happening and decide what to do next.

That is what I want App Store Pulse to become.

2. The 26,000+ app growth myths report

App Store growth advice often repeats the same ideas: add a video, reply to every review, write a longer description, and create a demo store.

They sound reasonable. But do they correlate with rank? 🤔

To find out, I analyzed 26,000+ Shopify apps, 1,000,000+ reviews, and 383,000 search positions.

Several common assumptions did not hold up.

Around 31% of apps had a video at every rank position. No visible effect.

Winners and losers replied to reviews at the same 25% rate, with the same two-day delay. Replies can still show merchants that you care, but the data did not link more replies to higher rankings.

Description length also stayed flat. What you write matters more than how much you write.

And almost every app now has a demo store. It may help merchants understand the product, but it is table stakes, not a differentiator.

The top 4% stood out elsewhere.

The largest gap was localization. Leading apps had listings in seven languages. Small apps had two.

Each language helps the same product reach more merchants. No new feature required.

Pricing showed another pattern. Among breakout launches, 85% offered a free plan. Below the top group, that fell to 66%.

A free plan will not suit every app. But it appeared far more often among those that broke through.

Strong apps also presented more of their product. They used 25 feature tags across 1.8 categories, versus eight tags and one category for small apps. And 53% listed integrations.

The lesson is not to add random tags. It is to make your real value, and how your app fits into a merchant's stack, easy to see.

Review behavior revealed another signal. Reviewers of the strongest apps had used the product for 90 days before posting. For small apps, it was 23 days.

Review quality seems tied to the experience over time, not only to when you ask.

Top apps also had fewer one and two-star reviews: 3.3%, versus 6.8% for smaller apps. Their average ratings were not dramatically different.

The angry end of the distribution was.

New apps showed the same pattern. Of 5,763 spring launches, only 103 broke through. They averaged 4.5 languages, 85% offered a free plan, and they used less video than the apps that failed.

That is why I prefer market-wide data over one successful listing. One example can make almost any tactic look smart.

Videos, replies, long descriptions, and demo stores can all help. But the strongest gaps were elsewhere: localization, accessibility, clear product coverage, integrations, and a better long-term customer experience.

You can try App Store Pulse for free to explore this data for your own app.

3. Mantle replacement tools and Partner API security

Since Mantle shut down, many new Shopify tools have appeared. Most focus on analytics. Others offer keyword tracking because it is easier to recreate.

The demand is real. But the market is still small, and I do not think every new product will survive once the first wave settles.

There is also a bigger issue: most of these tools need access to the Shopify Partner API. That key is sensitive.

The authorization model is still basic. You cannot always limit a tool to the exact information or action it needs. One key may provide far more access than the feature requires.

So do not ask only, “Is this useful?”

Ask, “Do I trust the people behind it with this level of access?”

A polished landing page and a good promise are not enough. Before connecting a Partner API key, look at the team. How long have they worked in the Shopify ecosystem? What have they built? Do they explain how they protect access and data?

The answers do not need to be perfect. New products have to start somewhere. But you should know who you are trusting, and what happens if the product disappears.

Of course, I am building App Store Pulse, and I would love founders to use it. But this is bigger than one product. Choose the tool that fits you after understanding the access you are giving it.

Shopify could help by making Partner API permissions more specific. Founders could then authorize only what a tool truly needs. 🤷‍♂️

That would protect founders, reduce the impact of vulnerabilities, and make new tools safer to test.

Until then, the people behind a product matter as much as the feature.

4. The July 2026 Shopify App Store report

I pulled the July 2026 State of the Shopify App Store using App Store Pulse data.

It is a quick look at how the market changed during the month, from launches and reviews to AI, Built for Shopify, and localization. 👇

You can read the full State of the Shopify App Store report for July 2026 to see all the details.

Thanks for reading!

I’ll see you in the next email, in 14 days. Until then, take care!

Mat.