This week marks the first official release of the new mobile WooCommerce apps for Android and the improved version for iOS. WooCommerce started beta testing of the Android app late last year, and the original iOS app has been updated with additional features.
WooCommerce apps for iOS and Android
These new apps for iOS and Android can be considered as a nice base that is very useful for tracking eshop performance with detailed statistics and receiving alerts for new orders and product reviews. Users can not yet add or edit products, and the app does not, however, offer the possibility to switch between different web shops. These versions provide basic order management but do not yet include the option to change the order status, for example. The mobile WooCommerce apps do not honor their slogan “Your store in your pocket.” But the beginning is there!
WooCommerce apps for iOS and Android
These new apps for iOS and Android can be considered as a nice base that is very useful for tracking eshop performance with detailed statistics and receiving alerts for new orders and product reviews. Users can not yet add or edit products, and the app does not, however, offer the possibility to switch between different web shops. These versions provide basic order management but do not yet include the option to change the order status, for example. The mobile WooCommerce apps do not honor their slogan “Your store in your pocket.” But the beginning is there!
First feedback
According to the Google Play Store, the WooCommerce app for Android has already been installed more than 10,000 times, with mixed user reviews. After the first reviews of 45 users, the Android app had an average rating of 2.5 stars. The iOS app received more or less the same feedback. Most of the negative reviews were posted due to connection or login problems and the requirement for web shops to use Jetpack.
“This looks promising, but does away with the need for Jetpack,” wrote a user.
“There are other safe ways to synchronize. Other apps have been doing that for years. This app is desperately needed, but the implementation leaves much to be desired if you have to install a plugin that tends to slow down your site and that most people do not need. Provides an alternative way to synchronize and give us the opportunity to at least edit the basics of a product on the road. ”
Why Jetpack?
WooCommerce marketing representative Marina Pape explained the Jetpack requirement in a blog post:
“The Jetpack plugin connects your self-hosted site with a WordPress.com account and offers a common authentication interface between many different server configurations and architectures. Both Apple and Google allow only a single trusted sender for security reasons. That makes Jetpack the best way for us to offer you modern mobile app functionality such as push notifications. ”
To make sites connect to the app, Jetpack creates a so-called ‘shadow site’ on the WordPress.com servers, and a considerable amount of data is synchronized. Although this list of data has been made as transparent as possible, the Jetpack requirement is a deal-breaker for some users. They do not want to share their data or are convinced that the plugin makes their shop slower. It is therefore plausible that WooCommerce will lose a few users because of this requirement.
Finally
According to BuiltWith, WooCommerce is now the most popular shopping cart technology, used by 22% of the top 1 million websites. Competitors Shopify and Magento are not far behind, with 17% and 13% respectively. The launch of new apps for iOS and Android should help WooCommerce stay ahead of the competition. But the team must continue to work on the app to ensure that it is better suited for users who want to manage their eshop on the go.
Learning approach.