Migrating from an Earlier App
Last Update: 31/08/2026
Some stores run an ARShades app that was set up for them individually, before ARShades VTO was published on the Shopify App Store. This page is for moving to the App Store app.
It concerns you if you have an ARShades app that you did not install yourself from https://apps.shopify.com/arshades-vto. If you installed it from that link, you are already on the current app and can ignore this page.
On the Licence page, behind Edit, the Manage ARShades Token window ends with a red Remove Token from store. It is meant for a store leaving ARShades permanently: it removes the link between every variant and its 3D model across your whole catalogue, and empties the catalogue attached to your store. There is no undo, and those links are exactly what makes this migration quick. Its confirmation window is titled Disconnect ARShades — that is where you stop.
Do not confuse it with Disconnect (DB only) on the Pixel page: that one is harmless.
Uninstalling is a different action and it is safe. To migrate: uninstall. Never remove the Token.
What survives, what you rebuild
| Survives untouched | You rebuild it |
|---|---|
| Your theme's Liquid, snippets and assets — but inactive until the new app embeds are on | The app embeds: switch them on again and re-enter their settings |
The arshades metafields on your shop and variants — the variant ↔ 3D model links | Any app block placed from the theme editor |
| Licence, Licence Token and authorised domains | The app's table of synchronised products, via Repair Sync |
| Your 3D catalogue, consumption counters and historical statistics | The app authorisation — you approve the same permissions again |
Two things also change on their own: the storefront path your theme calls, and which version of the storefront bundle your store receives. A theme that reads the path from the shop metafield repairs itself; a theme with the path typed in by hand does not.
Before you start
Nothing here changes your store, but the app embed settings are not recoverable afterwards.
- Duplicate your live theme. That copy is your rollback.
- Write down your app embed settings. Online Store → Themes → Customise → App embeds. Open ARShades VTO Embed and, if you use it, ARShades 3D Embed, and copy every value in each panel — there are around thirty per embed, from the layout and modal geometry to the button colours and the Add to Cart options. Do not work from a shortlist. If you also placed ARShades app blocks in your templates, open those too: they carry their own settings, including the loading text. Copy the values exactly, colour codes included — restoring by eye does not work.
- Note where your buttons appear, if you used app blocks rather than theme code.
- Search your theme for
/apps/arshades. If your Liquid reads the path fromshop.metafields.arshades.proxyPath, nothing to do. If the path is written out by hand, note every file — you will update it at step 6. - Note how many products show as synchronised, and have your Licence Token to hand.
The migration
Most stores can install the new app before removing the old one, so the storefront is never down and going back is trivial. A minority cannot, because both apps would claim the same storefront path — if you are not sure which case you are in, ask your ARShades contact before choosing a date. If you must remove the old app first, pick a quiet hour: try-on will not work in between.
- Install ARShades VTO from https://apps.shopify.com/arshades-vto — see Installation. The permissions are the same as before.
- Check the licence and catalogue are recognised. If the catalogue does not reselect itself, pick the existing one from the list — do not create a new one.
- Run Repair Sync. This rebuilds the variant ↔ model links from the data already on your products. Compare the count with what you noted.
- Switch on the app embeds of the new app — ARShades VTO Embed, plus ARShades 3D Embed if you show the 3D viewer — and re-enter the settings of each. Without this the code in your theme stays inert and the buttons open nothing. If both apps are installed, switch the old ones off in the same save, or the service loads twice.
- Re-add any app blocks and put them back where they were.
- Update any hard-coded path you found, to
/apps/arshades-vto. - Uninstall the old app — Settings → Apps and sales channels → Delete. This is the point of no return: its blocks in your theme become orphaned.
Check it worked
Open this while signed in to your store:
https://<your-store>/apps/arshades-vto/vto-products?shop=<your-domain>&include3d=true
It must answer with a non-empty list of variants. The answer is cached for about five minutes, so wait before re-testing after a fix.
The dashboard can show every product as Synchronised while the storefront stays silent, because it reads the state from your products rather than from the link the app has just rebuilt. Trust the address above, then a real product page.
| Symptom | Cause and fix |
|---|---|
| Buttons render but open nothing, or the 3D buttons are missing | The matching app embed is not switched on — step 4 |
| Empty list at the address above | Repair Sync has not run, or found nothing — step 3 |
| 404 at the address above | Your theme still calls the old path — step 6, see Manual Integration |
| Button says "Virtual Try-On", or the modal looks different | Settings are back at their defaults — re-enter them from your notes |
| Try-on opens twice | Both app embeds are on — switch the old one off |
| In-try-on Add to Cart appeared or disappeared | Expected: some theme features switch on above a minimum bundle version, which can differ after the migration |
If you need to go back
Before step 7, simply uninstall the new app. After it, reinstall the earlier app and switch its embed back on — your theme code was never modified. Either way, tell your ARShades contact the same day.