thread Re: Our online store suddenly has an app?? in Online Store

Our online store suddenly has an app??

pomellaoakland — Wed, 09 Mar 2022 03:14:19 GMT

Hi all,

Suddenly this weekend when loading our online store on mobile, this message pops up (see image attached). When I install it, it is an app version of our online store.

I can't find any information about this on Square's website, so we aren't sure this isn't a 3rd party of some kind. Can someone please:

Confirm this is coming from Square and if so
Inform us if we are being charged for it? I'm unable to find any options about this in our Square Online dashboard.
Finally, if we'd like to opt out, how can we do that?

Thank you!

Re: Our online store suddenly has an app??

londontea — Wed, 09 Mar 2022 15:39:00 GMT

I noticed this over the weekend when I ordered from a nearby restaurant that uses Square Online and was very curious as to how it worked. It turns out that the "app" is actually just a glorified bookmark that gets added to your phone's home screen. It runs on your phone's web browser, so it's not an app in any true sense of the term.

This option has not appeared on my website, so I'm guessing that it's limited to sites that use the "Order Online" template, which is intended for restaurants. I currently use the "Shop All" template, which is intended for retail stores.

I couldn't find any info about it, or any way to disable it. It seems that the only way to stop it from appearing is to switch to the "Shop All" template, which isn't great if you're a restaurant. In the event that you want to try doing that (but I wouldn't recommend it) here's how:

In your Square Online site editor, select the Page dropdown menu.
For your Order Online page, select "..." > Switch template.
Review your template options and select Switch.
Publish your site to see the changes live.

Re: Our online store suddenly has an app??

JJ_ — Wed, 09 Mar 2022 21:58:45 GMT

Thanks for your investigation @londontea

This is called a Progressive Web Application (PWA) @pomellaoakland. It works just as a "Fancy Bookmark" that your customers can save to their screen for quick access next time they want to purchase from you. To simply answer your questions:

1. This is coming from Square and is automatically detected on compatible browsers.

2. At this time there is no additional charge for this functionality.

3. If you wish to opt out, I would recommend reaching out to our Square Online team so they can escalate this request over to the Advanced Support team and confirm if this is possible.

I hope this information is helpful!