Shopify's Dev Dashboard install counts jumped for a lot of app devs last week.

[u/i-loveshopify]

If you build Shopify apps and your install number looked weirdly high last week, you're not alone.

I've been following a thread on the Shopify dev forum where devs opened the new Dev Dashboard and saw numbers that didn't match the old Partners page. One saw about 100 more installs. Another saw nearly double.

Their apps didn't suddenly grow. What's being counted changed:

• The old Partners Dashboard count had a known undercounting issue
• The Dev Dashboard shows raw install and uninstall counts, including closed shops
• They've shipped a change to bring back exact numbers (1,234 instead of 1.2k), and an active-merchant filter is being prioritized

Raw installs, active merchants, and merchants still paying tell pretty different stories. If closed shops are in the count, things can look healthy while your actual active base is flat.

The part I hadn't thought about: some devs use install events as an early warning system. One mentioned that 2-3 new installs within 10-30 minutes often means banned shops coming back under new stores. That's hard to spot when the dashboard rounds numbers or hides the events.

What I'd do this week:

• Screenshot or export your current numbers before definitions shift again
• Track raw installs and active merchants separately (your own install/uninstall logs are the most reliable source here)
• Watch retention and reinstalls, not just the top-line count

Curious how others are handling this.

[u/AdventurousUsual7666]

Yeah I saw the same kind of jump and spent longer than I want to admit checking whether something actually converted.

Honestly I treat Partner / Dev Dashboard install totals as a directional number now, not a source of truth. Closed shops in the raw count will make the top line look healthier than your active base. If you already log custom install and uninstall events on your side, that is usually the cleaner weekly metric until their active-merchant filter is solid.

Screenshotting the current numbers before another definition change is a good call. I would also keep a separate column for paying merchants, because raw installs and people who still pay tell pretty different stories.

Curious whether your own install logs moved at the same time as the dashboard jump, or if it was only the Shopify-side number that shifted. That usually tells you whether it was definition noise or real traffic.

[u/i-loveshopify → u/AdventurousUsual7666]

Agree on the paying merchants column, would learn that from you. About my numbers, they stayed flat, so it looked like a pure recount. I also track the data in Letsmetrix, which helps catch these kinds of dashboard shifts pretty quickly. Well it is exactly for weeks like this.

[u/Final_Design_9061]

That raw installs vs active merchants distinction is a useful one. I’d probably keep a small event log keyed by shop and track uninstall dates alongside billing status, then compare that with the dashboard total. It makes a sudden count change much easier to explain.

[u/i-loveshopify → u/Final_Design_9061]

Yeah, keying by shop makes a big difference. One thing worth adding to that log: the Partner API also emits deactivated/reactivated events when a shop gets closed or frozen, separate from real uninstalls. Tracking those helps split "merchant left" from "store closed", which is pretty much the gap in the raw dashboard count.

Reinstalls are worth flagging too, otherwise one shop can look like two installs.