- Short answer
- Creating campaigns, Analytics dashboard edits and Sidekick-built Flow workflows need a desktop; we found no full list of app limits in Shopify help.
- Desktop web browser only
- Generating apps with Sidekick (Grow, Advanced and Plus plans): not in the app and not in a mobile browser
- Partly in the app
- Email automations: the app creates only the three abandonment types
- Not in the app or POS
- Creating a stock count; it needs a desktop browser
- As of
- Shopify Help Center pages read October 16, 2026
How much can you run from the Shopify app?
The Shopify app shows how your store is performing, manages orders and updates your catalog, and its mobile theme editor lets you change theme settings and add, remove, edit and rearrange content. Beyond that, Shopify draws the line without naming it:
Most features are available, but some advanced settings require you to be on a desktop.
No help page we found lists those settings: on October 16, 2026 we read the Shopify admin and Shopify app pages and searched the help manual for desktop and app wording.
Which tasks need a desktop or a browser?
Each task links to the help page that names its limit.
| Task | Where it works |
|---|---|
| Create a campaign | Desktop only |
| Generate a Flow workflow with Sidekick | Desktop only |
| Design with Canvas | Desktop only (early access, certain stores) |
| Customize the Analytics overview | Desktop computer only; viewing works on mobile |
| Create, rename or delete views | Desktop only; viewing works on mobile |
| Split or merge a fulfillment | Desktop or mobile browser, not the app |
| File a shipping claim | Desktop or mobile browser, not the app |
| Page activity (product, customer, collection, discount, marketing pages) | Web browser, not the app; not in Canada |
| Create a stock count | Admin on a desktop browser; not the app or Shopify POS |
| Create email automations | App: three abandonment types only; the rest on desktop |
When is a mobile browser enough?
The app and your phone's browser differ. When a button is missing in the app, check the “Where it works” cell above: if it names a mobile browser, open the Shopify admin there instead of waiting for a laptop. A cell that says only “web browser” doesn't say whether a phone browser works, so open that task's help page first.
Sidekick has its own limits: it isn't currently available in the admin on a mobile browser, and generating apps with Sidekick, on the Grow, Advanced and Plus plans, needs a desktop web browser, not the app. Building Flow workflows with Sidekick is desktop work too.
Working from a laptop instead? See what to use on a Windows PC or Mac.
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