Theme Updater & Backups | OOTS
Shopify premium theme updates and online store data backups
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4.0
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327
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#1,150
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Dec. 10, 2019
I agree with the others - I purchased and always recommended outofthesandbox because of their vast knowledgebase and continual updates - but now along with paying for the themes we have to pay for the privilege to easily update - you're turning against your own loyal customers and moving goalposts - not cool
Hello The Architectural Forum, Thank you for taking the time to review our app. We understand your frustration, but we wanted to follow up on this review to clarify a point regarding the update process. Purchasing a theme comes with free updates for life. These free updates come in the form of brand new files of the latest version of the theme. The new version of the theme does need to be rebuilt, as is the standard process for updating any Shopify themes. Our Theme Updater app was developed to provide a shortcut for updating. The app can update a copy of your theme while preserving your home page sections and theme editor settings. We have recently implemented a subscription fee for the app, but all new theme purchases come with a free year of the app’s Basic Plan. The free year begins from the date the new theme file is registered in the app, a process which is necessary to unlock the updating feature. So in short, any purchase of our themes comes with the guarantee of free updates for life following the normal Shopify procedure for updating. The app is also free for the first year with the theme, after which, a subscription is required to continue using the Theme Updater app. We’d be happy to answer any additional questions you have regarding updating the themes, or any shop-specific questions you might have. You can reach out to our Help Centre here: https://help.outofthesandbox.com/hc/en-us/requests/new. All the best, The Out of the Sandbox Team
Nov. 21, 2019
This review is more for the Flex Theme as they deleted the review they request from me for their product. The issue I had with the Flex Theme is that it was full of bugs and didnt work, the issues I came accross with support are all repeated here in previous posts. There product is expensive and full of bugs, there support is very slow and very poor quality once they do reply , even to the point of being comical. I only wish I had read all these reviews first before shelling out the US$450.00. I did download and try it out, but it was only once running that the bugs started showing. I now only use it for the headers then use a page template. Im now currently looking for a different product to use that is also mobile friendly.
Hello UPAN Frypan, We’re sorry to hear you’ve been having trouble with the Flex theme and we apologize for any frustration. Flex is our most recent theme release and we continue to improve it with each new update for the theme. I have reviewed the contacts we’ve had with your shop from our Help Centre and I’m unable to find any outstanding issues. We apologize if you’ve had an unsatisfactory experience with our support team, we are committed to supporting our product and helping your shop in any way we can. We would be happy to review any issues you are having with the theme if you submit a support request to our Help Centre here: https://help.outofthesandbox.com/hc/en-us/requests/new. I have visited your shop and I can see you are currently using version 1.1.2 of the Flex theme. We’ve recently released an update for the theme, v1.1.3 which resolves a few lingering bugs. I’d encourage you to update your theme to the latest version if you continue to have trouble with it. Please do not hesitate to reach out, we are here to help! Sincerely, The Out of the Sandbox Team
Nov. 4, 2019
I just wanted to Upgrade from Turbo to Flex but not anymore. If you don't move back the pricing of the updater app to free plan and pro , like it was before, you will loose all your clients. I was told when purchased the Turbo theme that we have free updates forever, doing this manually is impossible. Especially when the previous version has glitches , and now we can't do anything without paying the extra buck.
Hi OchelariDirect — thank you sharing your feedback and concerns! We understand that updating a Shopify theme by uploading the updated version and reconfiguring the settings can be time consuming, so we have been working hard on improving and maintaining the Theme Updater App, adding new features and support for more themes, and want to keep offering you the time-saving convenience of updating without needing to reconfigure your settings. We understand your grievance with the change in pricing, and hope the subscriptions options we're offering line up with how you value the app, so we can continue to offer you the fastest updating experience possible. Regular updates via the standard Shopify updating process will remain free, and in addition to that, the first year of the TUA Basic plan is free with each theme registration. So if you do happen to upgrade to Flex, you would have a year of free use from the date you register your new theme! Please feel free to reach out to us directly here: https://help.outofthesandbox.com/hc/en-us/requests/new for any additional questions about the Theme Updater app, the Pro Plan or any other theme questions in general. All the best, The Out of the Sandbox Team
Feb. 3, 2023
Awful experience. I bought their superstore theme and it is full of bugs. When I updated the pagination to infinite scroll, the filters, menu and other buttons stopped working. Awful theme which has clearly not been tested. Support is extremely slow and unhelpful - I am being ping ponged back and forth without a solution. All in all, awful experience with the fundamental elements of the store not working and being full of bugs.
Hello Peaches and Screams, We appreciate the input on your experience with Out of the Sandbox, the Flex theme and the Theme Updater App - we're sorry limiting of free access to the Theme Updater App to the first year of use has created this experience! To keep the details of the various products separate, the Flex theme ($450USD) while rich in settings and features, can be updated through the normal updating method, which is the same process as initially installing and configuring the theme - we stand by the notion that this can be accomplished by any Shopify user, and we continue to make the robust feature-set easier and easier to configure (with pre-built demos included with the theme .zips). While a normal update on Shopify does generally involve reconfiguring settings, it is the method available to all Shopify themes - we haven't made this process intentionally difficult, but seek ways to make the process easier and faster. The Theme Updater App is a tool for making parts of the Shopify updating process automatic - in particular, obtaining the new version of the theme, carrying over past setting configurations, and detecting code customizations are conducted automatically. With the changes to the pricing plans, this tool is available for free for the first year of usage (based on the theme's registration date through the app) - following the free year, a number of flexible subscriptions options are available for users who value the time-savings the app offers. Rest assured, at no point in the use of any Out of the Sandbox theme (including Flex) is the Theme Updater App required! Updated theme files continue to be available for free and using the Theme Updater App to update the theme is optional. To note, if you're a user of the Flex theme, which was released in Aug 2019, the free trial of the Basic Plan of the app should be available to you, based on the registration date of your Flex theme which would still be within its first year. If you're looking for any assistance with accessing the free trial feel free to contact the Out of the Sandbox Help Center - help@outofthesandbox.com Sincerely, The Out of the Sandbox Team
Oct. 1, 2019
I did a lot of research and selected OTSB for our theme choice. Never had an issue, questions were answered timely, and no problem with previous updates. I didn't so much mind the $9/month if it kept my theme updated which I assume is the proper thing to do. So I did sign up, did update the Responsive theme with this latest update, and now ALL of my critically important options are a mess apparently from some light customizations for options and for the cart by another popular and commonly used app provider. Even on the product pages the options are all out of order! I submitted a ticket 2 days ago to OTSB w/no response yet, and then submitted a priority ticket yesterday, which I should have done initially not realizing how critical this problem is.. The timeframe for a ticket response says the same thing- 1-2 days so what is the priority ticket advantage? And I do NOT want to talk to someone from zendesk with a generic response that never takes care of a problem. What is the advantage of updating if it deconstructs the current theme/website? I could have stayed with wordpress for that! This was our whole purpose of selecting OTSB for shopify! We are launching this site NEXT WEEK!! I contacted a shopify expert and they want hundreds of dollars to update these few lines of customization! WHAT??? No thank you!!! I am also reading all the complaints here and the responses from OTSB do not sound very empathetic or helpful to those having problems with the update. We were fine with previous updates and NO ISSUES until this most recent one! I am hoping to hear from someone TODAY and how this will be taken care of! I would advise anyone considering an OTSB theme to hold off. I am happy to provide a previous positive review AFTER this has fixed! UPDATE: I did receive an email back from OTSB and they did take a little deeper look at the issues we had with the theme update. They were very courteous and somewhat helpful but basically threw it back to the options app we were using to fix the issues. Interesting that one of the suggestions was NOT to do the update, or use a previous saved version before the update, and work out the issues later. This is opposite of what OTSB suggests on their site. We did work with the options app and they have been very very helpful. Again, we did not expect OTSB to fix these (light) customization issues, but did expect a heads up notice that upcoming updates can and most likely will affect the architecture of your site. The majority of Shopify users are not web developers, coders etc. . Most purchase a theme so as not to have build a site theme from scratch (note: a big selling point on the themes is you can customize it however you want), which is why we switched to Shopify/OTSB..It was our expectation that this would resolve the Wordpress issues of a current site, however at least Wordpress always gives you a heads up on major updates. We are continuing with it for now as we have quite a bit of time and money invested, but we are wiser to the communication and limitations we experienced and hope that OTSB sees all these reviews and will give their fellow business owners and customers a better experience in the future as promised on their sales pages.
Hello Bella Lino Linens! Thank you for the review, for updating the review with your more recent remarks, and for sticking with Out of the Sandbox for your theme choice on Shopify. We're glad we had a chance to look into this issue deeper, and we share your concerns around theme updates when working with customizations and apps. As themes, apps and the Shopify platform change over time, updating and ensuring compatibility can become complex and time consuming. While the Theme Updater App can make some of these updating steps quicker and easier (obtaining the new version, carrying over previous setting configurations, carrying over compatible code customizations), some aspects of updating still require special consideration (especially app installations and more complicated code customizations). Unlike the Wordpress platform where much of the updating process occurs automatically affecting themes and the platform simultaneously, updates on the Shopify platform generally require a number of manual steps. The Theme Updater App is unique to Out of the Sandbox (and Pixel Union) themes, and offers time-savings by addressing some of these manual steps automatically - however, it remains that past app installations and code customizations may require special attention (from app support or a custom developer, depending on the nature of the modification) to ensure compatibility with a new version of the theme, like in the normal updating process on Shopify. We take this review to heart, and will continue to improve the experience of the Theme Updater App to make the outcomes and expectations clearer - the Shopify ecosystem is vast, and offering an updating tool that can ensure ongoing compatibility with the wide array of apps and customizations is an ongoing challenge; trust that Out of the Sandbox is in your corner for making this process as easy and quick as possible! Sincerely, The Out of the Sandbox Team
Sept. 24, 2019
I've been a loyal and happy customer for years having purchased the Parallax theme and now on the Turbo theme. Received the email like everyone else and decided to update prior to the price increase for the basic plan. All of a sudden updates that were smooth with no user input from me, changed to 'we cannot update these three customizations'. Following the instructions to manually update the code, I keep getting an error on one of the customizations. Emailed support multiple times and no response AT ALL which has never happened in the past. Why all of a sudden is there radio silence from a support team that was very responsive in the past [even though I upgraded to the PRO plan as they wanted which is supposed to get me priority support]. I'm very disappointed in Out of the Sandbox. If you're going to start charging for updates then at the very least offer support for your products. Given my current situation and the feedback of other irate customers, I would NOT recommend purchasing a theme from this company in the future. Developer response is useless as it seems that they haven't even read my review. I've already submitted two support requests with NO response.
Hello Dalasini, Thanks for the remarks on the Theme Updater App - we're always looking for ways to improve the experience. From your note, it sounds like some customizations to your theme were not automatically carried over during the update - while the app can detect all your code customizations, it will only carry over customizations that will not cause a conflict with the new version of the theme. For instance, if you have customized a part of the theme that is then updated in some way in the new version, this customization would need special attention to be sure it's working/necessary with the updated feature. The app provides the note to let you know there are templates that require special attention, since simply carrying over the customizations 'as-is' could cause problems. We hope you value this improvement to the updating process, as updating normally would involve you finding all the code customizations throughout your modified code templates, after you had manually reconfigured the theme settings. Even without the code being applied automatically, the app still provides significant time-savings compared to the normal updating process. Thank you for your patience as we work to reply to our support requests in order - we have a lot of questions at this time of year, and trust that you will receive a reply as we address the support requests in the order they were received (or updated). If you're submitting multiple notes, we strongly suggest submitting a new ticket, so as to avoid updating the date/time on the original submission. As a Pro Plan user, you have access to the Priority Support contact form, which is a feature within the app. Any questions we receive from this contact form are replied to first, so we can prioritize your support experience. To access Priority Support, go into the Theme Updater App, and choose 'Action' below the theme you'll be asking about - choose 'Contact Priority Theme Support' to open the special contact form. We look forward to replying to your priority support request! All the best! -The Out of the Sandbox team
Sept. 24, 2019
If I could give 0 stars I would! I have been managing this website for our company for over 2 years and I can't think of even one time that we've used this app. And now I come back from vacation to an email saying this week (because they only gave a weeks notice) the Free Basic Plan will now be charged $9 per month. I've read many of the other reviews and the responses from OOTS -- they seem to not understand why we all are frustrated with this. Regardless if there's a way to update themes without the app -- there's only a handful of updates throughout the year, but yet you want to charge us PER MONTH for these handfuls of updates -- that I should add we've hardly ever if at all, used. This subsidy website has been temporarily on back-burner -- it's most definitely not worth an additional $9 per month for practically nothing in return. I will be deleting this app -- this theme had too many conflicts with other apps we've tried to use and no solutions available anyways.
Sept. 23, 2019
I'm in complete agreement with all the recent (re)views of this company. I've bought two of their themes; Turbo ($350) and Flex ($450). One of the main reasons we chose to buy these themes is because the FREE Theme Updater helps to make their very high price tag slightly more digestible. Their recent decision to start charging for this app is a ridiculously shady move; luring people in with a free service and subsequently charging for it is the ultimate form of greed. ...And before someone replies to this review suggesting that manual theme updates are still free - the idea that manually updating the theme is supposed to replace the Theme Updater is laughable. This behaviour coupled with THE WORST customer service we've ever come across, is enough for us to leave $750 on the table and go in search of a company that values their customers. This is quite frankly disgusting behaviour. AVOID AVOID AVOID.
Sept. 22, 2019
Really obnoxious bait-and-switch money grab. I've bought several themes from this company in the past but won't do business with them in the future, and am on the hunt for a new theme now.
Sept. 20, 2019
Wow. I'm shocked ... I haven't even used this yet. No idea we were being billed. Surprise, surprise! Why not just do a once a year update and charge a flat fee of $150. That's actually reasonable instead of continually updating ... what a mess.
Sept. 20, 2019
I recently purchased the Parallax theme and just about have my store set up to open and now I get an email saying to automatically update the theme is now $9 per month. I honestly wish this would have happened sooner so I would have purchased a theme from a different provider.
Sept. 20, 2019
Same as others I will be uninstalling. The frequency in which major updates are released stand in no relation to the pricing. In case you got many customizations you will have to do most manually anyway so there is no sense in paying for it.
Sept. 19, 2019
Seems I am not the only one, maybe this company should take a hint!! Not that great, first I did pay lots of money for a simplistic theme, then they want to charge for an update that is automatic, but of course does not include our customized portions of the theme? Seriously, then they sent an e-mail today letting me know that they will be increasing their Free plan... to $9 a month??! Holy crap that's astronomical for what the app is, so byeee. I will just make my own updater app the only appeal was the free part, then I just copy and paste the custom sections, being that the theme is updated so often I feel the theme is super buggy as well and have had to fix a lot of issues with it in the past. Also a word of advice is update the thing like once every 2 months or more, having to update a theme on a larger site like every 2 weeks to a month is ridiculous.
Sept. 19, 2019
A good idea when it came out, though it was only partially helpful for complex customizations that had been added to the default themes. Unfortunately, now that even the basic version is to be a monthly subscription, we'll be deleting and finding other options.
Sept. 19, 2019
Very poor service and underhand fees - simply read the reviews. The app doesn't work very well, and now a greedy developer wants to charge over $100 a year (forever) for an app to update a couple of lines of code. Their themes are full of bugs, support is very slow (at times even leaving bugs in the code - I'm looking at you 'Artisan'), and now they are trying to sneakily charge for something that was advertised as part of their theme purchase. I doubt this is acceptable practice, or legal, in most countries. We have already had to change two Out of the Sandbox themes due to bugs in their software, and now they do this. If I were them, I would be very embarrassed as to how they treat long standing customers. The most insulting thing is the email we were sent, spinning this charge as an 'opportunity'. Please don't patronize us with PR, you are simply milking merchants for all you can get before moving on. P.S. Following the developers response: You seem to miss the point - everyone who purchases an Out of the Sandbox theme agreed to do so with the knowledge that the updating app comes along with it (and we have also paid an initial premium for the theme and updater app). You are significantly changing the agreement by now charging for the app, and I would say that is unlikely to be legal here in the EU. Also, you mentioned in one response that you need the money to fund your IT systems - well, if you can't afford to provide a service, don't offer it for free with the intention of locking customers into a 'blackmail scheme'. Have the dignity to admit you simply want more money by charging customers twice.
Hello The Hosiery Box, We appreciate your honest feedback - it is true the Theme Updater App will soon have a number of flexible subscription options available, required to use the tool to automatically configure your updated theme, and access advanced perks (like our new Priority Support feature in the Pro Plan). However, updated theme files and support will continue to be FREE, as we continue to improve our themes with new features and bug fixes; with these updated theme files, the normal process of updating a Shopify theme can be followed, which does not require use of the app. We have been working hard on improving and maintaining the Theme Updater App, adding new features and support for more themes, and want to keep offering you the time-saving convenience of updating without needing to reconfigure your settings. We understand your grievance with the change in pricing, and hope the subscriptions options we're offering line up with how you value the app, so we can continue to offer you the fastest updating experience possible. Sincerely, - The Out of the Sandbox Team
Sept. 19, 2019
We run three stores using the Turbo Theme from Out of the Sandbox - and are just about to launch our fourth. The theme was chosen to a large extent because of this app to update our themes. Now, the developer wants to charge an extra $108 per store, per year - meaning they expect us to pay $432 per year just to update a few lines of code once a year. This is a perfect example of how to trap your clients and then blackmail them. Obviously, we are changing themes now for store number four, and then slowly changing the other themes over the coming twelve months. The irony is that BECAUSE they now charge for this app, there is no benefit to staying with Out of the Sandbox for any of their themes. Considering the high costs of their themes, this is slightly mercenary move by Out of the Sandbox, and would appear contrary to their stated aims of helping store owners. If this is how a business is managed, and based on 20 years of ecommerce, I would recommend not using the themes or apps of Out of the Sandbox.
Hello MissieMay, Thanks for sending this along, we appreciate your input on the upcoming changes - we're happy to hear you've used Turbo for multiple stores, but regret to hear the upcoming changes have come across this way. Rest assured, updated theme files will continue to be FREE, so you can continue to take advantage of improvements we're making to the theme for all your shops. We understand that updating a Shopify theme by uploading the updated version and reconfiguring the settings can be time consuming, so we have worked to develop and maintain this tool to make this process easier and faster. While using the Theme Updater App is the preferred method to update a theme for many of our merchants, we do not intend to trap you into using the app if you do not value it. You will not be signed up for a subscription automatically without opting-in. We sincerely hope you continue to use the Turbo theme for your three shops, and consider it for the fourth. Turbo's performance features and robust set of theme settings/features are not found in many other themes, and while we know the change in price isn't well-received, the Theme Updater App provides a unique method to speed up the updating process, which is otherwise conducted manually for any other Shopify theme (other than Out of the Sandbox and Pixel Union themes). We want to continue to offer you this value, along with exclusive perks we've added to the app, and we hope you'll consider one of our flexible subscription options. Best regards, -The Out of the Sandbox Team
Sept. 18, 2019
A premium theme should not require an additional $9 per month to upgrade the few times per year that is necessary. This will not build good will for Out of the Sandbox or Pixel Union. I imagine this will also impact reviews of their themes directly. I like Empire but would not recommend it to others given this recent sheisty maneuver.
Hello danformshoesvt, Thanks for sending these remarks; we take your input to heart. It is true that periodic updates are a necessary part of using a theme, as the theme is updated to include new features and improvements. However, you are not required to use the Theme Updater App to update your theme - updated theme files with new features and improvements will continue to be available for free, as they are for all Shopify themes. You can optionally use the Theme Updater App when an update is released to retain your previous setting configurations and transfer some code customizations, to make the updating process faster and easier. This is accomplished through the app's unique functionality that we continue to develop and maintain. To take advantage of these updating benefits, along with new and exciting features such as Priority Support (available in the Pro Plan), we'll have several flexible subscription options to choose from. But, rest assured, the normal Shopify theme updating process will continue to be possible for your premium theme, and the updated theme files will continue to be available for free. Sincerely, -The Out of the Sandbox Team
Sept. 18, 2019
Just received a message that they are now charging for this app even after we paid so much for the theme. It doesn't make sense to pay $108 for something we use 2 times a year. I will most likely move to another theme once my theme becomes too out of date.
Sept. 18, 2019
Stay away from Out of the Sandbox themes. First you pay dearly for the theme, then if you want to apply the theme upgrades you will have to pay 9$ a month for a service that you will use 2/3 times in a year. But what is your choice? None. Because to update the theme manually it's a nightmare. I am going to find a better theme that doesn't charge me for updates. I am not happy.
Sept. 18, 2019
They just notified that they moved this to a paid app. 100+ a year to keep their app updated on top of what you pay for the theme.