Aprilfourteen
Holdback is in review with Shopify

We're Aprilfourteen. We build apps for Shopify shops.

A small, independent studio. We build apps for the jobs shop owners are still doing by hand, and we start every one by asking how they do it today.

See the apps Get in touch
APPS2so far, each built to do one job well
STUDIOUKsmall and independent. We design, build and support every app ourselves
TICKET QUEUES0Email us and the people who built the app reply

01 · Apps

Two apps so far.

Each one does a single job, and each has its own site with the full detail. Here's the short version of both.

In review with Shopify

Holdback

Deposits, late fees and damage for hire shops on Shopify. Your customer agrees the terms at checkout, and is told why whenever money is kept.

  • Save the card with nothing taken, or take the deposit at checkout
  • Late fees at the press of a button
  • Never more than the deposit your customer agreed to
Visit holdback.co.uk ↗Shopify App Store, after review
Coming soon

Tickbook

Trade and charge accounts for Shopify. Your approved customers buy on account at the till and at your online checkout, and pay by statement.

  • One balance, one limit, one statement
  • Statements that send themselves
  • You always know who owes what
Visit tickbook.uk ↗Shopify App Store, coming soon

02 · Approach

How an app gets made.

Every app goes through the same four stages, and we don't skip any of them.

  1. STAGE 01

    Listen

    We find a job shops are doing by hand, then ask a lot of owners how they handle it today. What they tell us decides what gets built.

  2. STAGE 02

    Build

    One job per app, built to feel like part of Shopify. No bundles, and no features added just to fill a pricing page.

  3. STAGE 03

    Test

    We run it on real test stores, start to finish, before a shop ever sees it. Then it goes through Shopify's own review.

  4. STAGE 04

    Launch, and stay

    We email everyone who asked to hear about it. After that we keep fixing, improving and answering.

PROMISE 01

Plain words

Your customers read what our apps put in front of them, so it's written the way you'd say it across the counter. No jargon and no small print doing the heavy lifting.

PROMISE 02

Straight answers

Every app's site says what it needs and what it doesn't do. If it isn't right for your shop, we'd rather tell you now than after you've set it up.

PROMISE 03

Built on Shopify

Our apps work with Shopify's own checkout and admin wherever they can, so your orders and your customers stay where you already look for them.

PROMISE 04

Real people, not a queue

Questions go straight to the people who built the app. No scripts and no ticket numbers, just a proper answer.

03 · About

Who's behind it.

Olly here, I'm the founder of Aprilfourteen.

It started with a simple question to shop owners: how do you do it today? Again and again the answer was a job that really mattered to the business, held together with a spreadsheet, a notebook by the till or somebody's memory.

Shopify does a huge amount, but it doesn't do everything. Those gaps are where we work. We pick one, talk to as many shops as will have us, and build the app we'd want if it were our own shop.

We're a small studio on purpose. It means you get straight answers, quick fixes and people who know the app inside out. If there's a job like that in your shop, I'd love to hear about it!

Oliver Barry, founder of Aprilfourteen

04 · Contact

What does your shop still do by hand?

Whether it's a question about Holdback or Tickbook, or a job you wish an app would take off your hands, tell us. Even a line is a big help, and every message gets a proper reply.

Got a question, or an idea for an app?

What is it about?

This opens your own email app with the message ready to send.

olly@aprilfourteen.co.uk