Wondering what happens if you change your mind is a fair question to ask before installing anything, and the honest answer is: it depends on what you're uninstalling, but for a well-behaved app, the outcome should be simple and predictable.
The counter hardware is unaffected either way
Uninstalling a Shopify app has no effect on your physical Smiirl counter itself. The device keeps whatever settings it has and keeps checking the URL you gave it, regardless of what happens on the Shopify side.
What actually stops working
Once the app is uninstalled, it loses access to your Shopify store — which means it can no longer see new orders, refunds, or cancellations. If the app was generating your counter's JSON feed, that feed typically either stops updating (frozen at the last known number) or stops responding altogether, depending on how the app is built.
Your counter, meanwhile, keeps trying to fetch that same URL on its usual schedule — it just won't get fresh data anymore, since nothing is producing it.
What should happen to your data
A responsible app should stop collecting new data the moment it's uninstalled, and Shopify requires apps to handle data deletion requests appropriately under its data protection requirements. If you're evaluating an app before installing, it's reasonable to check its privacy policy for how it handles this — specifically, what happens to any stored order totals or settings after uninstall, and whether that data is deleted or retained.
Flipcounter stops processing new order data immediately on uninstall, in line with Shopify's app requirements around store data handling.
Can you reinstall later and pick up where you left off?
This varies by app. Some rebuild your counter from scratch on reinstall (starting back at zero, or recalculating from your current Shopify order history); others may retain your previous settings if you reinstall soon after. If continuity matters to you — say, you're testing the waters and want the option to pause without losing your configuration — it's worth checking how a specific app handles reinstalls before you rely on that behavior.
If you're just testing things out
Uninstalling and reinstalling to test a setup is completely normal, and shouldn't have any lasting downside for a well-built app beyond needing to reconfigure your settings (display mode, time period, and so on) again. If you're at this stage, here's what to expect when connecting for the first time.