What is a preset?
A preset is a curated starting configuration. It bundles a color palette, a font choice, and a set of per-screen block layouts that have been assembled to work well together for a specific type of store. Applying a preset sets all of your theme tokens and all of your per-screen layouts in a single click.
Presets are starting points, not templates. Once a preset is applied, every token and every block in every screen is individually editable. There is no lock-in and no mode you need to exit. You can apply a preset at any point, adjust one thing, and leave everything else exactly as the preset set it.
Note.The brand color, accent color, and font a preset ships with are suggestions. Every merchant's app will use different branding — the preset sets the layout structure and spacing rhythm, and the brand color gives you a concrete starting point to replace.
The six theme presets
Atlas is the stock theme: install Appolar and never touch the builder, and Atlas is what your shoppers see. The other five presets keep the same block vocabulary and vary the theme tokens (palette, font, corner radius) for a specific store mood. Choose the one closest to your category. You can always switch later.
Atlas
The stock theme. Monochrome ink on white, soft corners, Inter throughout. A polished default that works for any catalog before you change a single value.
Pace
Shoes and sport-luxury. True ink on pure white with an electric red accent and squared corners. Space Grotesk type with drop-day energy.
Verdant
Plants and botanical. Forest green ink on warm cream with terracotta accents and a Fraunces serif that slows the page down.
Bloom
Cosmetics and beauty editorial. Soft mauve and porcelain, blush accent, Playfair Display headings. Feels like turning a magazine.
Surge
Gymwear and performance. Electric lime accents against true ink, Outfit type, slightly sharper corners. High contrast, high energy.
Block
Streetwear and catalog-dense stores. Pure black on pure white, square corners everywhere, heavy Inter weights. The catalog is the brand.
Applying a preset
Open Builder > Presets from the left sidebar in the Appolar workspace inside Shopify admin. Hover a preset card to preview it in the live preview panel on the right. The preview updates immediately as you hover between presets so you can compare them without committing.
Click Applyon the preset you want. A confirmation sheet appears explaining exactly what will change: your current token values (brand color, accent color, font) and all per-screen layouts will be replaced by the preset's values. Your Shopify store data — products, collections, images, customers, orders — is never affected. Only the builder configuration changes.
You can apply a different preset at any time, but there is no automatic undo after applying. Your previous configuration is replaced, not archived. If you want to preserve a configuration before experimenting, note your current token values and take a screenshot of your block layouts before applying a new preset.
Editing after applying
After applying a preset, go to Builder > Theme to adjust tokens — your brand color, accent color, surface color, and font family. Every change reflects immediately in the live preview panel. Go to Builder > Screens to adjust the per-screen block layouts: add blocks, remove blocks, reorder them, or configure individual block settings like which collection a collection-row block pulls from.
Neither token changes nor layout changes require a rebuild. The live preview reflects your configuration as you edit. A rebuild is only necessary when you change app-level metadata: app name, bundle ID, icon, or splash screen. Those changes require a new binary to be compiled and submitted to the stores.
See Theme tokens for the full list of token names and how each one propagates across components, and Per-screen layouts for the block system and how to configure each screen.