Shopify's Horizon theme has received its most feature-packed update yet with version 3.2.0, released on December 11, 2025. With 239 files changed, this release introduces five entirely new sections, a comparison slider, volume pricing, sticky add-to-cart, SKU display, add-to-cart animations, and significant performance improvements. This article also covers the changes from v3.0.1 and v3.1.0 that preceded this release.
What Changed Since 3.0.0
Three releases landed between v3.0.0 and v3.2.0. Here's the complete picture.
Version 3.0.1 — Accessibility and Infinite Scroll (October 20, 2025)
This patch release focused heavily on accessibility with nine separate improvements, plus a notable new feature:
Infinite Scroll for Product Grids: A new snippets/pagination-controls.liquid was added with full pagination UI — previous/next arrows, page numbers with ellipsis logic, and mobile-responsive hiding of distant page numbers. Product grids on collection pages now support infinite scroll behavior.
Nine Accessibility Improvements:
- Improved mobile account drawer and cart launcher accessibility
- Better popover and search dialog ARIA patterns — the search dialog now has a visually-hidden
<h2>heading witharia-labelledby - Improved localization dropdown accessibility
- Better predictive search Clear button contrast
-
<h1>tags added to page templates for SEO and accessibility - Enhanced ARIA labeling across all dialog components
Bug Fixes: Gift card character count color, quantity rules number comparison, product card swatch mouseover, variant picker animation, "More payment options" variant selection, Quick Add modal, hero section blur toggle, collection link text wrapping on mobile, and header drawer expand behavior.
Version 3.1.0 — Custom Mobile Hero Media and Quantity Rules (November 3, 2025)
This minor release centered on two significant features:
Custom Mobile Media in Hero Section: The Hero section received a massive overhaul (+421 lines). Merchants can now set completely different images or videos for mobile vs. desktop, with independent layout settings per breakpoint. The media type detection properly handles switching between image and video in the editor.
Quantity Rules on Product Pages: The buy buttons block now displays quantity rules (minimum, maximum, increment) directly on the product page with a cart count indicator (e.g., "3 in cart"). This includes full validation logic and error states for quantity inputs.
Other Changes: "Utilities" renamed to "Policies and links" in the footer, price removed from zoomed-out product grid view, filter count always shown in vertical filters.
Bug Fixes: Safari-specific fixes for featured product carousel and slideshow controls, skip links visibility, Shop Pay Installments typography inheritance, transparent header viewport handling, collection links mobile stacking, marquee disappearing text, and footer email signup icon color.
What's New in Horizon 3.2.0
1. Five New Sections
The headline feature of v3.2.0 is the addition of five entirely new sections, dramatically expanding what merchants can build:
Carousel Section: A new content carousel with card-based layout for showcasing multiple items in a swipeable format.
Featured Product Section: A standalone featured product section with its own gallery and product information content, separate from the main product page template.
Quick Order List: Enables bulk ordering directly from a list interface — ideal for B2B stores or wholesale operations where customers need to order multiple items quickly.
Product Hotspots: Interactive hotspots on images that reveal product information. The 340-line JavaScript component uses hover-to-open on desktop and tap on mobile, with intelligent breakpoint-aware behavior and outside-click detection.
Layered Slideshow: A sophisticated tabbed/draggable slideshow with 602 lines of JavaScript. Supports drag gestures with configurable thresholds, inactive panel tabs with compact sizing (56px desktop, 44px mobile), and smooth transitions.
2. Comparison Slider Block
A new before/after comparison slider (blocks/comparison-slider.liquid) that supports both horizontal and vertical orientation. Uses IntersectionObserver for scroll-triggered animation, making it perfect for showing product transformations or before/after results.
3. Volume Pricing
Full volume pricing support with three new JavaScript modules. The PricePerItemComponent parses price breaks from data attributes and dynamically updates displayed pricing based on quantity tiers. This is essential for stores offering bulk discounts or tiered pricing.
4. Sticky Add-to-Cart
A persistent add-to-cart bar that follows the user as they scroll down the product page, ensuring the purchase action is always accessible.
5. Add-to-Cart Animation
A "fly to cart" animation (assets/fly-to-cart.js) that animates the product image flying to the cart icon using CSS custom properties for bezier curve positioning, providing satisfying visual feedback when adding items to cart.
6. SKU Display
A new SKU block and snippet that dynamically shows/hides the SKU based on the selected variant, working in both product pages and quick-add modals.
7. Performance Improvements
- Variant limit handling — updated to support Shopify's increased variant limit (from 100 to 2,000 variants per product)
-
CSS optimization —
base.csssaw a net reduction of 261 lines through consolidation - Prefetch on hover — search page URL is prefetched when hovering the search clear button
- Faster style recalculations across multiple components
8. Additional Changes
- Quick Add button text changed from "Add" to "Choose" for multi-variant products
- Recommended products section now has settings for color scheme, corner radius, and horizontal padding
- Password page supports visitor messages
- New reusable Overflow List component (384 lines) for dynamic header item management
Bug Fixes
- Accordion icons now match theme text color
- Cart quantity updates no longer trigger extra requests
- Collection product count shows "more than" at the 25,000 platform limit
- Mobile keyboard no longer auto-opens with collection filters
- Search shows most relevant variant image in results
- Fixed variant picker on iOS and improved Quick Add modal
- Fixed word-break and overflowing text visibility
Version Comparison: Horizon 3.2.0 vs. 3.0.0
| Area | Horizon 3.0.0 | Horizon 3.2.0 |
|---|---|---|
| Sections Available | Standard set | +5 new sections (Carousel, Featured Product, Quick Order, Hotspots, Layered Slideshow) |
| Product Grid | Standard pagination | Infinite scroll + pagination controls |
| Hero Section | Single media per breakpoint | Independent mobile/desktop media |
| Pricing | Standard pricing | Volume pricing with tier display |
| Add-to-Cart | Standard button | Sticky bar + fly-to-cart animation |
| Product Info | Basic details | SKU display + quantity rules |
| Comparison | Not available | Before/after comparison slider |
| Variant Limit | 100 variants | 2,000 variants supported |
Should You Update?
Horizon 3.2.0 is one of the most substantial Horizon updates to date. The five new sections alone make this a compelling upgrade for any merchant looking to enhance their store's visual storytelling and product presentation.
Who Benefits Most
- B2B and wholesale merchants — the Quick Order List section enables efficient bulk ordering
- Stores with visual products — Product Hotspots and Comparison Slider create engaging product showcases
- Stores offering bulk discounts — Volume Pricing displays tiered pricing automatically
- All merchants — the sticky add-to-cart, fly-to-cart animation, and performance improvements benefit every store
Pre-Update Checklist
- Backup your theme — always before a major update
- Review custom CSS — the 261-line CSS reduction means some selectors may have changed
- Check variant-heavy products — if you have products approaching 100+ variants, test the new variant limit handling
Post-Update Testing
- New sections — try adding Product Hotspots or the Layered Slideshow to see the new capabilities
- Cart behavior — test the sticky add-to-cart and fly-to-cart animation
- Collection pages — verify infinite scroll and pagination work correctly
- Mobile — test the custom hero media and collection filters
Conclusion
Horizon 3.2.0 transforms the theme from a solid foundation into a feature-rich platform. The five new sections, volume pricing, sticky add-to-cart, and comparison slider give merchants powerful tools that previously required paid themes or third-party apps. Combined with the accessibility improvements from 3.0.1 and the mobile hero media from 3.1.0, updating to 3.2.0 is one of the most impactful upgrades available for Horizon-based stores.
The update is available now in your Shopify admin. Given the wealth of new features and the relatively low risk of breaking changes, we highly recommend updating to take advantage of these powerful additions.
Have you tried the new Product Hotspots or Layered Slideshow sections? These are game-changers for visual merchandising. Share your experience in the comments below!