Newsletter #63: Shopify news, real-time speech translation in Google Meet, and a poetic essay

Hi there,

I hope you’re feeling good.

I recently got back from Chicago where I had an absolute blast! I first visited the city with my family back in 2012 and loved it. It was great to go back.

This time around, I did all kinds of touristy stuff, with a big smile on my face. I gave the famous deep-dish pizza another try. I’ll be honest: it’s still not my favorite type of pizza but it was definitely a fun and tasty experience.

I also went to my first-ever hockey game and I loved it! I was on the edge of my seat the entire time, cheering on the players, feeling tense during the fights, and completely captivated by how gracefully they moved across the ice. I’m already looking forward to the next one.

In today's edition, we’re discussing Shopify news, real-time speech translation in Google Meet, and a poetic essay.

Let's dive in.

Work

• Shopify Summer Editions 2025 is dropping today

Buckle up, it’s going to be a wild ride!

Before it drops, check out the (wonderful) Editions website, built by our Creative team.

Of course, I’ll write about my favorite platform updates in the next edition.

• Metasync, an open source tool to sync metafields and metaobjects between stores

Kalen Jordan, a freelance Shopify developer specializing in automation, recently built and open-sourced Metasync. It’s a command-line tool to sync metaobject definitions, metafield definitions, and resource data between stores.

This tool is useful for performing the following tasks:

• Copying metaobject definitions and data from development to test environment

• Backing up metaobject data by copying to a development store

• Copying pages between stores to maintain consistent content

Discover more on Metasync’s GitHub repository and Kalen Jordan’s website.

• Harshdeep Singh Hura is joining Shopify

If you’re in the Shopify ecosystem - especially if you are an app developer and hang out on Twitter - you probably already know Harshdeep Singh Hura.

Harshdeep is a developer and ecommerce consultant based in India, known for his significant contributions to the Shopify ecosystem. He has open-sourced several valuable tools for Shopify app developers and launched a course on building Shopify apps with Next.js and React (I wrote about it in edition 12).

One of his recent projects is Yakk, a Shopify app that simplifies corporate gifting by letting customers place bulk orders, which are then automatically split and delivered to multiple recipients with personalized messages.

In 2024, during editions.dev in Toronto, Harshdeep was awarded the Shopify Build Award, a recognition of his work for the Shopify ecosystem.

To join Shopify, Harshdeep applied through a page not many people know about: the “extraordinary” page. On this page, no need to upload a resume or apply for a specific role. You “just” share your accomplishments and links to prove them.

Harshdeep’s application was accepted, and he’ll be joining Shopify as a Product Manager in June. I’m looking forward to seeing what he’ll ship!

Learn more in this Twitter article, where he explains why he decided to join Shopify.

Inspire

We’re all trying to keep up with AI updates as much as we can.

My favorite update this week is this one: Google just announced that they’re launching real-time speech translation inside Google Meet.

This feature leverages a large language audio model from Google DeepMind. It’s a real game changer.

Whatever product or service you’re working on, I’m sure you’ve encountered situations where someone doesn’t speak your language. In those cases, you likely had to communicate mainly over email or get help from a translator during video calls. This situation now has a solution.

We’ll now be able to communicate with people in their own language over video calls.

The tool will translate spoken words into the listener’s preferred language in real time. As the other person speaks, you’ll still faintly hear their original voice, with the translated speech layered over it.

This opens the door to so many possibilities and use cases. It’s one of the most exciting applications of AI I’ve seen, and I’m super excited to see where it will lead us.

Discover more in this TechCrunch article.

Explore

I’d like to share with you the best essay I’ve read this month.

It’s called “21 observations from people watching”, written by Shani Zhang and published in April 2025.

In this essay, Shani Zhang, a live wedding painter, reflects on what years of quietly observing strangers have taught her about human nature. She doesn't just see people, she sees through them: their insecurities, their self-love (or lack of it), and the internal architecture holding their personalities together.

With poetic clarity, she explores the difference between polite and genuinely happy, between seeking validation and seeking true connection, and how our gestures, pauses, and eye contact betray more than we realize.

This essay is a beautiful mix of emotional intelligence, compassion, and curiosity. It offers an interesting perspective on how to truly see the people around us.

Discover more by reading the full essay on Substack.

Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for reading this edition until the end.

I'll talk to you soon.

Take good care of yourself.

Coralie