Magento 2.3.3 Features & Enhancements

Although Magento 2.3.3 doesn’t offer any new features, it provides several essential platform upgrades and security improvements. In the following article, we shed light on the most notable enhancements introduced in both Magento 2.3.3 Open Source and Commerce. 

Security

The new platform version is way more secure than its predecessor. And several new features turn Magento into a more safe place than it was ever before. 

Security patches

Magento now offers time-saving security-only patches. It means that you can install security fixes separately from hundreds of functional fixes and enhancements. 

You can apply the latest version of patch 2.3.2.2 that fixes vulnerabilities identified in Magento 2.3.2. For further information, follow this link: Introducing the New Security-only Patch Release. You can find out how to install the new patch here: Install Magento using Composer.

However, the new patch is not the only security improvement introduced in Magento 2.3.3. It also offers PSD2 compliance with core payment methods, fixes 75 critical security issues, and boosts XSS protection.

PSD2 compliance

You all know that PSD2 went into effect on September 14. With 2.3.3, Magento prepares its users for the new change. The new version contains numerous PSD-related changes. First of all, it includes the latest Braintree version that is now compliant with PSD2. Enhancements also cover Authorize.net. It provides the ability to make 3D Secure verification using third-party services from Magento 2.3.3. 

Also, note that Magento 2.3.3 doesn’t include the Cybersource and eWay payment modules. Use the corresponding official extensions as a replacement. Both plugins are available on the Marketplace.

Other security enhancements

Magento 2.3.3 also offers 75 security improvements aimed at close cross-site scripting, remote code execution, and other vulnerabilities. However, no confirmed attacks occurred. But it doesn’t mean that you can wait with the installation of the new security patch. Particular vulnerabilities can be exploited to access your admin and customer data. Therefore, we recommend you to make your e-commerce website more secure.

Platform & Infrastructure

Magento 2.3.3 offers support for new PHP versions. It works with 7.3.x and 7.2.x. As for the latest tested versions, they are 7.3.8 and 7.2.21. 

Also, Magento 2.3.3 introduces support for Varnish 6.2.0. 

The new update also affects the Zend Framework 2 Components. They have been upgraded to the Active/LTS versions.

In addition to the updated Framework, Magento 2.3.3 upgrades the following modules: Catalog, Sales, Checkout/One Page Checkout, UrlRewrite, Customer, and Ui. 

The new version of the WYSIWYG editor is another notable enhancement. With TinyMCE v. 4.9.5, it introduces better usability​.

Also, note that Magento 2.3.3 offers expanded GraphQL functionality. Now, it covers new actions for PayPal payment integrations, store credits, and gift cards. Developers can now use GraphQL to process payments, update shopping carts, redeem gift cards and convert to store credit balance, as well as add configurable products to the cart.

The Google Shopping ads Channel module is a bundled extension in Magento 2.3.3.

Performance

Magento 2.3.3 also provides some performance enhancements. Now, automatic URL rewrite generation can be turned off. In the previous version, it occurs whenever a category is changed. Then, the system starts automatic URL rewrite generation for the related products. If a category contains many items, this process may slow down the performance of your e-commerce store. But disabling the feature, you make it faster.

Another notable performance improvement of Magento 2.3.3 is related to non-critical CSS elements. Starting from the new version, they are situated at the bottom of the page. As a result, the current page load speed is faster than in the case of previous versions. You can enable the feature under Stores > Configuration > Advanced > Developer > CSS Settings > Use CSS critical path.

It is also necessary to mention that the jQuery/ui library is separated into several widgets. Thus, core modules no longer need to load the entire library. Instead, they can work with the widgets they need.

Another page load speed improvement of Magento 2.3.3 is based on the ability of store pages to display text in readable system fonts while loading custom ones. The more fonts you use and the larger your CSS files are, the more valuable the improvement is.

Merchant Tool & Inventory Management 

To improve the existing backend experience, Magento 2.3.3 provides an admin tracking tool for user actions and events. All the collected data is saved and submitted to Adobe Analytics for further processing.

As for inventory management, Magento 2.3.3 fixes the existing issues. You can find them here: Inventory Management release notes.

PWA Studio

You can also find an upgraded version of the PWA Studio in Magento 2.3.3. Version 4.0.0 contains new Peregrine hooks and offers refactored components that can be converted into re-useable Peregrine hooks.

Magento Shipping

Magento Shipping of 2.3.3 offers improvements in batch-order processing, carrier integration, shipping method preview in the portal, checkout, etc. Bundled products and prepackage options are now supported!

Third-Party Extensions

Due to the new European legislation, Magento 2.3.3 offers the updated version of Amazon Pay, which is now compliant with the PSD2 directive for the UK and Germany. 

Dotdigital has also been improved. With the latest platform version, it offers improved product catalog synchronization for bundled and custom products. Another improvement is better communications for abandoned carts.

As for Klarna, it is another third-party extension updated with Magento 2.3.3. Firstly, it enables merchants to turn off customer information sending. Secondly, the module supports B2B transactions. Thirdly, it now works with PayBright.

You can leverage Flexible Fields with Vertex for Magento 2.3.3. The latest version lets you provide the tax engine with additional information. Besides, it offers several new attributes and supports custom fields in the Vertex connector.

Magento 2.3.3 admin is integrated with Yotpo. If you are not familiar with the service, it is a user-generated content management platform. Now, you can gather, curate, and manage the related content more efficiently.

Import/Export

It is also necessary to mention that Magento 2.3.3 introduced a plethora of improvements oriented at the default import/export functionality. However, most of them are fixes of the existing issues. Thus, no new import or export features were introduced in Magento 2.3.3. Therefore, we’d like to draw your attention to the Improved Import & Export extension. Our module offers numerous mechanisms that are not available by default. 

Thus, the plugin lets you automate data transfers with the help of cron-based schedules. You can either choose a pre-configured schedule or create a custom one. 

Besides, the Improved Import & Export Magento 2 extension offers presets designed to map third-party attributes automatically. There is no need to edit data files, matching external designations to ones used in Magento 2. Instead, you only have to select and apply a corresponding preset. 

Another vital benefit of our plugin is support for numerous connection options. Firstly, you can use multiple file formats in addition to CSV. Secondly, our extension lets you transfer data from Google Sheets. Thirdly, an API connection can be established. Follow this link for more information:

Get Improved Import & Export Magento 2 Extension

You can find more information about the new Magento 2 features here: Magento Open Source 2.3.3 Release Notes.

Magento Commerce 2.3.3 Features

It is also necessary to mention that Magento Commerce 2.3.3 offers several unique enhancements. In addition to the improvements and fixes mentioned above, it provides additional GraphQL features. Besides, there is a small update of Page Builder. It includes such enhancements as improved inline editing experience (the tool was updated to TinyMCE v4.9.5) and intuitive HTML content management for non-technical users. Besides, you get the ability to define product order explicitly.