Adobe Commerce 2.4.4 Release Notes

Magento Adobe Commerce 2.4.4 is now available with multiple new enhancements and bug fixes. However, the most prominent addition to the platform is support for PHP 8.1. All project libraries related to Magento 2, as well as the corresponding dependencies, have been updated to support this PHP version. The new feature even impacts the core Composer dependencies and third-party libraries. Another vital peculiarity of Magento 2.4.4 Adobe Commerce is OpenSearch 1.2. In addition to that, the latest version includes almost 250 quality fixes and enhancements. 

Performance and scalability

Adobe Commerce introduces improved performance for order processing and message queue optimization. The new asynchronous orders functionality provides the ability to create up to 60,000 orders per hour, while this limit was 10,000 orders per hour in previous Magento versions.

Better e-commerce opportunities are associated with the new multiple consumers feature. It supports scaling the number of message queue consumers on a single Cloud instance. The platform dramatically increases the number of orders processed per hour.

Performance enhancements in this release:

• AsyncOrder – faster order placement executed in the background.
• Enable Inventory Check On Cart Load – a switchable inventory check when loading a product into the cart.
• multiple_processes – parallel consumers in multiple processes that results in improved task execution speed.
• Configurable products – a cart can now include over 750 configurable products with the ability to operate faster than before.
• Optimized sales rules processing – checkout now offers the ability to defer total calculation.
• Improved validation process – if a cart price rule affects orders during asynchronous order placement, their validation is improved.

Security

Magento 2.4.4 introduces a single security fix that has been backported to Magento Adobe Commerce 2.4.3-p2 and Magento Adobe Commerce 2.3.7-p3. Other improvements in this area include:

• removal of email variable usage.
• inability to use integration tokens for API Bearer token authentication.
• removal of session IDs from the database.
• encryption of OAuth access tokens and password reset tokens.
• Inability to upload non alpha-numeric file extensions.
• reCAPTCHA in coupon codes.
• Swagger abolishment in production mode.
• HTTPS is default for storefronts.
• dependency confusion plugin for all Magento Adobe Commerce installations.
• limit on the size of arrays accepted by Magento Adobe Commerce RESTful endpoints is now configurable on a per endpoint basis. 
• New mechanisms to limit the size and number of resources that a user can request through a web API on a system-wide basis.

Platform

Magento Adobe Commerce 2.4.4 offers a few essential platform enhancements:

• Support for PHP 8.1 with all the corresponding project libraries and dependencies. 
• Support for Elasticsearch 7.16 and OpenSearch 1.2. Both solutions are available for on-premise deployments. At the same time, OpenSearch is the default search engine for cloud deployments.
• The JQuery library version 3.6. 
• The jquery-ui library version 1.13.0.
• Support for TinyMCE 5.8.1.
• Support for the RequireJS library 2.3.6.
• Support for PHPUnit 9.5.x.
• Laminas dependencies in Magento 2.4.4  have been upgraded to the latest versions to support PHP 8.1.
• Several 1.10.0 jQuery components have been removed in Magento 2.4.4:
  • ajaxOptions and cache options for tabs;
  • .zIndex(). jQuery UI v1.12.1 includes jquery/z-index.js, which supports the use of .zIndex();
  • Data fallbacks for widget names. Now, it is necessary to use the full name for the .data() key;
  • Hard coding of classes in widgets, such as ui-corner-all.

GraphQL

Magento 2.4.4 offers the following GraphQL improvements:

• More efficient GraphQL cart operations with the collectQuoteTotals() method. 
• Better storefront performance based on new GraphQL request caching that involves: Fastly and Varnish that cache GraphQL requests sent with auth tokens.
• The storeConfig query returns the configuration settings for the Zero Subtotal Checkout and Check/Money Order payment methods.
• The webonyx library is updated to 14.9.
• The GraphQL resolver returns translated strings following the store scope parameter.
• Descriptive transaction names for New Relic to simplify debugging.

Vendor-Bundled Extensions

All vendor-bundled extensions have been removed from Magento Adobe Commerce 2.4.4. However, Braintree is still a part of its code.

PayPal Payment

When it comes to PayPal payments, Magento 2.4.4 delivers such enhancements as:

• Support for the Venmo payment option.
• The Pay Later option incorporates the shopper’s location.
• More convenient testing with the ability to select any shopper country.
• Messaging integration with Pay Later for the checkout page.

Page Builder

With Magento 2.4.4, Page Builder starts providing the ability to add alternative text to images, improving content accessibility for Image, Banner, and Slide.

B2B

The B2B release for Magento 2.4.4 doesn’t include any prominent new features. However, it still offers numerous fixes and improvements.

PWA Studio

Adobe Commerce 2.4.4 introduces compatibility with PWA Studio v.12.3.0, which, in its turn, includes support for reCaptcha, Page Builder content optimization, and personalized content.

Live Search

Due to the support of PHP 8.1 in Magento 2.4.4, Live Search also supports it. The new Magento_ElasticsearchCatalogPermissionsGraphQl module is automatically disabled during the Live Search installation. You need to upgrade Live Search installations to version 2.0.0 to leverage the latest features.

Accessibility 

Magento 2.4.4  brings fixes aimed at users Without Vision or Limited Vision:

• Tooltip links. New tooltip links offer text and accurate, visible labels for inputs;
• Edit buttons. Each item now offers unique text.
• Admin buttons. Your admins can now leverage unique, accessible, and descriptive buttons developed in adherence to AA standards. Also, admin buttons introduce enhanced contrast to a contrast ratio of at least 3:1 with adjacent colors. The same is about form fields.
• Icon images. In Magento 2.4.4, they have textual alternatives. 

You can find more information about this release here: Magento 2.4.4 Release Notes.