diff --git a/packages/backend/src/om/definitions/PropType.js b/packages/backend/src/om/definitions/PropType.js
index 40e9fa090d..94f9fed5d4 100644
--- a/packages/backend/src/om/definitions/PropType.js
+++ b/packages/backend/src/om/definitions/PropType.js
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ class PropType extends AdvancedBase {
         new WeakConstructorTrait(),
     ]
 
-    static create (context, data) {
+    static create (context, data, k) {
         const chains = {};
         const super_type = data.from && (() => {
             const registry = context.get('registry');
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ class PropType extends AdvancedBase {
         }
 
         return new PropType({
-            chains,
+            chains, name: k,
         });
     }
 
diff --git a/packages/backend/src/om/entitystorage/SQLES.js b/packages/backend/src/om/entitystorage/SQLES.js
index 8a6cd1fe5b..b1584133b8 100644
--- a/packages/backend/src/om/entitystorage/SQLES.js
+++ b/packages/backend/src/om/entitystorage/SQLES.js
@@ -194,6 +194,29 @@ class SQLES extends BaseES {
                 let value = data[col_name];
                 value = await prop.sql_dereference(value);
 
+                // TODO: This is not an ideal implementation,
+                // but this is only 6 lines of code so doing this
+                // "properly" is not sensible at this time.
+                //
+                // This is here because:
+                // - SQLES has access to the "db" object
+                //
+                // Writing this in `json`'s `sql_reference` method
+                // is also not ideal because that places the concern
+                // of supporting different database backends to
+                // property types.
+                //
+                // Best solution: SQLES has a SQLRefinements by
+                // composition. This SQLRefinements is applied
+                // to property types for the duration of this
+                // function.
+                if ( prop.typ.name === 'json' ) {
+                    value = this.db.case({
+                        mysql: () => value,
+                        otherwise: () => JSON.parse(value ?? '{}'),
+                    })();
+                }
+
                 entity_data[prop.name] = value;
             }
             const entity = await Entity.create({ om: this.om }, entity_data);
@@ -286,6 +309,13 @@ class SQLES extends BaseES {
                 }
 
                 value = await prop.sql_reference(value);
+                
+                // TODO: This is done here for consistency;
+                // see the larger comment in sql_row_to_entity_
+                // which does the reverse operation.
+                if ( prop.typ.name === 'json' ) {
+                    value = JSON.stringify(value);
+                }
 
                 if ( value && options.use_id ) {
                     if ( value.hasOwnProperty('id') ) {
diff --git a/packages/backend/src/om/mappings/app.js b/packages/backend/src/om/mappings/app.js
index 4b50e43b7a..3a5663d58a 100644
--- a/packages/backend/src/om/mappings/app.js
+++ b/packages/backend/src/om/mappings/app.js
@@ -50,6 +50,9 @@ module.exports = {
             // so I've doubled that and rounded up
             maxlen: 7000,
         },
+        metadata: {
+            type: 'json',
+        },
         maximize_on_start: 'flag',
         background: 'flag',
         subdomain: {
diff --git a/packages/backend/src/services/RegistrantService.js b/packages/backend/src/services/RegistrantService.js
index d8bba0a41e..31ac6cf2b5 100644
--- a/packages/backend/src/services/RegistrantService.js
+++ b/packages/backend/src/services/RegistrantService.js
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ class RegistrantService extends BaseService {
                 if ( data[k].from && ! seen.has(data[k].from) ) {
                     throw new Error(`Super type "${data[k].from}" not found for property type "${k}"`);
                 }
-                collection.set(k, PropType.create(ctx, data[k]));
+                collection.set(k, PropType.create(ctx, data[k], k));
                 seen.add(k);
             }
         }
diff --git a/packages/backend/src/services/database/sqlite_setup/0012_appmetadata.sql b/packages/backend/src/services/database/sqlite_setup/0012_appmetadata.sql
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..4cada8c7e6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/backend/src/services/database/sqlite_setup/0012_appmetadata.sql
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+ALTER TABLE apps ADD COLUMN "metadata" JSON DEFAULT NULL;