Do you know?
According to the latest Google Play stats, there are 3.55 million apps on the Google Play Store.
Can you imagine how dominant the app development market has become? With over 3 thousand apps uploaded daily on the Google Play Store, businesses are overwhelmed with cutting-edge competition, dynamic consumer choices, and the myriad opportunities they witness by adopting mobile solutions built with the most advanced tools and technologies that help them stand out in the lucrative market.
Also, Read – Mobile App Development Myths
When it comes to developing a mobile app, business leaders often partner with the top mobile app development company to build the mobile solution that best suits their enterprise envisions. However, once the app is developed, the next essential step is to upload and publish the app to the Play Store, which becomes a task for tech leaders.
Being well-versed in the intricacies of mobile app development and Google Play app upload, we have compiled a step-by-step guide to help simplify the process of uploading apps on the Play Store.
Ready to read? Let’s begin!
How to Publish Android App on the Play Store?
Before exploring the app publishing process, let’s look at a few things you should consider before publishing your app on the Play Store.
Things to Consider before you Publish an Android app on the Google Play Store
- Keep high-quality app screenshots, app descriptions, and compiled apk ready with you as you proceed with the Google Play app upload.
- As recommended by experts, if you plan to submit an Android App Bundle, make sure you enroll in the Play App Signing. Primarily, the Play app signing stores your app signing key on the secure infrastructure of Google and offers numerous upgrade options to improve security.
- Make sure you do not exceed the recommended compressed download size limit, as Google Play supports compressed app downloads of just 150 MB and even less. Or else you’d have to eliminate unused code and resources and follow other app-minimizing techniques to reduce the size of the app.
Moving forward, ensure that you follow the below step-by-step instructions in chronological order without missing anything.
A Step-By-Step Guide
Step 1 – Google Play Console Developer Account.
One of the primary steps of publishing an Android application on the Play Store is creating a Google developer account on the Google Play Console. Google Play Console can be understood as a backend operating system for all the apps published on the Play Store. Developers who intend to publish an app on the Play Store must create a developer account on the console and pay a one-time fee of $25, payable using a credit card or through online banking methods. Also, remember that post submission, the developer account can take up to 48-hours to activate.
You’d have to sign in using your Gmail IDs as soon as you enter the console. Post your sign-in; the Google Play Console will enquire whether an individual developer or organization will own the app account. And, based on the ownership, you will enter basic information about yourself or your organization which will lead to the payment section and the final account creation.
Finally, ensure you fill out all the credentials asked while creating the account.
Step 2 – Set-up up a Google Merchant Account.
If your app involves in-app purchases, the next essential step is to link your developer account with your merchant account. If you already have an existing merchant account, you can navigate to Download reports and select Financial. However, to access this page, you must create a Google Merchant Account.
And to create one, click on setup up a merchant account.
Once you create your new merchant account, it will automatically get linked to your Google Play Console account and enable you to monitor, manage, and analyze the app sales and generate reports.
Step 3 – Create Application
Once the merchant account is linked to your Google Play Console, the next step is to create an application. And for creating an application, there are a few essential steps that you need to follow:
- Click on – Menu > All applications
- Select the ‘Create Application’ option.
Next, the play console will ask you to enter some basic app details. For instance,
- App Name – You must enter a 30-character long name in this field which will be displayed on the Google Play Console. However, this app name can be changed afterward.
- Default language – Another essential field is the setup of the app language. You can navigate to the drop-down menu and set a default language for your app.
- App or game – The next step is to define whether you upload an app or a game, but this can again be revised afterward from the store settings.
- Free or paid – Define whether your app will be available free of cost or will require the user to pay for it. The free or paid section can be updated from the Paid app page later, but only until you publish your app. Once the app is live, you cannot transform your app from free to paid.
Once all of the above information is filled and verified, the Google Play Console will enquire for affirmations from you. Ensure that your app matches the Google policies of the Developer Program and Accepts US export laws. As soon as you agree to the terms and conditions, click Create App.
Step 4. App Store Listing Details
The next step to uploading the app on the Google Play console is filling in the essential information regarding the application listing. Once you click on the ‘Create App,’ the Play Console will automatically take you to a consolidated dashboard wherein you’ll have to enter the necessary details to set up your app.
The Google Play Console will enquire about the following:
- App name – As you have already entered the app name in the previous step, you need not enter the same name again; however, if you wish to revise the title, this is where you can change the name.
- Short description – This field requires you to enter an 80-character-long description that best describes your app.
- Full description – The following field to the short description enables you to explain your app in detail. You can expand the word limit to 4000 characters and leverage your targeted keywords to lead Google to share your app with the relevant audience.
Once all this information is added to the Google console, the next step is adding the app graphics, category of the app, and the privacy policy. Remember, we asked you to keep high-quality images ready before beginning the app publishing process; this is precisely where all those images will be leveraged.
Further, here are the details you would require:
| Particulars | Details |
| Screenshots | -2 to 8 in number, JPG, or PNG. The ratio shouldn’t exceed 2:1 |
| Icon | – 512 X 512– PNG– Maximum file size: 1024KB |
| Localization | -If your app comes in several languages, you need to mention them and add additional translations of your app’s information to appeal to the users coming and checking out your app. |
| Application type and categorization | – Navigate to the Drop-down menu and select application type – game or app.- Pick a category suitable for your app- Rate your content after uploading your APK. |
| Contact details | -Provide the necessary contact forms so users can contact you. |
| Privacy Policy | -To escape the breach of app privacy, Google mandates adding a privacy policy while publishing your app. -If you need a break, click Save Draft and complete it later. |
Once you are done uploading details, Hit the Save button.
Also, Read- Mobile App Security: A Comprehensive Guide to Secure Your Apps
Step 5 – Content Rating
The next most crucial step is the content rating questionnaire. Without rating your app’s content, Google will consider it an Underrated app and will certainly remove it from Google Play Store. And since you might not want it, let’s learn the steps of adding a content rating.
To add the content rating, you’ll have to navigate to the main dashboard, set up your app, and select the Content rating option.
The Next dashboard will pop up, and you’ll be able to navigate the “Start Questionnaire” button; you have to click the tab and get started.
You’ll have to enter basic information about your app in the content rating section. This section is divided into three sub-sections – Categories, Questionnaire, and Summary.
In the Category section, you have to enter the email address that the users can leverage to contact you and the category of the app you are publishing on the Play Store.
Once you are done filing the above fields, click the Next button, and you’ll be redirected to the questionnaire section. The questionnaire section lets Google explore more about your app to understand your target audience better.
Once all the details are filled in, you can look at the content rating summary and hit ‘Submit’ to apply the changes.
Step 6 – Create & Upload Android App to Google Play
Uploading the APK to the Google Play Console is the foremost step of the app publishing process, where the app is finally uploaded and submitted for Google to review and go live.
But before we go and upload the app, one crucial decision you need to make is the type of app release – Internal Test (available for up to 100 testers that you pick), Close Test (available to just a specific number of testers), Production Release (available to all the Play store users in your chosen countries), or Open Test (available to Google Playtesters, and users to join tests from your store listing).
Once you have decided on the testing, you can go to the dashboard and select “Create a new release.“
Post selecting “Create a new release,” you’ll be redirected to a dashboard, wherein you will upload the app bundles and the release details.
Once you enter all the details, confirm that everything is correct, and take the last step of this guide on Google Play app upload and add the application to the platform. Then, navigate to the ‘App Releases’ tab and select ‘Manage Production’ followed by ‘Edit Release’; click on ‘Review’ and then the ‘Start rollout to production option.
Select the ‘Confirm’ option, and that’s it!
You are done with the successful upload of your app to the Google Play Store account for free.
Once the Google Play app upload is done, you must patiently wait for your application to get reviewed and approved by Google. The Google app approval process can take a few hours or extend up to 7days, so ensure that you are well prepared for both successful publishing of the app or for doing any revisions if required.
Also, Read – Top 10 Hacks for your App Store Optimization Strategy
Wrapping it Up!
Once the app is approved, you should have a well-thought-out marketing plan to start promoting and distributing your app to your target audience. Once published on the Play Store and accepted by the audience, do not let the app stay static. Instead, ensure that you analyze the data insights and analytics and look out for inspiration to amplify your app and better serve your audience. As in today’s highly competitive and lucrative market, a business that envisions to thrive has to continue evolving and enhancing its offering to match the pace of rising technology and the dynamic customer expectations.
Developing an application and publishing it on the Google Play Store can often be overwhelming. Still, business leaders and enterprises can reach out to the top mobile app design and development companies to seek guidance in developing the best-suited app for their business.
