GOOGLE PLAY By William Cook April 14, 2016

GOOGLE PLAY Marketplace for apps for android Androids “app store” You must make an account on the developer console I created an just for this, they will send you a few s Username, password, 25$ The 25 bucks is so rondos don’t upload crappy apps to the store I still uploaded a crappy app to the store, so not very effective 1 time payment and you will have your account forever. If you want to sell your apps, you have to get a merchant license If you put it for free, you don’t need anything else

ADD NEW APP Generate App’s APK Clean code Debug mode off Icon/label in manifest Sign APK Generate it Keystore info Upload to Google Play Follow google’s directions Upload.apk file Fill out everything for google play

GENERATE APK In Android studio, In the project you want to publish Package Name Make sure you have a package name that will last with your app that you won’t want to change Once you release your app, the package name can’t change. Change the package name in the AndroidManifest file right at the top if you need to. Logging You can’t have any calls to the log when you release your app Delete any calls to the logCat in your Java source code Clean your code Clean up your code, rid of testing comments, etc.

GENERATE YOUR APK Debugging You can’t have debugging mode on (it is set on when you are writing your app, so you definitely will have to disable this) If you don’t disable this when you upload your APK file, it will say “no, get out of here” Easiest way To disable Debuggable Build tab at top Select build variant Click on right tab “debug” and select “release”

GENERATE YOUR APK In manifest file Make sure your android:icon has an image that you want your app logo to be. Make sure your android:label has the name that you want for the app Icon and label show up in the app store and on the device. Ex: Twitter’s icon is the blue square with the white bird; label = “Twitter” Ex: Facebook’s icon is the blue square with the white “f”; label = “Facebook”

SIGN APK Now you are ready to actually export it Build tab at top Generate signed apk If it is your first app, create new keystore path Select a place where you want the key to be saved. I put mine in my C:/User/Owner and named the file “androidKeystore” Put it somewhere where you know where it is Create your password for the key Write this down somewhere you won’t lose it Enter a new alias I used “MyAndroidKey” My understanding is it is like a username Enter a password and confirm it

SIGN APK - KEYSTORE The keystore path/alias/password is your way of signing your app. If someone is looking at the app they can see who made it, etc. It is like your signature. You can use this key for multiple apps and it is actually recommended that you do so. Do not lose the information for this keystore because you will use it for all the apps that you release. So make sure you put it in a good spot and have a password that you will remember or write it down somewhere that you won’t lose it. This is also the “key” to getting into your app. Only the person with the key can edit it,update it, etc. so don’t lose it, or you won’t be able to make any changes.

SIGN APK Fill out the rest of the dialog box with what you want Country code for united states is “US” I don’t think you have to enter an organization/organizational unit Click ok Scan options and see if it is all good.. Click next Review the info (filepath) Should be good Click finish

UPLOAD TO GOOGLE PLAY When it is done building the APK click show in explorer It will take you to the files it generated. For me the file is in C:/Users/Owner/AndroidStudioProjects/”projectname”/ap p/ The file you want is the “app-release.apk” This is the apk file with all the information for the app that the google play store wants You can rename this file if you want to “app_name.apk” I left mine how it was

UPLOAD TO GOOGLE PLAY In your new developer console account “Add new Application” Enter language upload APK Upload the.apk file we talked about in the last slide When it is uploaded click on the app Edit the store listing information You have to include some screenshots Get a device to test it on and take screenshots and upload them (idk if emulators work for this, they probably do as long as the image size is correct, I don’t think they’d know) You must have at least 2 screenshots If you want it to be available on a tablet, you need screenshots for the tablet as well These are displayed on the google play store when they are looking at the details of your app to download

STORE LISTING You have to upload an icon It has to be 512x512 I created mine in paint using the icon that I had put in the manifest file Feature graphic This was the worst part for me. You can google feature graphics and they will show you examples, you can make it whatever you want that helps show people what your app does and your artistic side I just put 3 screenshots together in paint and added some black space to fill the required 1024x500 pixels. Other graphics are optional I didn’t do them

STORE LISTING - CATEGORIZATION Now fill out the categorization You will have to take a questionnaire for the content rating. It isn’t hard, took about a minute It just asks you if there is anything inappropriate in your app so it can rate it accordingly and give you the certificate for it. Contact details You must include your

PRICING AND DISTRIBUTION If you select free, its easiest If you want it to be a paid app, you have to get a merchant license I don’t know what this entails Then “read” and accept all the terms.. Blah blah

SUBMITTING Once everything is all filled out submit your app and it will process. It will take a while to do this, so go do something else. It is an online process, so you don’t have to leave your computer running, but it will take a few hours. It took mine about 3 hours I think When it is uploaded (if it is accepted) then you can go tell all your friends to download it and it is good to go!