How to Upload an App on Play Store?

After finishing the app development process, the question which bothers developers is how to publish apps on play store?. Surprisingly, Google play store has approximately 2,714,499 apps on the portal. Moreover, 3700+ apps are being added to the portal everyday. Therefore, you can imagine the competition.

Uploading your app on Google play store can give it a real good market exposure as Google play store has covered 190 countries already. It is highly advised to you that you should upload apps to the play store and do good app marketing to get your mobile app viral.

Now if you are also worried about How to publish an app on play store? I will give you a stepwise procedure that you can follow. 

How to publish an Android app in Google play store? Steps to follow

Once your app is developed and tested, you are good to go to publish your app on the Google play store. However, the procedure of uploading your app can be a little tricky. Therefore, you are supposed to follow a specific sequence of steps. Read further to know what steps you should follow!

Step 1- Sign up for a developer account

To add apps to the play store, you can begin with creating a new developer account. The developer account signup process will charge you a $25 registration fee. Moreover, you will need valid identity proof to complete the registration process. To create an account, you should follow further steps:

• Fill in your contact details like primary and secondary email addresses;
• Create a Public developer name. This name will be visible to Google Play users;
• Add contact number and the country code;
• Read Google play distribution agreement and Google play console terms of service before accepting them.

Note - The entire registration and verification process takes around 48 hours to get finished. Moreover, if your identity proof is not verified, you will lose your registration fee.

Step 2- Now, integrate the merchant account to upload the app to the Google play store

Merchant profiles make you enable the purchase of receiving in-app purchases. After creating the merchant account, it will automatically connect to your developer’s account. 

• Sign in with your developer’s account to enter in Play console;
• Click on download reports and then financial;
• Click on set up merchant account;
• Use your business information to set up your payments profile after being redirected to the payments center.

Step 3- Click on create application to upload app to google play

After you sign in to your Google Play Console account, you will have to create your application. It’s one of the many steps towards finishing how to upload APK to google play.

• Login in to your Google play console Account;
• In the all applications tab, you will find create application;
• After selecting create application, you will find a drop-down menu;
• Select the App’s basic language from the same menu;
• Add a title for your application. You can use a maximum of 50 characters to set this;
• Specify if you are publishing an application or a game. You can edit it later as well;
• Specify if it’s a free or paid app;
• Add an email address for the play store users to contact you;
• Read and accept content guidelines and US export laws.

Once you are done with the process of creating an application, you can prepare for the next step which is preparing the store listing. Moreover, the title and description you are using for your app can be edited later.

Step 4- Add your app to the dashboard

To upload an app on the play store, you need to add it to the dashboard after you create your application. By preparing the app for the store listing, you will get closer to the complete answer of how to publish the app in play store.

• Open your Google play console account;
• Choose the app you want to add;
• Add a title for your app along with the short description;
• Add a detailed description;
• Then include screenshots of your app;
• Include high-resolution icons and feature graphics;
• Add a type of the app along with the category;
• Add rating for the content of your app;
• Include the email address of the developer or your company;
• Include a link for the Privacy policies of your application.

Step 5- Release your app and add APKs

After finishing the listing process, you are supposed to upload APK files according to specifications established by the Google play store. But before uploading the APK, the releasing process will be required to be done. The app releasing process is a combination of one or more app artifacts that you release for an app or the update.

To complete google play store app upload, you need to upload APK packages and name them. However, make sure that you will not be able to modify package names in the future or reuse them. 

• Open release management tab;
• Click on app releases.

To release the app, you can choose one of the following three testing types:

1. Open testing is available for every user existing on the Google play store. They can access your app to test;
2. Closed Testing is only available for users that you choose. They have the freedom to test the app and provide feedback;
3. Internal testing is done by a maximum of 100 users chosen by you;
4. Production is the final step when you release your app for everyone in your target market.

After selecting your preferred release type, you can add APK files from the same screen. 

Step 6- Add a rating to your application

The rating is important for the app uploading process as unrated apps are usually filtered out by the Google play store algorithm. Moreover, while rating the app, make sure that you use appropriate ratings according to the content of your app and the target user. 

To rate your app, there are a few steps you can follow:

• Go to content rating under store listing;
• Read the Developer Distribution Agreement;
• Click on the continue to move forward;
• Fill in your email address and confirm;
• Now fill the questionnaire and save it;
• Later, click on calculate rating to figure out the final rating of your app;
• Click on apply to finalize the app rating.

Step 7- Select the price and region to publish your app

Before the final step of finishing how to upload app to google play store, you will have to make a few decisions. If you choose to publish your app for free, you have to be super sure about it as you will not be able to change your app into a paid app later. However, if you set a price for your app, you can alter it anytime you want. Moreover, your app can not be released worldwide. Google play store lets you choose regions but it will not promise a global release for the app. 

Step 8- Publish your app finally

Now, let’s discuss the final step of how to upload apps on google play store walkthrough. Let me explain to you this last step in points:

• Go to the App Release once again;
• Select Manage Production and then Edit Release;
• Now click on Review and then Start Rollout To Production option given on the below right;
• Finally, click on Confirm to end this upload app to play store process.

Final discussion: Google play store guidelines

Before I wind up this article, I want to inform you about a few Google play store guidelines you should follow. These guidelines are important for you to follow as a developer as violating them might result in the removal of your app at any stage.

• To publish your content, make sure your app does not contain any restricted or inappropriate content;
• Impersonation of any other developer is strictly prohibited;
• Violation of intellectual property rights might result in trouble;
• Using apps to infiltrate privacy or users or to steal their information is a violation of rules;
• Following monetization and ad policies is important;
• Do not use spam listing or low-quality promotional activities to avoid trouble;
• Your app should at least serve its basic purpose properly. Consistent app crashes or non-functionality might end in its removal;
• Do not use malware codes in the apps;
• Violating Mobile Unwanted Software Principles (MUwS) are not accepted;
• Child-Friendly apps will have to ensure that they comply with all legal requirements.

Many top mobile app marketing companies release apps almost every now and often; though they have a good reputation, still in some incidents they have to suffer consequences of not following these guidelines. However, Google play store is a grand platform for any app. Following proper publishing and promotional strategies can lead you to good returns.