Google play store is the most trustworthy and largest marketplace for Android users to download any application. That’s the reason; the Play store is the first choice for the developers to publish their Apps. Moreover, its easy approval process and low chance of App rejection make the Play store the best option to upload Apps easily. If you are struggling to know how to upload an app on the play store, follow this end-to-end guideline to get success in this field.
Prerequisites:
As Google is the most dominant app market for android users, Google has certain rules and regulations for its app. If your app doesn’t follow those conditions, Google will reject the app from Play Store. Therefore, before installing the app you should check whether your app satisfies the conditions or not.
- Before publishing an app you need to check the guidance provided by Google play to make a high-quality App. If your app maintains the Core app quality standard of android, go to follow the guidance on how to upload an app on the play store friction must be reduced in the latter part of the uploading process, and then your application is ready to publish.
- Your app needs a unique Bundle ID to represent it.
- You should build an application which has some unique content and provides value to the users.
- In Most cases applications get rejected due to not following privacy and security policy of Google. Google follows those policies to maintain a safe and secured environment for the users for downloading the apps on their devices. Before knowing how to create an app on the play store, you should be acquainted with the App policies of Google.
Privacy and security policy of Google:
- The app should not have any malicious data.
- Your application cannot collect unnecessary information from the users.
- An app shouldn’t collect and mistreat any private data from the device of the users.
- Every app should mention its privacy policy and need to submit it in the Google Console account.
- An app should have a proper option by which a user can show his or her consent to the Term and Conditions of the application.
- Your app should provide data security or encrypted protection to the users’ data.
- An app should not disobey the Intellectual Property Rights of any other Apps in the form of a trademark or Patent.
- The content of the application shouldn’t show any risk to the children, terrorism and violent acts.
- Any app cannot promote gambling or any dangerous product inside.
- The app content should not be sexual. It must use decent language.
- You need to follow certain region specific restrictions for certain content.
8 steps of how to upload an app on the play store:
Step-1: Google Play Developer Console:
When your App is ready to release, you need to choose the App market, like the Google play store. To deploy the App into the Google play store, you need to create a developer account in Google Play Developer Console. It allows the Android developers to perform all the backend operations for uploading their Apps on the Play store and monitoring their performance on the Android platform.
A developer needs to pay a one-time registration charge of $25 to create an account on the Google Play console. After paying this registration fee, you can upload apps for free. To create this account, you need to fill up the credentials like your name, country and some more.
Step-2: Google Merchant account:
You need to create a Google Merchant Account if your app supports in-app purchases or you have a plan to sell apps. After sign-in in to your Google Play Console account, go to “Download Reports” and select the “Financial” option. Then click –on the “Set up a merchant account now” option and fill out the credentials. The merchant account will automatically link to your Google play console account.
Step-3: Create an app on the play store:
Finally, the steps of how to upload an app to the Google Play Store starting from here. After sign-in in to your developer account of Google Play console, go to “All Apps” and click on the option “Create App”. As it is a new app, you need to provide the App details.
- App name– Put 30 character long names by which your app will appear on Play Store.
- Default language– Just select the App language from the dropdown menu.
- App or game– Choose the option between an app and a game. Later you can change it from the store settings.
- Free or paid– Now select the option between Free and Paid. If the app is available for free, choose the option Free. If a user needs to pay for the app, select, Paid. You can change the settings before publishing the app.
After that, you need to confirm the Declaration of Play Console that your app satisfies the Developer Program Policies and US export laws. Check those policies and laws before clicking. Then select the option Create App.
Step 4: Set up Store Listing
Create App option will redirect you to the App Dashboard. Expand the Set up your app option and click on Set up your store listing.
Under this option, you’ll find App Details where you need to fill up the following options.
- App name– Write the same name that you put earlier.
- Short description– Enter a brief about your app and your company by using perfect keywords that will help the app to come in the search.
- Full description– Explain in brief your company and its website by mentioning the inception, goals and vision with an email Id. Write about your app, its purpose and unique features with the targeted keywords within 4000 characters.
Then come to the Graphics option. You need to upload an image for your App icon. The image size should be 512px x 512px of 1024KB, sRGB and 32-bit PNG format without border. Then add an artwork for the app to use in promotion.
Then you need to fill up the YouTube video link and phone screenshots and 7inch and 10-inch Tablet size screenshots for your App. Now, click the Save button once you have done all.
Step 5: Content Rating
The next important step how to upload an app on the play store is Content Rating. Here you have to “rate” your app as it is “unrated” initially and the Play store might remove the “unrated” app. Select Content rating from the option Set up your app on your app Dashboard. Then, hit the button Continue and go forward and type your email address in the particular field. Then hit the Confirm button.
Step 6: App pricing
Another important step of how to create an app on the play store is App Pricing. Specify whether your app is a free or paid version. If it is paid, you can set pricing under Monetize section in the left menu by hitting App pricing.
Step 7: App Release:
Now, come to the principal step of how to upload an app to the play store for free. Now, you can finally release your app on the Google play store and end the entire trauma of uploading. Here you have to decide which type of release you want internal testing, alpha testing, beta testing, or production testing. For that, go to the section of Publish your app on Google Play from the app dashboard and the app dashboard and click on Create a new release.
Now, you need to upload the files such as App bundle or APK of your app and add Release details.
When you have done all the details, you can check for errors and correct them by going to the option of Review release. If you find ‘Errors summary’ at the top of the page, hit the ‘Show more’ button to check the details of issues and resolve that.
Before publishing your release, make sure that you have set up your app’s store listing, content rating and App pricing.
Step-8- Publish the app:
Finally, it is time to upload an app to the play store. When you are confident about everything that has been done, go again to the App Releases tab and then click on Manage Production followed by Edit Release. Then select Review and then click on the Start rollout to production option. At the end select the Confirm option. Bingo, your app is finally launched on the Play store for free.
Now you have to wait for Google Play store approval. It takes two hours to seven days. Once your app gets approval, it will be available on Google Play Store for download on the Android device.
Post Publishing Work:
Now, you get an idea about how to create an app on the play store for free. But, after submitting the app to play store, you need to perform some practices to make a successful app.
- Promote your app on social media to generate good traffic and maximized downloads.
- Begin a Press-release to highlight the brand. When many publications cover your press release, your app will be reachable to a wider audience and make an authentic connection.
- After submission, you need to maintain your app, do the debugging process and roll out frequent updates continuously.
- You need to focus on App Store Optimization(ASO) to improve user engagement and app visibility on the Play Store.
Frequently Ask Questions:
Q.1- How long does it take to get approval for an app from Google Play Store?
Usually, it takes two days. But, Google’s review process needs seven days.
Q.2- Is it free to publish an app to the play store?
Yes, Google doesn’t charge for publishing an app. But, a registration fee of $25 needs to make a developer’s account to the Google Play store. By, paying a single registration fee, you can upload multiple apps to the play store.
Conclusions:
Now, you can understand the process of how to upload an app to the play store and how marketing is important after creating an app on the Play store. Not only have that, but also a good maintenance process is required for updating and debugging them regularly. So, making a successful app needs constant efforts and a clear strategically approach toward the user choice.