FAQ about uploading an Android app to Google's Play store

These were some questions which I was asked about uploading an app to Google's Play store. I'm also testing out How To Toggle Between Hiding And Showing an Element or How To Create a Hoverable Side Navigation. Since adding CSS using SPAN tags in blogger is a bit clunky, I'm not doing the hoverable style for this post. The links are plain anchor links to div ids.

1. What software readiness is required?  (This may or may not work.)
2. Any documentation to be completed?   
   When we upload the app, there are some mandatory requirements. There needs to be a privacy page for the app, we need to provide the content rating (whether it is suitable for children and so on), and we have to choose in which regions of the world our app would be available.
   https://orangesoft.co/blog/how-to-publish-an-android-app-on-google-play-store
   (In the above link, we have already got the developer account etc, as mentioned above.)
   After we submit the app, it would go for review by the google team, and would be available once it passes the review, which would take a few hours or a week.
3. We are currently on version 1.3.6 which is distributed as a link on Google drive. The way it works is that if someone has 1.3.5 on their device, 1.3.6 understands that and overwrites 1.3.5 while installing 1.3.6. Now, if we place either 1.3.6 or the later version in Google PlayStore, will it automatically detect the version installed using a Google drive link?
4. Some releases will be mandatory, and we would like the app to force update (for critical errors) and some releases may not be mandatory. Is this possible?
5. Can our developer team place it in Google PlayStore or will it be placed by you?

1. What software readiness is required?

For adding an app to the Google Play store, it needs to be signed by the appropriate developer. If you wish the app to be seen under the developer id of our organisation, like

https://play.google.com/store/apps/developer?id=Sri+Sathya+Sai+Vidya+Vahini

then the app apk has to be built again, using the developer key which we have, for our organisation. This takes between 5 minutes and half an hour, depending on how much RAM the development machine has. Then, the apk has to be uploaded using the ID which we have used for the earlier apps, for which we have the password. I had done it for the LMS app, and had documented it at

https://hnsws.blogspot.com/2021/04/updating-app-on-googles-app-store.html

If you wish to add the app under a different developer id, then the process, starting with creating a developer id, is mentioned at many places like

Registering an account - https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/6112435?hl=en

Adding the app - https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/9859152?hl=en

2. Any documentation to be completed?

When we upload the app, there are some mandatory requirements. There needs to be a privacy page for the app, we need to provide the content rating (whether it is suitable for children and so on), and we have to choose in which regions of the world our app would be available.

https://orangesoft.co/blog/how-to-publish-an-android-app-on-google-play-store

(In the above link, we have already got the developer account etc, as mentioned above.)

After we submit the app, it would go for review by the google team, and would be available once it passes the review, which would take a few hours or a week.

3. We are currently on version 1.3.6 which is distributed as a link on Google drive. The way it works is that if someone has 1.3.5 on their device, 1.3.6 understands that and overwrites 1.3.5 while installing 1.3.6. Now, if we place either 1.3.6 or the later version in Google PlayStore, will it automatically detect the version installed using a Google drive link?

If the new version of the app is built with the same app id as the old version of the app,

(which is a string like org.sssvv.sssvvmobile, which is the app id of our LMS app,

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.sssvv.sssvvmobile )

then the old version will be overwritten with the new version. Otherwise not.

4. Some releases will be mandatory, and we would like the app to force update (for critical errors) and some releases may not be mandatory. Is this possible?

This behaviour is not default behaviour, it does not happen automatically. This needs code to be written in the app to periodically check for new versions, and if mandatory upgrade, not allow the user to use it till (s)he upgrades. One way of implementing this is using in-app upgrades, for example

https://medium.com/android-news/implement-in-app-update-in-android-68892bd11e35

5. Can our development team place it in Google PlayStore or will it be placed by you?

This is up to the management team. If you wish me to give the developer key + developer id password to the development team, I can do that, and they can place it in the Google Play Store. Or if the devel team give me the code, I can build the app and place it in the Google Play Store. In either case, it would be good if the management team provides

(a) Privacy page draft (or if the LMS app privacy page is enough, we would need to change the wording a little bit)

(b) Description for the app which comes in the "About this app" paragraph

(c) Logos and artwork as required. (this may be already available).

You could take a look at the LMS app for ideas,

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.sssvv.sssvvmobile