29.9.3. On Android

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29.9.3.1. Updating existing publication settings

If you have already published applications in an application store (APK files), perform a number of actions to be able to publish application packages.

Preliminary steps:

1. To export a private key for the signature key:
   1. Open the provider settings in the Mobile Application Builder.
   2. Click the Parameters for Android tab.
   3. For the application signature key, execute the Export a private key command.
   4. Remember the name and location of the PEPK file. The default file name is android_sign_encrypted_private_key.pepk.
2. Create an application upload key:
   1. Open the provider settings in the Mobile Application Builder.
   2. Click the Parameters for Android tab.
   3. For the application upload key, execute the Create an application upload key command. If the key is already created, you do not need to create a new one.
   4. Select the Export certificate key command.
   5. Remember the name and location of the PEM file. The default file name is android_upload_certificate.pem.

To enable application package publication, do the following:

1. Sign in to the Google Play Console (https://play.google.com/apps/publish) as the application developer.
2. In the list of applications, select an application whose settings you want to change. This will open the Control panel page.
3. In the menu on the left side of the page, click Settings ‑ Application integrity. You can find Settings in the Release settings group. This will open the Google Play App Signing page.
4. In the Register in Google Play App Signing radio buttons group, click Export and upload key from Java Keystore.
5. In the opened list, immediately click the hyperlink from step 3. Import the private key".
6. Select the PEPK file prepared in the preliminary step. The default PEPK file name is android_sign_encrypted_private_key.pepk.
7. At the 4. Create a new upload key for more security step, click Show instructions.
8. Then click the hyperlink from step 4. Import the upload key certificate.
9. Select the PEM file prepared in the preliminary step. The default PEM file name is android_upload_certificate.pem.
10. On the Google Play App Signing page, click Save. After you accept the terms of use, you will be able to publish only application packages in Google Play Store.

29.9.3.2. Creating a new application in Google Play Store

Before you start uploading applications to Google Play Store using the Mobile Application Builder, perform a number of actions in the store. Let's take a look at these actions.

Preliminary steps:

1. To create and export a private key and certificate for the signature key:
   1. Open the provider settings in the Mobile Application Builder.
   2. Click the Parameters for Android tab.
   3. For an application signature key, execute one of the following commands: Create an application signature key or Set an application signature key (if the key was previously created). If the builder already contains an application signature key, you can skip this step.
   4. Click Export private key and certificate.
   5. Remember the name and location of the ZIP file. The default file name is android_sign_encrypted_key.zip.
2. Create and export an application upload key:
   1. Open the provider settings in the Mobile Application Builder.
   2. Click the Parameters for Android tab.
   3. For an application upload key, execute one of the following commands: Create an application upload key or Set an application upload key (if the key was previously created). If the key is already created, you do not need to create a new one.
   4. Select the Export certificate key command.
   5. Remember the name and location of the PEM file. The default file name is android_upload_certificate.pem.
3. Save the built application package (AAB file):
   1. Find the required application version.
   2. Open it and click the Build results tab.
   3. In the list of build artifacts, find the built application package for Android and click Get application.
   4. Remember the name and location of the AAB file.

To start publishing an application package in Google Play Store:

1. Sign in to the Google Play Console (https://play.google.com/apps/publish) as the application developer. You will see the All applications page.
2. Above the application list, click Create application. This will open the application creation form.
3. In the application creation form, fill all the required fields based on characteristics of the application to be published. After filling in the form, click Create application in the lower right corner of the screen.
4. Once you created the application, manually upload the application once to provide the store software with information about your application. To do this, create an application version. Let's create a version for closed testing. On the left side of the screen, click Testing ‑ Closed testing. This will open the Closed testing form.
5. In the closed testing form, in the Active versions list, click Manage version in the Alpha row. On the opened page, click Create new release. This will open the Create closed test version page.
6. In the Google Play App Signing section, click App signing management.
7. Since you upload applications built in the Mobile Application Builder, in the Application signing parameters menu, select Export and upload key from Java Keystore. Then follow these steps:
   1. At the 3. Import the created .zip archive step, select a file with a private key and a certificate to import (default name: android_sign_encrypted_key.zip).
   2. At the 4. Create a new upload key for more security step, click Show instructions.
   3. At the 4. Import the upload key certificate step, select a certificate file (default name: android_upload_certificate.pem).
   4. Files required for uploading were generated in the preliminary steps.
   5. After you specify the required files, click Update. After that, all the required files are uploaded and you cannot change the application signing parameters without deleting the application.
8. In the Google Play App Signing section, click Continue.
9. In the App Bundles and APK files section, select the previously built AAB file of your application to upload.
10. After uploading is completed, click Save and Check release.
11. If errors were found upon checking, fix them. After the application is checked, it is available for publication.
12. You can upload the application using the Mobile Application Builder only after you upload at least one application version to the store manually.

29.9.3.3. Uploading an application

Using mobile application builder

The first download of the application to the Google Play store should be done manually. Subsequent downloads can be performed using the mobile application builder. After applications are uploaded, the publication is still performed from the Google Play Store console.

Open the list of mobile applications for which you need to download the application, and select the Download to stores... command. The builder will post the selected mobile application and inform the user about the capability or impossibility to complete the download. If the download is available (Download in Google Play check box is selected), then specify the configuration in which the application will be placed in the Configuration field, and then click Download. The builder attempts to perform loading. Files to be uploaded depend on the mobile version that was used to build the mobile application and the build result format:

• Mobile version 8.3.18 or earlier: 4 application files (APK files) for ARM, ARM64, x86, and x86-64 are uploaded.
• Mobile version 8.3.19 or later:
  • For the APK files only build result format, 4 application files (APK files) for ARM, ARM64, x86, and x86-64 are uploaded.
  • In other cases, one application package file (an AAB file) is uploaded.

To access Google Play, the parameters that can be set in the dialog box of the provider parameters setting on the Parameters for Android OS tab are used. This setting can only be performed by the builder administrator.

At the end of the download, the builder will report the status of the download. If the download failed, ‑ it is recommended to click the Log for Google Play button. The document containing the download log will be opened. The log is not saved in the infobase and will be lost after the loading window is closed.

The builder does not publish an application version, it only uploads the application to the store. Publication must be performed manually from the application store console.

Manually

To upload an application package manually:

1. Sign in to the Google Play Console (https://play.google.com/apps/publish) as the application developer. You will see the All applications page.
2. Find the application to be published and go to its Control panel.
3. Create a new release of the required type (working version or version for testing).
4. Upload files in the release parameters.

See how to use the application files and the developer console in the Google Play Console help: https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer.

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