How to publish an app
on the Google Play Store

• A Google account for the developer account (use a company account, not a personal Gmail, if this is a business)
• US$25 for the one-time registration fee and a payment method
• Identity documents for verification; a D-U-N-S number if registering as an organisation¹
• A signed Android App Bundle (.aab) of your app⁵
• A privacy policy URL, app icon, feature graphic and phone screenshots
• At least 12 testers if you are using a new personal account²

Go to Google Play Console and choose an account type. A personal account is for individuals; an organisation account is for businesses and shows your company name on the store. Organisations must provide a D-U-N-S number, a free nine-digit business identifier from Dun & Bradstreet, and Google will not make exceptions¹. Pay the US$25 fee and complete identity verification; it can take a few days, so start early.

See our detailed guide to Google Play developer accounts for verification tips.

In Play Console, choose Create app, set the default language, name, app or game, and free or paid. Then build your release as an Android App Bundle. Google Play uses the bundle to generate optimised APKs for each device and manages the signing key through Play App Signing⁵.

Your app must also target a recent Android version. Today, new apps and updates must target Android 16 (API level 36) to be submitted, and Google raises this floor every year⁴.

Your listing is your shop window. You need:

Under App content, Play Console asks a series of declarations. Every one must be complete before you can publish:

• Privacy policy — a public URL that matches what the app does
• App access — test login details if parts of the app need an account
• Ads — whether the app shows ads
• Content rating — a questionnaire that produces ratings for each region
• Target audience — age groups; apps for children face extra rules
• Data safety — what data you collect and share, and why, including data collected by SDKs⁶
• Government, financial, health and news apps — extra declarations where relevant

Play Console has three testing tracks: internal (up to 100 testers, fastest), closed (invited testers) and open (anyone can join).

If your personal developer account was created after 13 November 2023, you must run a closed test with at least 12 testers who stay opted in for 14 continuous days before you can apply for production access². Then you answer a few questions about the test in Play Console.

1. Create a closed testing track and upload your build.
2. Invite testers by email list or Google Group; share the opt-in link.
3. Make sure at least 12 stay opted in for 14 days in a row — recruit 15–20 to be safe.
4. Collect feedback and fix what you find; push updates to the track.
5. Apply for production access and answer the questions honestly.

Create a production release, add release notes and send it for review. Google says processing can take a few hours or up to seven days, longer in exceptional cases, and recommends a buffer of at least a week³. With managed publishing, you can approve changes and then choose exactly when they go live.

Start with a staged rollout — say 5% or 10% of users — watch crash rates and reviews for a day or two, then increase. If something breaks, you can halt the rollout before most users are affected.

• Monitor Android vitals — crashes and "app not responding" rates affect your visibility.
• Reply to reviews — especially the critical ones; it is public customer service.
• Keep up with policy — the target API level rises every year⁴, and from 2026 Google is rolling out developer verification for apps installed on certified Android devices.
• Know the fees — if you sell digital goods, Google's service fee is 15% on the first US$1 million of earnings a year for enrolled developers⁷.

Play Console — Google's dashboard for publishing and managing apps. Android App Bundle (.aab) — the publishing format Google Play uses to build device-specific APKs. Play App Signing — Google manages your app's signing key. Closed testing — sharing a build with invited testers before release. Staged rollout — releasing to a percentage of users first. D-U-N-S number — a free business identifier required for organisation accounts.