Uploading an App to Google Play [1] - Once you've finished developing it.

This is about uploading your application to the playstore, with tips as to how to make the entire process easier. Google Play requires you to make icons/banners of very specific sizes, take screenshots, and a whole lot of drama. It isn't something you can avoid, so you might as well just follow these guidelines to make the entire process easy and fast.


Alright. I'm going to start the cheesy way, quoting a line so correct, Mahatma Gandhi would shy away. Okay that was crap. I'm sorry :P But this line isn't.

In fact, if you have never developed any kind of application before, you will experience ecstasy, so exultant and euphoric that you will want to enthusiastically practice more and build something—anything, like a hungry chef discovering a furnished kitchen with every tool, every utensil, and a stocked refrigerator.
- From the guy who started javascriptissexy.com

If you've ever built something using your own creativity, your own hands, whether it's a tangible object, or a small gizmo for our virtual world, the feeling of pride is the same. You're happy, because you've actually gone through the entire process of starting from scratch and making something you really wanted to.

Once that's done, you have to bring it out to the real world. And this is where Google Play messes it up for you. It's a long journey from finishing up your application, to finally clicking that Publish button on the top right corner of your developer account.

These are all tricks of my trade. And I'm letting them all out.
I'm not going to write stories here. Short and clear. Follow this.

Package Name. 

Make sure you give your application a good package name. 

The common trend is : [com].[company-name].[app-name]. 

But I follow this : [my-name].[a-random-kickass-name-that-i-stick-to-for-every-app].[app-name]. 

Example : rish.crearo.alarmforthelazy.

Signed APK. You need to sign your APK. Google this. It's again, long and seems unnecessary, but this is how Google makes sure another developer cannot publish your apk on his name.

Versioning in Manifest/Gradle. Make sure you increment the APK version in either the manifest or the gradle App file. You will end up generating the signed APK, and uploading it again if you don't change the version code.

Version code is what has to increase, and is used by Play for identification. 1,2,3,4...1256 ,.. 

Version name is what the user sees. 0.9, 0.9.5, 1, 3.41, 7.2.0, ..

Developer Account.  I'm assuming you already have one. This is the easiest part of all these steps.

Icons. 

The main icon has to be 512x512 pixels. Exactly this size. They don't take any other size, and unless you have a graphics designer with you, fiddling around in Paint, (or GIMP if you're on linux) is a pain. So this is what I do. 

1. Go to icons8
2. Choose an icon that's most suitable for your application, and material-ify it.
3. And the easiest way is this. Plus, it looks great!
4. Extra tip. MaterialUI is a brilliant website to choose the best colors this planet has to offer.

From this

To this

Theme.

Again, they're super picky, these Google Play people. 1024x500. Now I'm assuming you're an engineer/not-so-creative and don't have a very good graphics designer at your side. So this is what I do to make a flashy banner.

See what I did there? Use the super huge icon you already created, and add a bit of text with a fancy font, here or there.

Where do I get these fancy fonts from? DAFont. Honestly, they're amazing. They let you enter text, to try out what your text would look like in the chosen font. I take a screenshot, open GIMP, cut part of the screen that I need, open another tab of dimensions 1024x500, and voila. 

Screenshots.

Open your app in your Android phone. No, don't use an emulator. Actual hardware. Clear all your notifications. 

Side note, in Android M you can remove all status bar notifications if you choose to. Super useful here.

Capture the screenshots you think would be most useful. Do capture one of your 'About' activity. That's something a lot of people like to look at while downloading an application.

We're not done here. Next, download and open Screener. This application is fucking brilliant. And I don't mind saying that again. Fucking brilliant. Yes, it crashes sometimes. (A lot, actually). But it makes your screenshots super flashy. 

Have a look. (Yes, I made the mistake of not clearing my notifications. Heights of laziness, I tell you)

See? Eye candy ay? :)

Short Description.

This has to be super catchy. That the line everyone reads when they open your app. Call up a friend who loves sarcasm and ask him to help you. Or better, watch one episode of Friends for inspiration.

Long Description. 

List down your features. 

Have a look at the description Google gives for each of its applications. But remember, DO NOT COPY them! My first app got suspended for either making a logo similar to Zimbra's logo, or writing down a description similar to that of GMail's.

Give credit to https://icons8.com/ , http://www.dafont.com/ , and all the other websites that helped you. They really do deserve the credit. 

If you're very very proud of yourself, or you're a narcissist, put up your name giving yourself credit for the application. Haha.

Content Rating. 

No, no, no, no, yes, yes, no, no, no. Unless you're into doing what you wouldn't want your parents to see, this shouldn't be tricky. A simple survey to rate the app on audience maturity. 

Ads?

Does your application contain ads? Make sure you mark the correct option. Post 2016, Play is going to filter apps based on whether they have ads.

And I guess that's it.

PUBLISH!

Now that you're happy you've gone through this super extensive process, please, please don't get stuck in Google's suspension policy! They do suspend apps if you've copied content, just like on Youtube. 

Three of my apps have been suspended for stupid reasons so far.

Have a look at the next article, titled : Why Uploading an App to Google Play is a pain - Once you've finally uploaded it.