Creating an Android app is only one process that is involved in the creation of mobile phone applications. Publishing an Android application over the Google play store is an entirely different process. Imagine that you have created an application but if you don’t know how to publish it correctly over the play store, then there would be no use of the application. An application is nothing without publishing it over the application development platforms. The primary function of creating an application is to distribute it for the public to download and install it over their mobile phones. Taking the correct Screenshot for the Google play store is an essential process that is involved in the publication of the application.
To make an Android application available to the users publicly it should be published over the Google Play store. By using the Google play store as the platform for publishing application, the user completes two tasks:
- The application is released over the Marketplace.
- A version of the application known as the “release version” is prepared to be deployed over the Google play store.
- The users of the Google play store will get access to the release version of the application to download it over their mobile phones.
- By the application over the Google play store, the application is sold and distributed to the target audience.
How to prepare your app for Google Play publication:
Creating a release version of the Android app is a process that involves many different steps. Down below are the following steps for making the release version of the Android application:
- Configure your Android application for the release process.
- Remove different kinds of log calls and debuggable attributes from the manifest file of the Android application.
- Create a version code and version name for your Android application.
- Read the Google Play store requirements before creating the release version of the Android application. Incorporate all the different requirements required by the Google play store to release the application.
- Gradle built files are to be used for the signed release version of the application.
- Complete testing of the release version of the app should be done. It will be better if you will test the application on the target device.
- Reading the Google play launch list is also important before publishing an app on Google Play store.
- Upgrade the app resources for the release of the application. Ensure that different kinds of app resources such as files, graphics, etc are updated properly.
- Checking the remote servers before publishing the app is necessary. Ensure that remote servers are working and all the required resources are stored in them.
- Sometimes, a private key is also required for publishing the application.
- Other tasks include intellectual property documents and license agreements regarding the use of the application.
- After completing all the above-given tasks, a signed version of the APK file is created.
A lot of different methods are present for releasing the Android application in the marketplace. One of the most common methods of distributing the Android app is to use the Google play store. Sometimes, developers release their applications over their websites and sell the applications independently. The ideal way of releasing the Android app to the general public is to use a proper platform. Releasing the Android app on the Google play store is one of the ideal solutions present currently. Google Play store can be considered as the hub of Android applications. It is a global platform. If you release your application to the Google Play store, a large audience will be able to access your Android application. You can also choose to release your Android app over multiple marketplaces.
Using Google play store for publishing the Android app comes with a lot of my efforts. Some of these benefits include the ability to:
- Sell the application,
- Distribute the app among the target audience
- Publicizing the app according to the requirements.
Whenever a person creates a Google developer account, he gets access to a huge suite of different development tools. These tools are very helpful in analyzing the performance of the application in the marketplace. Publishing an Android application over the play store is only a first step in the success of an application. Analyzing the performance of the application after publication is a very important process. Using Google play store for application distribution gives different tools to the developers to measure the performance of the application in an effective way. Some of the important features that the Google play store provides are as follows:
- Control over the sales of the application.
- Identification of the market trends regarding the application.
- Controlling the audience over vision the application is distributed.
- Access to different revenue-boosting features.
- Built-in captivating features such as in-app billing and different kinds of app licensing.
Steps app publication on Google Play store
Three basic steps are involved for releasing the application over Google play store:
- Creating a screenshot of the app:
- This is one of the most vital steps regarding the success of the app. The screenshot of the app features the main functionality of the application. Any user who visits the Play store open the Google play store, he checks the screenshot of the app before downloading it to know about the features of the application and the graphical user interface of the application.
- Creating different types of promotional materials for the application:
- The promotional materials include different kinds of videos for applications and different kinds of graphics that will be used for the marketing purpose of the app over the play store.
- In the next step, you will be responsible for configuring the different options provided by the Google play store before publishing the application and uploading all the assets of the app properly.
- Google Play store will provide you with the target audience of the application. A person can select different kinds of countries where he wants to distribute his app.
- After doing all the necessary settings, all the developers have to do is to click the publish button to make the app public. The application will go live in just a few minutes and will be ready for distribution and download around the work.
How to take correct Screen Shot for Google play Store
You will need 2- 8 screenshots with a minimum size of 320px and a maximum size of 3840px. The aspect ratio should be:
- 2:1 for portrait version of the application.
- 16:9 for landscape version of the application.
For taking a screenshot of an application, use the different built-in functions present in the phone for taking the screenshots. Some helpful tips for taking screenshots of the Android applications are as follows:
- Use different online tools available for resizing the app screenshot according to the requirements.
- It is essential to match the screenshots between two different portraits.
- A dark mode is introduced for the Google play store recently. Therefore, it will be helpful for the app to take screenshots in both light mode and dark modes. An app graphics can look different inside a dark mode. Check the graphics of the application in dark mode and ensure that the graphics look consistent in the dark mode as well. Taking screenshots of the application in both light mode and dark mode will help the user in deciding whether to download the application or not.
- It is not necessary to only take the screenshot of the working functionality of the application. Sometimes, if your app is based on the augmented reality or virtual reality, then you can create different kinds of screenshots that show the atmosphere of the application. Create your screenshots in such a way that prompt the user to install it and use it.
- Make sure that you will add two to three screenshots in the application for getting it approved from the play store.
By using the above-mentioned steps, you can easily approve your application on the Google play store and distribute it to the target audience.
Summary
Google Play store is one of the best platforms for distributing the Android apps. A proper procedure is followed for publishing the app on the Google play store. An app should be configured properly before publishing it over the app store. Different resources and assets must be checked properly before submitting it for the reviewal process. Testing the application over the target device before publishing is also very beneficial. A signed version of the APK file is published over the play store after the creation of end-user agreements. Taking a screenshot of the applications in the recommended sizes is very important. If the screenshots do not meet the requirements of the play store then the app will not be approved. Include at least 2 to 3 screenshots of your application in the Play store.