Publish to Google Play

Shipping an Android app has the same unavoidable prerequisite as iOS: a Google Play developer account that belongs to you, plus one machine credential that lets tooling act on your behalf. The Google side costs less ($25, once) but has two quirks Apple doesn't: the automation credential lives in a separate product (Google Cloud), and new personal accounts face a mandatory testing period before production. This guide walks through all of it.

By the end you will have the one artifact automated publishing needs: a service-account JSON key linked to your Play Console with release permissions.

Before you start: personal or organization?

• Personal account — fastest to create, shows your name as developer. ⚠️ Accounts created since November 2023 must run a closed test with at least 20 testers, continuously, for 14 days before they can apply for production access. Plan for this: it makes your first public release a multi-week story no matter how good the tooling is. (Internal and closed testing distribution works immediately.)
• Organization account — shows the company name, supports team members, and is exempt from the 20-tester requirement. Requires a D-U-N-S number for company verification (free; 1–2 weeks if you don't have one — the same number works for Apple enrollment, so get it once for both).

Step 1 — a Google account for the business

1. Use (or create at accounts.google.com) a Google account the team controls — e.g. play@yourcompany.com — rather than a personal Gmail.
2. Enable 2-Step Verification at myaccount.google.com → Security. You'll be handling release credentials with this account.

Step 2 — register the Play Console developer account

1. Go to play.google.com/console/signup and sign in.
2. Choose Yourself (personal) or An organization.
3. Fill in the developer profile: developer name (what the store shows), legal name and address, contact email and phone. For organizations: the legal entity details and D-U-N-S number.
4. Pay the one-time $25 registration fee.
5. Complete identity verification — Google asks for an official ID document (personal) or organization documents; verification typically takes a few days. You'll get an email when the account is active.
6. Organizations may also need to verify the website domain and a company email address on it.

Step 3 — create the service account (in Google Cloud)

The Play Console's automation API is a Google Cloud API, so the machine credential is created in Google Cloud and then invited into your Play Console. The Cloud project is free — it exists only to hold this credential.

1. Go to console.cloud.google.com and sign in with the same Google account that owns the Play Console.
2. Create a project: the project picker (top bar) → New Project → name it e.g. play-publishing → Create. Select it.
3. Enable the API: APIs & Services → Library, search "Google Play Android Developer API", open it, click Enable.
4. Create the service account: IAM & Admin → Service Accounts → ＋ Create Service Account.
   • Name: e.g. play-publisher. The generated email will look like play-publisher@play-publishing.iam.gserviceaccount.com — copy this email, you need it in Step 4.
   • Skip the optional "grant access" steps (permissions are granted in Play Console, not here) → Done.
5. Create the key: open the service account → Keys tab → Add Key → Create new key → JSON → Create. A .json file downloads — this is the credential. Like Apple's .p8: vault it, never commit it, never email it. (Unlike Apple's, you can mint another if lost — revoke the old one when you do.)

Step 4 — link the service account to the Play Console

1. Back in play.google.com/console: Users and permissions → Invite new users.
2. Paste the service account email from Step 3.4.
3. Grant permissions. Simplest correct setup: Account permissions with Admin (all permissions) for a trusted internal pipeline, or the narrower set — View app information, Manage production releases, Manage testing track releases — if you prefer least privilege.
4. Invite user / Send invitation. Service accounts accept instantly; the row appears in the users list.

Step 5 — two clicks the API can never do

Google's API deliberately cannot bootstrap an app from zero. Once per app, in the Play Console:

1. Create the app: Play Console home → Create app → app name, default language, App or Game, Free or Paid, declarations → Create app. (The name can be changed later; the package name — Android's bundle ID, e.g. com.yourcompany.yourapp — is fixed by the first uploaded build.)
2. Upload the first build manually: the very first .aab must go up through the Console UI — Testing → Internal testing → Create new release, drag the .aab in, accept Play App Signing (Google holds the release key; recommended and the default), Save → Start rollout to Internal testing. Every build after this one can be uploaded by tooling.

Step 6 — what remains human, later

• Store listing: title, descriptions, screenshots, feature graphic.
• Content rating questionnaire and the Data safety form (what data the app collects).
• A privacy policy URL — a page on your existing site is fine.
• For new personal accounts: recruiting the 20 closed-test testers for 14 days, then applying for production access in the Console.
• Google's review on production releases (usually hours to a couple of days).

Internal testing — up to 100 testers via email list or link — works immediately for every account type with no review.

The checklist

#	Item	Where	Cost / time
1	Google account + 2-Step Verification	accounts.google.com	free, minutes
2	Play Console account + verification	play.google.com/console/signup	$25 once; days (org: + D-U-N-S 1–2 weeks)
3	Cloud project + enabled Play API	console.cloud.google.com	free, minutes
4	Service account + JSON key	IAM & Admin → Service Accounts	free, minutes
5	Invite service account in Play Console	Users and permissions	minutes
6	Create app + first manual .aab upload	Play Console	once per app

After line 6, everything — building, signing, uploading, promoting from internal to closed to production — can be driven by tooling holding that one JSON key. Pair this with the Apple guide and both stores are ready for automated releases.