How to use Google Play Console

Tutorial Schedule

With the goal of creating a safer and more stable ecosystem, Google maintains a constant evolution in its policies.

To stay up to date with deadlines, it is advisable to subscribe to the Android Developers Newsletter, which is detailed in depth later on.

The table below lists all the changes that have been necessary to address throughout this year, as well as those that will need to be undertaken in the near future.

Introduction: What is Play Console?

The Google Play Console is the bridge between developers and the Google user community. It is a platform for publishing applications and video games to the market, as well as tracking their performance through the multiple services it offers.

Every app published for more than two billion active devices worldwide passes through this console, representing an incredible audience and a great opportunity to immediately reach any corner of the planet.

Google provides the ability to use closed testing tracks to prevent potential errors, along with corresponding monitoring through release reports, statistics dashboards, user and tester review analysis, and many others detailed in the following sections.

Furthermore, it is a fantastic tool for business expansion, as it allows for running experiments on the Play Store listing, creating app campaigns to drive installations from Google Search, Play Store, or YouTube, and accessing real-time acquisition reports.

In short, it is a highly versatile and comprehensive tool to get the most out of our applications.

How much does a Google Play Console account cost?

To have an account on the Google Play Console, a $25 or €21 registration fee is required. This is a very affordable price compared to the $99 annual fee for an individual account or $299 for a corporate account on Apple's platform. This one-time payment enables the distribution and updating of all required apps or games.

On the downside, support and review timelines may be slightly longer compared to Apple's tool.

How to create a developer account in Google Play Console

How do you publish an app on Google Play? To do so, you must first create a Google Play developer account. You will need to be signed in with your Google account and have two-step verification enabled.

When creating a developer account, you can do it in two ways: for yourself or for an organization or business. Depending on the chosen option, you must provide certain information.

Personal Account

For a personal account, you must provide the following information:

• Developer name
• Contact name
• Contact email address
• Contact address
• Contact phone number (international format)
• Website

Organization Account

For an organization account, you must provide the following information:

• Developer name
• Organization name
• Organization address
• Organization phone number
• Organization website
• Contact name
• Contact email address
• Contact phone number (international format)

Once all fields are completed, you must read and accept the Google Play Developer Distribution Agreement and the Google Play Console Terms of Service.

How to upload an app to the Google Play Store

The following explains how to publish an application on the Google Play Store.

App Listings
Prior to launching any app, it is necessary to request a set of data from the client to include in the listing: app name, short and long descriptions, privacy policy URL, app screenshots, feature graphic, demo user, high-resolution app icon, default language, category, content rating, a contact email address, and availability (countries or regions).

Additionally, you can optionally include a phone number, website, promotional graphic, and a TV banner if necessary.

Furthermore, the following fields mentioned above can be configured in the different languages supported by the application: name, short and long descriptions, "what's new" text, privacy policy, feature graphic, and app screenshots.

All this data must be properly filled out in the Main Store Listing and Store Settings sections within the Grow / Store Presence category.

App Distribution

The primary service of the Google developer console is the distribution of applications or their updates.

This deployment can be carried out for a set of internal testers (up to 100 users) or for the end-user community. There is also the possibility of filtering by device type.

Staged rollouts are another feature of app distribution; it is possible to schedule a production upload for a specific percentage of users, which is periodically increased until reaching 100%. This allows developers to detect potential bugs and fix them before reaching the entire user community.

Additionally, prior to app distribution, it is possible to check which devices are compatible, as well as the number of users who have our app installed and an average rating per device, in order to explicitly exclude those terminals where the application might encounter issues.

Finally, each distribution will include a "What's new" text, which refers to the changes implemented over the last version and will be reflected in each store listing.

To use this service, we must go to the side menu > Production > Create new release.

Google Play Services

The Google Play Console has various tools for the distribution and operation of Android apps and games.

Feedback on internal testing

As mentioned in the previous point, Google provides the possibility of subjecting the application to a series of internal tests prior to production, something that should be done continuously to avoid potential problems and app crashes.

All these tests will be carried out within internal or closed testing tracks where the included users can write feedback without it being visible to the end-user community. This is highly useful for obtaining direct feedback on the functionality implemented in the beta version.

Statistics Dashboard

The statistics dashboard displays a wide variety of metrics and relevant information about distributed applications. It allows you to view the number of installs and uninstalls on a timeline, helping to identify significant spikes, the countries where our apps are being installed from, app ratings, or the crash rate over time.

While this panel closely resembles the one provided by Firebase, the latter offers a wider range of metrics, as it allows for the setup and monitoring of custom events and much more. Therefore, it is recommended that applications integrate Firebase libraries to get the most out of these statistics.

This service is available under the Statistics option in the Google Console side menu.

Android Vitals

ASO (App Store Optimization) is responsible for placing applications in the top positions of online stores like Google Play. To achieve this, the algorithms consider not only whether the app title or description matches the search but also the overall quality of the app as a ranking factor.

Android Vitals is an initiative aimed at improving the stability and performance of Android devices, which is directly linked to better market positioning for apps. This tool aggregates various device metrics, such as stability (crash rate), app startup time or individual screen loading times, battery usage, and processing times (slow rendering and frozen frames), displaying them in the Android Vitals dashboard.

Applications using this service are periodically reviewed by Google. If any metric is flagged with an exclamation mark, it means it is below the minimum threshold and the app may be penalized in search rankings.

Access to the Android Vitals dashboard is available under the Quality section of the side menu.

Device Catalog

The device catalog is a service designed for viewing and managing devices compatible with a specific application. It provides information regarding the list of terminals available on Google Play and tracks how downloads or ratings vary across them. Additionally, it offers detailed insights into the reasons why a specific device may be incompatible with the app.

It is important to note that this service only shows the compatibility of our applications based on device specifications; it does not indicate that the app has been physically tested on every device in the list.

Furthermore, it allows for the consultation of device specifications, helping developers understand how to support different terminals.

Finally, to prevent users from having a poor experience, the console provides the option to restrict installations on specific devices.

Review Analysis

One of the most distinctive and important services within the Google Play Console is the review analysis or user feedback section. This is a section where reviews can be grouped by similar topics, allowing for the analysis of the issues that most affect users.

Furthermore, with the primary goal of resolving problems more quickly and achieving a higher rating for our app, we have two excellent tools at our disposal.

The first is data cross-referencing, which allows us to identify which specific versions are causing the most errors among the community. Additionally, there is the possibility of filtering comments by star rating, language, version, or specific keywords within those reviews.

This information is accessible under the Ratings and reviews option in the console's side menu.

Monetization

In this section of the Google Play Console, it is possible to manage everything related to the monetization and financial aspects of the application.

One alternative to increase revenue is selling in-app products using Google Play Billing. This helps increase user retention, as users who make in-app purchases are more likely to remain customers.

On the other hand, we have the subscription model, where Google Play handles payments, notifications, and subscriber management. To encourage acquisitions and customer retention, features such as free trials, introductory prices, promotions, grace periods, or pauses are available. Additionally, there is a reporting section to monitor subscriber growth and analyze any cancellations that occur.

Access to this service is via Side menu > Monetization.

Other considerations for the Google Developer Console

There are other noteworthy aspects when using the Google Developer Console, such as privacy policies, wait times for reviews and app deployments, or tips to improve the user experience.

Privacy Policies

Privacy policies refer to the legal document that outlines how an organization collects, processes, and manages user data.

This is one of the most critical points for mobile applications on Google Play, as all of them must comply with the required regulations. In fact, in 2017, over 700,000 applications were rejected and removed from the store for non-compliance, so great care must be taken when managing them.

There are two key points to keep in mind:

• Creating the document and including it in the Google Console: As previously mentioned, every application registered on Google Play must have a corresponding privacy policy associated with it.

If one does not exist, it can be created using online tools such as Shopify or PrivacyPolicies.

Once created, it must be correctly included within the console. To do this, access the Policy > App Content section in the side menu and look for the "Privacy Policies" section.

Next, in the Privacy Policy option, you must include the URL of the previously created document.

After incorporating the URL into the app listing, it will be reviewed by Google to ensure everything is correct.

Likewise, it is important to note the necessity of keeping the URL operational at all times; failure to do so could lead to the rejection of the app.

• Creation of an acceptance screen: For several months now, in addition to including the corresponding privacy policy within the console, Google requires an explicit acceptance screen for users in all distributed applications. This screen must clearly state the purpose of data collection in a visible manner.

All of this is listed in this TermsFeed post.

Newsletter

Android provides its developer community with various newsletters to stay informed about the latest news and suggestions. Through this link, you can subscribe to receive monthly updates on Android products, deadlines for Google policy compliance, tips for succeeding on Google Play, and relevant information regarding updates and news about Google Play Games.

Wait Times

The distribution of new apps or updates requires wait times from Google, as all changes must be replicated across their servers.

Wait times previously ranged around 24-48 hours; however, due to the COVID-19 situation, reviews are seeing delays of up to one week.

Similarly, responses from the support team are also experiencing slight delays, reaching up to 120 hours, which should be taken into account to avoid potential issues.

Furthermore, it is crucial to ensure that the client is aware at all times of the delays caused by Google in its app publishing and update processes.

Tips

These are some of the most important tips for properly managing the Google Play Console:

• Utilize beta testers prior to the final distribution of any app to guarantee its correct functionality.
• Perform periodic updates of our applications to estimate the market impact of new versions.
• Create experiments when deciding between different images or colors, as this helps select the option preferred by most users.
• Respond to user reviews periodically, which provides extra support to the community.
• Avoid having several internal tracks open simultaneously, as this can trigger issues during the review of the corresponding updates.

Why should you be on Android?

According to report results from IT Reseller or Statista, 86% of smartphones sold in the last two years are Android devices.

Likewise, the number of app downloads aligns with what is reflected in the previous illustration, as Android achieved a total of 28.3 billion downloads in the third quarter of 2020, tripling those of its competitor in the App Store.

All these data points demonstrate the current importance of Android applications and the Google Play Console; therefore, it is necessary to use them correctly to exploit this tool to its full potential.

Furthermore, it is essential to consider each and every point in this document (especially the tips and considerations regarding privacy policies), as 55% of the total market was rejected due to policy-related issues and usage.

In conclusion, in addition to the app distribution that the Google Play Console offers, it is important to perform the corresponding operational tasks using the various tools mentioned to get the most out of it.

The statistics dashboard, Android Vitals, and the analysis of user and internal tester feedback will greatly assist in the optimization and improvement of the deployed applications.