Develop Reference

Publishing new android release before pervious one approved

I have published my first release of android APP on Google Play console, Its not approved yet (Still In Review for 5 days now).
I found that the app has an error and will crash on start.
I want to discard the first release and publish the new one which contains the fixes.
I think my app still in review for 5 days now because it crashes and I want to fix it but don't know how.
If I try to publish a new release on Google Play, it says "You cannot remove all production APKs and Android App Bundles"
Any Help

I have actually uploaded an update version of an app before its first release was approved and published. (The reason was I forgot obfuscation...) It was approved and published later without problem.
But I can't understand your saying:
If I try to publish a new release on Google Play, it says "You cannot
remove all production APKs and Android App Bundles"
If you tried just uploading an update version, I can't understand why it led to remove all production.
If you didn't just upload an update version but you tried to remove or something, you might doing something wrong. But you didn't disclose detail about that, nothing could suggest anymore.

I think you just exit upload window. Find button "сontinue uploading" in versions section and upload yours's new version of application.

Error updating app on Google play store after introducing new google policy

I am trying to upload a new version of my app on play store and getting following error while uploading:-
You can't edit this app until you create a new app release declaring sensitive permissions
I have tried removing CALL_PHONE permission that Google restricts in latest policy and my app does not contain any unadaptable data. But still getting same error.
If anyone faced the same issue. Please help me to resolve.
Thanks in Advance!!

If you are unable to submit a new version in any of the tracks, promote an older version from an Internal Track to Alpha or from Alpha to Beta or from Beta to Production. While doing this a Permission Declarations Form will show up querying Call Log and SMS permissions used in your app.
Once you have submitted this form and promoted an older version, you will be able to submit new versions of the app in all the tracks.

First find out how many active artifacts you have
Go to 'Release Management'->'Artifact library'
You must have more than one 'Active artifacts'
I have 3 active artifacts - 1 from production, 1 from beta and 1 from alpha (version 24, 6 and 4 --see below image)
Now you need to Upload a new APK(here apk with version code 25, and version name:3.0.2)
Go to 'App releases'->'Manage'->'Create Release'
Upload a new APK that you want to release ( here new APK with version code 25)
Retain the current version of APK (here version code 24)
Click ‘Add from library’ and Upload all active APKs(here apk with version code 6 and 4)
Now select Compliance status’ > check “No, this release does not meet the SMS and Call log” (see below image)
-Go to declaration section and select all (see below image)
-Click "Save" at the bottom of the page
-Now on same page, we need to deactivate (current market app (here apk with version code 24))
-Click "Save" again then select "Review"
-you'll be able to release a new version of APK by clicking "Start Roll Out" button.
(refer following link:https://www.reddit.com/r/androiddev/comments/ajddj6/play_store_console_you_cant_edit_this_app_until/efkqmx2/)

We fixed it first uploading the bundle in the Beta track and then promoting it to Production. Directly uploading it to Production produced the same error.

I found the solution after a lot of research. I was facing the same issue since yesterday. I had already removed both the sensitive permissions in my last release which were related to SMS and Call Logs and yet I was getting this warning.
The solution like #IvanF mentioned is to check if you have apps in any other tracks. You may do so by going to App Releases section in Play Console and check if you have any app under Open, Internal or Closed section. If yes, then you'd have to deactivate them first because that is where the problem lies. The way to deactivate apps in other sections is mentioned here -
https://www.reddit.com/r/androiddev/comments/ajddj6/play_store_console_you_cant_edit_this_app_until/eeye216/
Hope this helps.

I finally found the answer, I had non-compliant APKs in different tracks
if you had non-compliant APKs in different tracks, then that's what you should do
First: Go to App releases > Click Create Release in the track you need to update
Second: Upload the compliant APK, make sure to remove the sensitive permissions from this APK
Third: Retain the current APK
Fouth: Upload all active APKs from all tracks, you can do that by clicking on ADD FROM LIBRARY button above the upload section, make sure not to deactivate the applications, the declaration form will appear in the bottom of the page
Fifth: Fill the Declaration form by the following:
Compliance Status: Check No
Declarations check all
and save
Sixth: on the same page after the save, deactivate and remove all the non-compliant APKs and keep the new compliant APK
Seventh: Click save and review
and you are done!

I just followed these steps: source ([here][1])
Internal test: Create an internal test release to quickly distribute your app for internal testing and quality assurance checks.
Closed: Create a closed release to test pre-release versions of your app with a larger set of testers. Once you've tested with a smaller group of employees or trusted users, you can expand your test to an open release. On your App releases page, an Alpha track will be available as your initial closed test. If needed, you can also create and name additional closed tracks.
Open: Create an open release after you've tested a closed release. Your open release can include a wider range of users for testing, before your app goes live in production.
Production: When you create a production release, this version of your app is available to all users in the countries you've targeted.

How to update/upgrade your Android APK during Staged Rollout in Google Play

I recently used Google Play's "Staged Rollout" feature and slowly published my company's (redesigned) V2 of its Android app.
Although it was very simple (following the instructions) to roll out the new APK at an initial percentage rate; it was not intuitive to update/upgrade the APK when I needed to publish a hotfix to only those (users) in staged rollout.
So how did I do it? See my answer below.

Log in to your Google Developer Console and select your app
Select the "APK" view from the left menu
Click and switch to "Advance Mode" from the the upper right corner
You will now see "Deactivate" option become available for the version in Staged Rollout
Click "Deactivate", and ignore the error "This configuration cannot be published..."
Click on "Upload new APK to Production" button shown on top of the error snippet
Select the new APK with the same versionName but with a higher versionCode than the old APK in staged rollout.
Click "Save Draft"
Click "Publish APK" button appeared on top; don't worry it won't publish at 100%.
At this point it is up to you to Increase the Percentage or remain at the same rate of staged rollout.
Voilà, now you just rolled out a hotfix to only those (small percentage of users) in staged rollout.

The answer for the new console:
Click Publishing Overview in left column;
Click 'Manage' on the right side
Enable 'Managed publishing on'
When the release has been reviewed, it's not released until you decide!

Here is Google's official answer to this:
If a staged rollout is in progress and you discover an issue with your app (e.g. crashes, bugs), you can publish an update to the staged rollout version using your Google Play Developer Console.
Sign in to your Google Play Developer Console.
Click All applications.
Select an app.
On the left menu, click APK.
Select Upload new APK to production.
Next to Save Draft, Click the Down Down arrow.
Select Publish as staged rollout.
Select a percentage.
To replace your previous staged rollout version, select the same percentage as your previous version. Compared to your previous staged rollout version, you can select the same rollout percentage or higher.
Click Save and publish.
After you publish the replacement APK, affected users that received your previous update through the staged rollout will receive an update.
Note: If you're using Advanced Mode to manage multiple APKs, the updated APK must be the same configuration as the APK in the current staged rollout. When you upload a replacement APK, you will need to deactivate the APK you're replacing.
https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/3131213?hl=en-GB
EDIT:
Google Release management and related links have changed recently (August 2017), you can now see the same information here: https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/6346149?hl=en-GB&ref_topic=7072031
Specifically:
When you halt and then resume the roll-out of your release, you'll be affecting the same set of users.
When you do a staged roll-out of a new release before completing the roll-out of the previous release, the new release will use the same group of users as the previous release (depending on the percentage of the roll-out).

I was able to do this without any weird workarounds. Similar to serkan's steps above, but doesn't require reusing the same version name or any deactivation steps.
Log in to your Google Developer Console and select your app
Select the "APK" view from the left menu
Click on "Upload new APK to Production" button
Select the new APK (can have a new version name, version code)
Click "Publish APK" button
At this point, my 20% rollout APK was replaced, and the new APK did not roll out to 100% of customers yet.

Beta version in Android play store. Where's the opt-in link for testers?

How to publish beta test-version in Android play store ?
I'm trying to allow beta test my phonegap build app in the android play store. I already uploaded a signed apk in the beta tab and added a google+ group with some users inside ... but I'm slightly surprised that I cannot find how to install or even find this app on the testers smartphones. I opted myself as user in the group but cant see a link to the app or something like that. Shouldn't the app be already visible to beta users in the app store? Or do I have to push the publish button? The info popup tells:
"Your app can only be used by your testers when it is published to Google Play.
If your app has no production APK then it will only be visible to Alpha and Beta
testers. The link that your testers can use to opt-in will be displayed here when
you have published your app."
Sounds to me that it should be published. But doesn't it mean that the beta apk will be moved to the published-area and not being then a beta any more? I'm afraid that the app will be then visible to all users in the play store not only for my beta testers.
Could someone explain me how to publish a beta for my testers only?
EDIT:
It seems that everything I need is the opt-in link that is missing. Any idea why?

In order to be able to get the link to share with your group you have to first press the "Publish" button in the upper right. After doing this you will see the link to share with users appear as brheal shows above.
I'm adding this graphic to the discussion to help clarify exactly which one to press and which to not press.
Per the discussion above I was still a bit worried about pressing the publish button. I just did it and it works.

For more clarity I thought I'd share what it looks like. After publishing your beta apk you have to wait up to 24 hours (it took mine about 12) and then go to 'Manage list of testers' in your 'Beta Testing' tab. When it's ready you will see the opt in link available to share:

This is really an issue Google should address ASAP. You enter the console hoping to find the sections but the documentation says something else altogether. I just solved this and found the link, here are the steps updated with the current UI of the console which is not matching the documentation:
Open Google Play Console
Open your app
In the left panel go to Release management -> App releases
Scroll down to Open track, Closed track or Internal test track section according to your case, click Manage
Go to the section Manage testers and click Internal test
At the bottom you will see the link if everything is properly configured and the app is published.
VERY IMPORTANT
You need to configure the internal test list, I assume that if you
are looking for the link you've already done this.
The app needs to be published, remember it takes some hours, otherwise you won´t be able to see the link.
Here are the screenshots:

Not enough points to comment, hence a separate answer.
My suggestion is to upload a new build after setting up the beta testing.
I created a new app and rolled out the Beta version of the app.
After that I enabled the "Closed Beta testing" for a list of users - alas no opt-in link was ever generated.
After scratching my head a bit I released a NEW build which generated the opt-in link immediately.
I figured that enabling the "Closed Beta testing" AFTER the Beta version was released could have caused the issue and is maybe why the UI is constructed the way it is.... just a guess.
Try and release a new build.

Unable to deactivate APK accidentally uploaded to Prod

My application is currently in alpha. On the google play developer console, I accidentally uploaded a new APK as production rather than alpha.
In advanced mode, there is a deactivate button. But if I deactivate and try to save I get the generic message "The application could not be saved. Please check the form for errors." I don't see any errors on the form. How do I deactivate?
I tried uploading a later version to alpha - that seems to work - but I don't want ANY version in Prod, as my app is not yet ready for prime time.

According to a Google customer service rep I contacted:
The Deactivate button is provided in your advanced mode when you want to support multiple APKs but when your new update supports the same number of devices as your previous APKs, the system won't allow such update. So it is required for you to deactivate the older version in order to upload your new APK.
The Deactivate button is only useful for situations where you have multiple active APKs.
Furthermore, discussing with them, there is apparently no functionality at this time that allows for you to remove APKs from the Production tab once they've been uploaded to that tab, AND there's apparently no way to enable Beta testing if your app is unpublished, so at this point it seems there's no way to undo what you've done if you accidentally upload an APK to the Production tab by mistake. The workaround proposed by the representative was to change the package name of the app, change the keystore used to sign, and create an entirely new application.
Further discussion with the representative indicated that the "error" is that you can't have a Production tab without an APK if there was one there already, but it sounds like there's a bug in that it doesn't actually report that that's the cause.

In latest play console you can goto Publishing Overview->managed publishing status-> press manage button on right then turn on managed publishing