It is possible to upload new apk to Google Play automatically? I mean not for already published apps (that have at least one APK uploaded), but for creating absolutely new application and upload its first apk. There is tools like Publisher API, Fastlane etc, but they are uploading apk's for update already published apps.
This is not possible with current android-publisher API version (all the other tools, including fastlane, are built on top of that).
From documentation:
You can only use this API to make changes to an existing app (that has
at least one APK uploaded); thus, you will have to upload at least one
APK through the Play Console before you can use this API.
Related
Google says here:
Important: In the second half of 2021, new apps will be required to
publish with the Android App Bundle on Google Play. New apps larger
than 150 MB must use either Play Feature Delivery or Play Asset
Delivery.
The most straightforward interpretation of this is:
Apps that are first uploaded on Google Play (and does not already exist there) requires AAB, but already existing apps, even if you release a new version of that app, does not require AAB format
But, it seems odd to me that Google would allow millions of apps to use APK instead of AAB, so I considered if this is what they actually mean:
All new releases, including already existing apps on Google Play, require AAB format
Can someone confirm this for me?
Also, if AAB is not required for existing apps, for how long do they allow APK releases?
All new releases, including already existing apps on Google Play, require AAB format
This is incorrect. As you initially said, the change as stated today only applies to apps that upload an artifact for the first time.
Google has not communicated what the plan is for existing apps.
I am trying to setup my own Server to host apk files which will be available for installs and updates in the client App.
On new version update of apk, only the updated part should get downloaded at the client end. I am able to generate a patch file using "bsdiff" at the server end. But at the client, how should I merge the patch file with the original apk and install the update.
Based on your question, it looks like you are looking for some kind of patching system. Normally Google play store takes of managing this. When you upload a new version of APK, it only download the difference on client's device which saves data for customers. However the merging of this done on Mobile itself.
Since you are not using google play store, the only way available could be a patching system like AndFix. Some more options can be found on this SO. Most of them require some code changes.
You can also follow the concept of expansion files described by Google. You should be able to mimic the approach.
Note: Google play policy discourages this approaches if you are distributing it though Google play store and not utilizing Google Play's update mechanism. You need to be careful in case you are planning to distribute your app through play store in later stages
I was studying Android Developer doc today and found a new topic Multiple APK Support which says that:
Multiple APK support is a feature on Google Play that allows you to publish different APKs for your application that are each targeted to different device configurations.
I am unable to find this feature on Google Play Developer Console, can someone guide me over this feature?
Update :
In Google I/O 2018, a new publishing format has been introduced for Android applications called Android App Bundle. It is a new upload format that includes all your app’s compiled code and resources, but defers APK generation and signing to Google Play
Read More from below links :
https://medium.com/mindorks/android-app-bundle-6c65ce8105a1
https://developer.android.com/guide/app-bundle
#Paul
In new UI on play store developer console APK tab has been removed. And its being replaced by Apk Release So Advanced Mode is removed in new UI on google play store
You must know some rules before upload multiple APKS to play store :
All APKs you publish for the same application must have the same package name and be signed with the same certificate key.
Each APK must have a different version code, specified by the android:versionCode attribute.
Each APK must not exactly match the configuration support of another APK.
for more information please Read
You can also see How to create multiple apk files for android application
All you have to do is upload each version one at a time. Each next version will need to be higher than the previous and it will ask you if you would like to deactivate any of your previous versions or retain them, and you will want to retain them so that they stay available. Please note, users will always receive the highest version available to them though so if they are compatible with multiple versions then they will not be given the choice of which version they want, they will just automatically receive the highest version
Later in the documentation you link, it has a "how it works" section which explains you have to enable Advanced Mode to be able to use the feature:
To publish multiple APKs for the same application, you must enable Advanced mode in your application's APK files tab (as discussed in the previous section). Once in advanced mode, you can upload, activate, then publish multiple APKs for the same application. The following sections describe more about how it works
NOTE
The above answer is deprecated. Please refer to the Feb 1 2018 answer by Dhaval Jivani below.
Does anyone know a tool/project, like fastlane, for Android release automation? With upload to the playstore... I know there is some task in fastlane for the Android-part, but it isn't read yet. Fastlane Android Issue
I hope you guy's can help me out :)
fastlane is now available for Android projects as well: https://github.com/fastlane/fastlane/blob/master/fastlane/docs/Android.md
Fastlane seems the best answer for this question. Additionally replying to Mr. Flibble's query about uploading new apps to Google Play via Fastlane, Google Play has a policy to upload new build via Dashboard only. No tools/scripts will be helpful in uploading new apps to Google Play dashboard.
Google Play allows user to upload max 15 binaries for new apps within 24 hour, therefore they don't allow us to upload new app binaries via Triple-T, Jenkins, Fastlane or any other scripts.
Fastlane provides two major tools for Android now.
Screengrab
Supply
1) Screengrab (https://github.com/fastlane/fastlane/tree/master/screengrab)
screengrab generates localized screenshots of your Android app for different device types and languages for Google Play and can be uploaded using supply.
2) Supply (https://docs.fastlane.tools/actions/supply/)
supply uploads app metadata, screenshots and binaries to Google Play. You can also select tracks for builds and promote builds to production.
If you want to publish new App using Fastlane, it not possible. You have to manually upload the apk to the google play store dashboard in the first time. You also need to finish content rating, select the countries you want to distribute and a bunch of other things. Otherwise you can't click that "publish" button.
However,if your app has already been created in Google play sotre, you can always use fastlane to update your app (edit store listing, upload newer version apk). Basically you need to:
1. Go to your google play account, do the create a service account and save the json key.
2. Set up fastlane for your project using that json key and your app's application id.
3. Use supply to do updates.
The link in the above answers should help you figure it out.
I have already published an app to version 2, and have uploaded an app with version 3 to to Google Play as a beta testing version, and then discovered with errors, so I have modified the codes is now ready for publish.
I tried to upload the correct apk with version 3 to Google Play, but it says I have already uploaded a version 3 apk already.
Question:
How to remove the wrong apk from the Google Play? Or what should I do? Or I can only modify and upload the app as version 4?
Thanks!!
You can not remove the apk from google play. You just have now update your application version and upload the new apk on google play that is the only way.
Please note that package names for app files are unique and permanent, so please choose wisely. Package names cannot be deleted or re-used in the future. Keep in mind that if you've lost your keystore, you'll have to publish the app with a new package name and a new key. You should also update the description of the original app and unpublish it.
If the app was ever published, this will not work. You can unpublish an app, but you cannot delete any .apk files that were ever active while the app was published. (This behavior is undocumented as far as I can find.) This is unfortunate; it would be nice to be able to completely remove all traces of an app that was never downloaded by anyone. Even better would be a sandbox area that emulated all aspects of Google Play, including buying your own app (and would support doing it through the emulator).
Check out HERE