Publishing Your Branded Android App

keytool and jarsigner are in Java runtimes. Linux users can get these in OpenJDK. For example, on current versions of Debian, Mint, and Ubuntu Linux you need to install two packages. The first one supplies keytool and the second one supplies jarsigner:

Plus some additional 32-bit packages:

On SUSE systems, install this package:

It is simpler to get these on CentOS and Red Hat Enterprise Linux, as they have created some nice wrapper scripts around keytool and jarsigner that you can install standalone:

macOS and Windows users can download the Oracle JDK from Oracle’s Java Download page.

If your operating system provides the zipalign package, you can install it with:

If zipalign is not provided as an installable package for your OS, you can download it from source via the Android Software Development Kit. It is a large download, but once you have downloaded it you can copy the zipalign binary to any computer and use it. Go to Android Software Development Kit and click the Download Android Studio button.

Download the appropriate SDK Tools Only package for your operating system.

Unpack it and change to the unpacked directory, which is android-sdk-linux on Linux systems, android-sdk-macosx on Mac systems, and android-sdk-windows on Windows systems. There is one more step, and that is to install additional tools. Run this command from the unpacked directory:

This will take some time, as it is a large download. When it’s finished you’ll find zipalign in the build-tools directory. For convenience, you could copy zipalign to your home folder or other location of your choice, and to any other computer without installing the whole Android SDK.

After installing your signing tools, signing your app takes just a few steps. In these examples the name of the app, as supplied by ownBuilder, is acmecloud_1.7.0-release-unsigned.apk.

To create your certificate copy the following command, replacing acme-release-key.keystore and acme_key with your own keystore name and alias, which can be anything you want. The keystore name and alias must both have a password, which can be the same for both. Then enter your company information as you are prompted:

Now use jarsigner to sign your app. Replace acme-release-key.keystore and acme_key with your own keystore name and alias:

You can ignore the warning at the end; you should see a jar signed message when it is finished.

Now you can verify that your app is signed:

This will spit out hundreds of lines of output. If it ends with the following it’s good:

The last step for preparing your .apk for release is to run zipalign on it. zipalign optimizes your file to use less memory. You must specify both an input and an output file, so this is good time to give your app a shorter name, and it should not say "unsigned". Our example file will be renamed to acmecloud_1.7.0.apk:

Again, this emits a lot of output, and when you see Verification succesful at the end you know it succeeded, and it is ready to distribute.

Start at Google’s Get Started With Publishing page. Have a credit card ready, because it costs about $25. If you already have a Google account, it is usually better to create a separate new account just for publishing apps to the Google Play Store.

Google’s process for uploading apps is fairly streamlined, and the most time-consuming task is creating all the required graphics. After registering, you’ll see the welcome screen for the Google Dev Console. Click Publish an Android app on Google Play.

This opens the Add New Application screen. Click the Prepare Store Listing button. Note that as you navigate the various screens, you can click the Save Draft button to preserve your changes.

On the next screen, enter your product description.

Then you’ll have to upload a batch of graphics in various sizes for the Graphic Assets section, like these images for a smartphone and seven-inch tablet. You are required to upload at least two images.

You must also upload a 512x512-pixel logo, and a 1024x500 banner.

Now choose the store categories for your app.

Then enter your contact information, which will be visible on your store listing.

On the next line you may optionally link to your privacy policy. It is recommended to have a privacy policy.

When you’re finished with the Store Listing page, go to the Pricing  Distribution page.

For now let’s make this a free app, so click the Free button and select the countries you want to distribute it in.

Now you may upload your app.

You can now upload your app to your Google Play Store page. Go to the APK page and click Upload your first APK to Production. You don’t need a license key for a free app.

Drag-and-drop, or browse to select your app.

A successful upload looks like this:

Your app is not yet published, but only uploaded to your account. There is one more step to take before you can publish, and that is to go back to the Pricing & Distribution page and fill out the Consent section.

Click the Save Draft button, and if you followed all the required steps you should now see a Publish App button.

It will not be published immediately, but after review by Google, which usually takes just a few hours.

After it has been published, your store listing is updated as PUBLISHED, and it includes a link to your Play Store listing.

Now all you need to do is distribute the URL to your users, and they can install it either from their Web browsers, or from their Google Play Store apps. This is how it looks to your users.

If you would rather not give your branded app away you can sell it on Google Play. You may convert a paid app to free, but you may not convert a free app to paid.

You must establish a Google Wallet Merchant Account. On your Google Dev Console click the Learn more link under the Free/Paid button for a nice thorough review of the process and tools. It requires verifying your business information and bank account, and you should expect it to take 3-4 days.

When you’re ready to set it up, click the Set up a merchant account now link under the Free/Paid button.