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Building & Publishing to the Play Store

June 02, 2026 • 1 min read

When your app is ready, you ship a signed release build to the Google Play Console for the world to install.

1) Create a signing key

Android Studio → Build → Generate Signed Bundle/APK. Create a keystore and keep it safe forever — you need it for every future update.

2) Build an App Bundle (.aab)

Google Play prefers the .aab format; Play generates optimised APKs per device from it.

// app/build.gradle.kts — release config
buildTypes {
    release {
        isMinifyEnabled = true   // shrink & obfuscate with R8
        proguardFiles(getDefaultProguardFile("proguard-android-optimize.txt"), "proguard-rules.pro")
    }
}

3) Play Console checklist

  • Create the app, fill the store listing (title, description, screenshots, icon).
  • Complete the Data Safety form and content rating.
  • Upload the signed .aab to a track (internal → closed → production).
  • Set pricing/countries and roll out.
Tip: Bump versionCode for every upload, and versionName for user-visible versions.
Common mistake: Losing your keystore means you can never update the app under the same listing. Back it up in multiple secure places.

Summary

Sign a release, build an .aab, enable R8 shrinking, and publish through the Play Console. Congratulations — you can ship Android apps end to end!