Learn how to publish and distribute commercial apps on the Google Play Store. This book gives you all the knowledge you need for a successful Android app launch including the nuts and bolts of getting your app on the Play Store, how to ensure your app is sleek and secure, how to distribute it to testers and how to attract and manage user feedback and monitor performance post- release. This is everything you need to publish and distribute a professional, secure and successful Android app!
If you’re planning on releasing a commercial app to the Google Play Store, you need this book. It will walk you through the entire process of uploading the app to the Play Store, distributing it to testers, creating a release strategy and making sure your users will continue to love it in the future.
In short, this book will give you the knowledge you need to distribute an app with the best chance of long-term success.
Author(s): Fuad Kamal; Evana Margain Puig
Edition: First
Publisher: Razeware LLC
Year: 2022
Language: English
Pages: 274
What You Need
Book Source Code & Forums
Dedications
About the Team
About the Authors
About the Editors
Introduction
How to read this book
Chapter 1: The Perfect Build
What to expect from the release process
Tools for Release
In an ideal world, what would “the perfect build” look like?
Releasing pain points
Concepts & Terminology
Getting the sample project
Key points
Where to go from here?
Chapter 2: App Store Quick Start
Code cleanup
Versioning
Building a release version
Checking your file size
Release testing
Creating your Google Play Store listing
Main store listing
Releasing your app
Key points
Where to go from here?
Chapter 3: Preparing for Release: Test Tracks
Play Console overview
Key points
Where to go from here?
Chapter 4: Strategies for Release
Version codes
Open test track
Pre-launch report
Rollout & quality
Release to production
Publishing API
Making use of the Google toolsets
Production release
Post-production
Other publishing methods
Key points
Where to go from here?
Chapter 5: Permissions
Permissions
App manifest permissions
Asking for permission
Updating Podplay to search by location
Finding background location use
Simplifying multiple permission requests with Android Jetpack
Key points
Where to go from here?
Chapter 6: Security Best Practices
Data storage domains
Securely storing data
Securing the Organized Simple Note app
Challenge
Key points
Where to go from here?
Chapter 7: Optimizing App Size & Obfusticating the APK
Why is optimization important?
Terminology
Best practices for reducing your app size
APK Analyzer
Other improvements you can do with the analysis
Optimizing images
Making changes in your images
Unused resources
Enabling Proguard / R8
Size reductions to make directly in your code
Going one step further in optimization
Key points
Chapter 8: Adding Features Dynamically
What are dynamic features?
Delivering dynamic modules
Feature flagging
Key points
Where to go from here?
Chapter 9: Build Variants: Implementing Build Types
Switching build types in Android Studio
Implementing build types in your app
Gradle DSL reference
Release build type
Key points
Chapter 10: Publishing in the Real World
What can you do with flavors?
Creating flavors
Key points
Chapter 11: Automation Tools for Your Local Environment
What is automation?
Why automate my process?
Building the app via command line
Introduction to Fastlane
Creating a Fastfile
Running tests
Using Screengrab
Deploying beta builds
Deploying to production
Uploading your app to the Play Console
Key points
Where to go from here?
Chapter 12: Continuous Integration & Build Servers
The benefits of CI
GitHub Actions
Key points
Where to go from here?
Chapter 13: Getting Top Ratings & Avoiding Negative Reviews: Gathering In-App Feedback
Responding to Google Play comments in the dashboard
Case studies: in-app feedback
Building an in-app feedback mechanism
Key points
Where to go from here?
Chapter 14: Monitoring & Improving App Performance: Android Vitals
Understanding Android Vitals
Exploring the dashboard
Reviewing pre-launch reports
Using Android vitals to understand your app’s power consumption
Understanding your app’s performance
Key points
Where to go from here?
Chapter 15: Conclusion
