GameMaker: Studio

GameMaker: Studio

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How to get your game on Google Play
By Finch
So you have developed the next great mobile app for Android and are ready to submit to Google Play. But now what?
   
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How do I publish on Google Play
Introduction
So you have developed the next great mobile app for Android and are ready to submit to Google Play. But now what?

Well, first you have to register for a Google Play account (which will incur a small, one off, lifetime fee). Once you have registered, it's easy to upload your application from the home screen of the Developer Console by selecting "Upload Applications." You will then be asked to fill in the following information for your app:

APK file size: Maximum supported size is 50MB.
Draft application .apk file: When you upload an .apk file, it can be saved as a draft while you edit the other aspects of the list.
Please note that package names for app files are unique and permanent, so you are recommended to choose wisely. These names cannot be deleted or re-used in the future. Also bear 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.
Screenshots: 2 screenshots are required. The additional 6 are optional.
High-Resolution Application Icon: Required.
Promotional Graphic: Optional.
Feature Graphic: Optional.
Promotional Video: Optional.


Listing Details
Below is a list of the details that you will need to supply to the Google Play store when you first supply them with your app for publishing:


Keep Your App Descriptions Concise

Sure, you can create a website that details all the great things your shiny new app does (and you probably should), but your app description is one of the few opportunities you have to do this from within the store. Keep in mind that many people will browse the store and read your description from their phone or tablet, so it is a good idea to keep it brief and highly scannable. Here are some other tips to make your description an app selling ninja:

Briefly describe what your app does in the first two lines.
Use 700 characters or less
Avoid long blocks of text
List key features
Include user reviews and expert reviews once available
Emphasize app’s simplicity and ease of use
While you are crafting prose, don’t forget to write your promo text for the Google Play Store. This text shows underneath your promo graphic on feature pages like their Editor's Choice page.



Store Graphics
The next thing you will need are graphics for the app stores. These promotional images are used to represent your app in the stores, so take some time to make sure these look polished. In addition to the app icon, the Google Play Store allows you to provide two extra promotional graphics.



The App Icon:



512 x 512 px, 32-bit PNG, Max size 1024KB, Transparency allowed






Promo Graphic (Optional):



180 x 120 px, 24-bit PNG, No border, No Transparency







Feature Graphic (Optoinal)



1024 x 500 px, safe frame of 924 x 400 px, 24-bit PNG, No Transparency



Officially, Google says the promo and feature graphic are optional. You should consider them a requirement though. The feature graphic is required to get your app featured anywhere in their app store and greatly enhances your app page.



A Screenshot is Worth 1,000 Words

Excellent screenshots are another critical element of your app listing. The required number of screenshots is quite low but here again it pays to submit more. This is your best opportunity to show people what they can expect if they install your app.



Show Your App In Action with Video

Videos are another great way to show people your app. With video you can quickly highlight your app’s top features. It’s also a good opportunity to show people how to use your app so they feel like experts before they’ve even installed it.

To submit a video to the Google Play Store you will need to first upload the video to YouTube and then provide its URL. Doing this will feature the video on your app details page under your screenshots. Google recommends a short video between 30 seconds and 2 minutes.



Publishing
Under the Google Play publishing options, you have two further sections to fill out:

Copy protection: Copy protection may help prevent applications from being copied from a device, however it increases the amount of memory on the phone required to install the application. As Google Play are expected to deprecate copy protection soon, if you have a paid application, it is recommended that you implement the Google Play licensing service. if you use this then the License code that you are given will need to be added into your app in the GameMaker:Studio Global Game Settings, and the Licencing check-box flagged.

Locations: These are the locations in which you may distribute your applications.
Not all locations listed currently have users with Android-powered devices.
You may select locations one-by-one or choose the "All current and future locations" option. This option means that, as we add more distribution locations, these locations will be enabled for your app. Bear in mind that the US Government may block some of these locations.
Please note that at the time of writing this, you may only sell applications to users in specific locations around the world (for a complete list of countries, please see here).



Privacy Policy
As a developer, you may submit a privacy policy for each of your apps on the Google Play store, and when users browse your app they will be able to review the privacy policy before downloading.

This is an optional extra and you will need to determine what makes the most sense for your app and your users, however note that the privacy policy field is an additional tool that will allow users to better evaluate the apps they wish to download.

If you do not want to add a privacy policy at the moment, you can check the box next to Not submitting a privacy policy URL at this time, but if you think you should add one but are not sure how to do this, This Link Here is an example of the many Privacy Policy Generators that can be found around the web).



Contact information
For your app to be accepted, you must pick at least one support channel for your app:

Website
Email
Telephone
This information is viewable to users from Google Play and provides a valuable service for you to get feedback on your app, as well as providing a means for your clients to get help should there be any problems. Note that you may choose more than one of the available options.
5 Comments
FerretSquad 1 Oct, 2023 @ 4:45pm 
I wont ever develop an app, I dont know how I ended up here (I got the software in a bundle most likely) and this just happened to come up. What an awesome guide, was a good, random 3am read xD Cheers and best wishes o7
A Pacifist 31 Jul, 2014 @ 7:50am 
Thanks!
opino72 29 Jun, 2013 @ 9:10am 
;)
Finch  [author] 28 Jun, 2013 @ 12:14pm 
Thanks!
opino72 27 Jun, 2013 @ 6:53pm 
You made an error! "optoinal"!
Good guide!:happymeat: