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Rork builds your Android app and can send it to Google for you. What Rork cannot do is be you: the developer account, the identity checks, and the store listing belong to your Google account. Set the account up before you finish the app, because Google’s checks take days, not minutes.

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What Google asks for

1

Register a developer account

Go to Google Play Console and sign up with the Google account you want to own the app. Google charges a one-time $25 registration fee, unlike Apple’s yearly membership.
2

Choose personal or organization

A personal account is you. An organization account is a company, and Google asks for business details to prove it exists. Pick the one that matches who will be paid, because changing it later is painful.
3

Verify your identity

Google asks for your legal name, address, and a document to confirm them. Use details that match your bank, or payouts stall later.
4

Set up payments if you plan to charge

A paid app or in-app purchases need a payments profile. A free app does not, so this can wait.
New personal accounts have to run a closed test first. Personal developer accounts created after 13 November 2023 need a closed test with at least 12 testers opted in continuously for 14 days before Google grants access to production. Internal testing does not satisfy that rule.Plan for it. Twelve real people, opted in, for two full weeks, is the slowest part of shipping your first Android app.

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What Rork does for you

Once the account exists, publishing happens from the project. Open Publish, pick your Android app, then Upload to Google Play. Rork can go the whole way:
  1. Build AAB for Play produces the Android App Bundle Google requires.
  2. Connect Google Play links the Google account that manages the app. Rork explains why: “Connect the account that manages this Play app. Manual AAB upload stays available.”
  3. Rork checks that it can reach your Play Console app.
  4. Send to Google Play uploads the bundle. When it lands, Rork tells you exactly where it went: “Version 1 is in internal testing. It isn’t public yet.”
If you would rather do it by hand, Download AAB for Play Console gives you the file to upload yourself. See How to publish your Rork app to Google Play Store.

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What you still do in Play Console

Rork cannot create your store listing or accept Google’s policies for you. In Play Console you:
  • Create the app the first time. Rork walks you through it, including Copy package name so the listing matches your build.
  • Fill in the listing: title, description, graphics, category, content rating, data safety, and the policy questionnaires.
  • Add testers for your closed test, and share the opt-in link with them.
  • Send the release for review when you are ready for production.
Google’s review is usually faster than Apple’s, but the first release of a new account takes longer because the account checks run alongside it.

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The order that works

  1. Register the account and start identity verification. Do this first, on day one.
  2. Build the app in Rork and test it on your own device. See How to test Android apps on your Android device.
  3. Create the app in Play Console, then let Rork send a build to internal testing.
  4. Start the closed test with your 12 testers, and let the 14 days run while you finish the app.
  5. Fill in the listing, then request production access and submit.

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FAQ

No. Install the APK on your own phone first. The account is for distribution. See How to test Android apps on your Android device.
The rule targets personal accounts created after 13 November 2023. Check the current requirement in your own Play Console, because Google states it there for your account.
They have to be real Google accounts that opt in and stay opted in. Recruiting them is the work. Ask in the Rork Discord, where founders swap testing.
Rork’s automated route targets internal testing. Promoting a release to production is a decision you make in Play Console.
Yes, one per store. Apple charges 99ayear,Googlecharges99 a year, Google charges 25 once. See Create your Apple Developer Account.

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Next steps

Publish to Google Play

Build the AAB and get it into Play Console.

Test on your Android phone

Install the app before anyone else sees it.

Apple Developer account

The same job on the other store.

iPhone, Android, or web

Which platforms your project should have.