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This guide walks you through preparing an Android release for Google Play with Bilt: Play Console setup, service-account access, Android signing, your first app bundle, and repeat builds. Open Settings → Publish in your project, then choose Quickstart → Play Store to follow along.

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Prerequisites

  • A working Bilt app you’re ready to publish on Android
  • A Google Play developer account in Play Console ($25 one-time registration fee; no annual renewal)
  • Access to Google Cloud so you can create a service account and enable the Google Play Android Developer API
  • Store listing and policy details for your app: privacy policy, data safety answers, target audience, content rating, and pricing or countries

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Step 1: Create or open your Play Console account

If you do not have Play Console access yet:
  1. Go to Play Console
  2. Create or join a Google Play developer account — a one-time $25 USD registration fee applies (no recurring annual fee for the account itself)
  3. Pay with an international credit or debit card (Visa, MasterCard, or American Express)
  4. Complete Google’s account, identity, and organization checks before you try to publish

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Step 2: Create the app in Play Console

Create the Play Console app first, then use the same Android package name in Bilt.
1

Create the Play app

  1. Open Play Console
  2. Click Create app
  3. Enter the app name, default language, app or game type, and free or paid choice
  4. Answer the declarations Google shows, then create the app
2

Finish the required Play setup

On the app dashboard, complete the required setup tasks Google shows for your app. This usually includes app access or sign-in instructions, ads, content rating, target audience, privacy policy, Data safety, store listing, and pricing or countries.
3

Choose your package name

Pick the Android package name Bilt should build for this Play app, such as com.yourcompany.appname. Use a stable, lowercase package name because Google Play treats it as the app’s permanent identifier after upload.

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Step 3: Connect Google Play to Bilt

Open Settings → Publish → Play Store. The Play Store setup tab has three sections: Package name, Service key file, and Android upload key.
1

Add the package name

In Package name, click Configure package name, enter your Android package name, then click Save.
2

Create a Google service account

In Google Cloud Console, open IAM & Admin → Service Accounts, click Create service account, fill in the service account name, and use Service Account User in the permissions step.
3

Download the JSON key

Open the service account, choose Keys, then click Add key → Create new key. Choose JSON and save the downloaded file securely.
The JSON key can publish to Google Play when granted access. Treat it like a password.
4

Enable the Google Play Android Developer API

In the same Google Cloud project, open the Google Play Android Developer API page and click Enable.
5

Invite the service account to Play Console

In Play Console, open Users and permissions, click Invite new users, and invite the service account email from Google Cloud. Under App permissions, add your app and grant Admin (all permissions), then click Apply and Invite user.
6

Upload the service key file in Bilt

Back in Settings → Publish → Play Store, click Configure service key file, upload the JSON file, then click Save service key file.

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Step 4: Set up the Android upload key

Open Settings → Publish → Play Store → Android upload key.
  • Generate — Bilt creates and saves an Android upload key for this project (recommended for new Play apps)
  • Upload your own — Upload an existing .jks, .keystore, .p12, or .pfx upload key and enter the file password, key name, and key password
After a key is saved, Bilt signs Android builds with it automatically. Click Download upload key and store the backup securely. Google Play requires future releases to use the same upload key unless you reset it through Play Console.

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Step 5: Build and upload your first app bundle

Open Deploy & Share → Release on App Store from the top-right project button, then switch to the Build subtab.
  1. Select Play Store as the build target
  2. Click Start Play Store build
  3. Watch progress under Recent builds
  4. When the build finishes, open the build artifact menu and download the Play Store package
For the first Play release, Google may require a manual upload before automatic publishing works:
  1. Open Play Console and select your app
  2. In the left dashboard, go to Test and release → Internal testing
  3. Click Create new release in the top right
  4. Upload the downloaded app-release.aab file
  5. Choose a release name
  6. Click Next in the bottom right, fix any errors, then click Save
Bilt builds Android App Bundles (.aab) for Google Play. Google Play uses app bundles to generate optimized APKs for each device.

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Step 6: Let Bilt handle future updates

After the first upload and Play Console setup are accepted, use Settings → Publish → Build for repeat Android releases:
  1. Select Play Store
  2. Click Start Play Store build
  3. If Google Play publishing is ready, Bilt sends the package to the internal testing track automatically
  4. If Google Play publishing is not ready, Bilt still creates a downloadable Play Store package so you can upload it manually
The Build tab also includes a Google Play Console button for jumping back to Play Console.

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Step 7: Move from testing to production

When you are ready to go live:
  1. Complete your store listing, App content declarations, prices, countries, and release notes in Play Console
  2. Test the app through internal testing, then closed or open testing if needed
  3. Create or promote a production release
  4. Review the release, resolve any errors, and submit it for Google review
  5. Once approved, your app is live on Google Play

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Play Store tabs in Bilt

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Common issues

Enable the Google Play Android Developer API in the same Google Cloud project that owns your service account, then start another build.
Upload the JSON key file downloaded from Google Cloud. Bilt expects a Google service account JSON file, not a Play Console export or a copied email address.
Bilt can still build the Android package, but Google Play did not allow automatic publishing. Check that the service account has app-level release access in Play Console and that your first manual app bundle upload or required Play setup is complete.
The package name in Bilt must match the package Google Play expects for this app. Use a value like com.company.appname, keep it lowercase, and do not change it after the first Play upload.
Future releases must be signed with the same upload key used for the app in Google Play. If Bilt generated your key, keep the Download upload key backup. If you used your own key, upload that same key in Bilt.
Check the build logs in the Build tab. Common causes include a missing package name, missing upload key, invalid service-account access, or an Android build error in the app.

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Further reading