Shipping

How to pass Google Play’s review

Play is generally more permissive at review and considerably stricter about the paperwork around it. The gap catches people who’ve only shipped to Apple.

1. New personal accounts must run a closed test first.

   For personal developer accounts created since late 2023, Google requires a closed test with at least 12 testers opted in continuously for 14 days before you can even apply for production access. It is not waivable and it is not fast -- start recruiting testers while you’re still building.

2. Twelve opted-in testers means twelve who actually joined.

   Inviting twenty people is not the same as twelve accepting. The counter tracks opt-ins, and if someone leaves partway the clock can suffer. Over-recruit, and confirm each person actually installed.

3. Fill the Data safety form honestly and completely.

   Play’s equivalent of Apple’s privacy labels, and it is cross-checked against your app’s actual behaviour. It must cover what your third-party SDKs collect, not just your own code.

4. Target a recent API level or you cannot ship.

   Play enforces a rolling minimum target API level for new submissions and updates. An app that built fine last year can become unshippable without a single code change on your side.

5. Ship an app bundle, not an APK.

   Play requires the Android App Bundle format for new apps. If your build pipeline still produces an APK for release, that’s a change to make before you need it urgently.

6. Content rating comes from a questionnaire, and it binds you.

   The IARC questionnaire generates your rating across territories. Answer it accurately -- understating user interaction or purchasable content is a policy violation rather than a mistake.

7. Declare the sensitive stuff explicitly.

   Financial features, health data, location in the background, and anything touching children all have their own declarations and, in several cases, extra review. Discovering this at submission is a bad week.

8. The Families policy is a different game.

   If your app targets children, the rules on ads, analytics and data collection tighten sharply. A general-audience analytics SDK is often simply not allowed.

9. Version codes are permanent.

   An Android versionCode must strictly increase and can never be reused -- not even after unpublishing a release. Burn one on a bad build and it is gone.

10. Policy changes arrive by email and have deadlines.

    Play announces policy changes with a compliance date attached. Apps that miss it get removed rather than warned repeatedly. Those emails are not marketing.