How to publish your Android Application

So far, there have been two applications in the Android Market, so I want to write something about the Android Application release process, it is used to tell friends who want to publish their own applications what will happen during the release process.

Before publishing your application, you must perform digital signature authentication for your application. On Google's Android developer website, a full version is about the signature issue page. However, if you are using eclipse with the ADT (Android Developer Tools) plug-in, this process becomes surprisingly simple: Right-click your application project name in the package explorer view, select "android Tools" from the context menu, and select "Export signed
Application Package "(export the signature application package ). This will start a signature guide window, which will take you step by step. Basically, it is a simple form filling operation. You need to provide the correct information for the signature, this information will be used later. After this process is complete, you finally get the keystorefile of your application and a signed. APK Installation File. I suggest placing all your keystore files in one place (the keystore file has the same name as its application ), because you need to use it to sign an upgraded application in the future.

Once you have a signed. APK file, you should consider the interface snapshot of your application. These images will be used to display your application in the Android Market. The Android marketplace only allows you to upload two snapshots, so which two images do you want to select to display the essential features of your application, in addition, you can still see the images after the image size is reduced by half: Your images will be reduced in the app description in the Android Market. You can click it to view the full-size images, I don't know how many people can do this.

You have two ways to capture screen snapshots: You can use the snapshot tool on the Android device simulator that comes with the eclispe Android plug-in, or start your Android device, use a screen capture program like drocap2 (Update: In fact, there is a tool in the SDK that can capture a screen without starting your application ). The android trading market only accepts screenshots of 320x480 or 480X854 pixels. Make sure that your images are in proportion to the two images.

You also need to provide a title for your application and a brief description. The title of your app can contain a maximum of 30 English characters, but note that on the android homepage screen, only 8 to 9 Characters of your title are displayed below the app startup image. The application description can contain a maximum of 325 characters: I don't know why Google chooses such a special length limit, but this means you must consider your words. Make sure that the descriptive word you use is your favorite word used when you search in the android trading market on your mobile phone.

You also need to leave contact information for your application, one of which is URL. I suggest that your url be directed to the web page of your application. You can provide more detailed instructions on your application, as well as other richer screens, this information is often useful for those who find your applications in the android trading market and want to know more details.

Once your application has a title, Introduction, screen snapshot, and contact information, you should renew it. You need to pay a one-time registration fee of $25. Once the registration is complete, you can access the Web interface of the developer console.
Application is linked to a page that can upload your .apk file, including uploading screenshots. You need to add other necessary information. When all the information meets the requirements, you can make your application program publicly available for download. Click the "publish" button on this page, your application is successfully launched in the trading market.

If your application is charged, you need to set up a Google merchant account ). Unless you want to run a real app development store, you only need to simply choose to store all your app sales revenue to your bank account, this process is very straightforward: All you need to know is that it takes one to two days to open an account. With an account, Google will inject your sales revenue into the account you provide once a day (excluding refund requests for inbound, weekend and bank leave for non-Checkout ). You can select "return" within 24 hours after purchasing your application (more than 24 hours means you cannot return the product ), therefore, Google will automatically deduct enough money from your business account to guarantee refund (that is, Google does not need to ask for money from your bank account ). Google's payment tool will show you all the transaction information, including the refund and cancellation records.

After the application is released, you can track all the performance of your application in the transaction market from the developer console. The console lists all your applications and:

• It tells you how many times each application has been downloaded.
• Tell you how many devices are installed with your application (I'm not sure they can track this information, but apparently they did ).
• Tell you how many user ratings each application has received, and the average rating (from 1 star to 5 stars)
• Provides a "comment" link that points to a page with detailed information about each rating and a list of Comments left by users using your application.

The data appears to be refreshed once a day or two.

Don't be discouraged if your applications do not have a large volume of downloads at the beginning: Unless you have been marketing in the blog or technical press, users can only search for applications on their mobile phones in the Android Market. If you want to expand the exposure of your application:

• Submit your application information on websites such as androidzoom, helloandroid.com, and androidpit. Androidzoom is a very good website, which allows you to specify which applications are available in the android Trading Market (this website pulls official transaction market data ), this allows you to provide more descriptions and additional screenshots.
• In some Android forums such as anddev.org, publicize your applications in the forum specifically used to declare new Android applications.
• Search for Android news websites that can accept comments on your applications, such as androinica and droidweb: Maybe they won't reply to you (I am), but try again.

If you have no regrets in your future, you must have a clear conscience in your future.

So far, there have been two applications in the Android Market, so I want to write something about the Android Application release process, it is used to tell friends who want to publish their own applications what will happen during the release process.

Before publishing your application, you must perform digital signature authentication for your application. On Google's Android developer website, a full version is about the signature issue page. However, if you are using eclipse with the ADT (Android Developer Tools) plug-in, this process becomes surprisingly simple: Right-click your application project name in the package explorer view, select "android Tools" from the context menu, and select "Export signed
Application Package "(export the signature application package ). This will start a signature guide window, which will take you step by step. Basically, it is a simple form filling operation. You need to provide the correct information for the signature, this information will be used later. After this process is complete, you finally get the keystorefile of your application and a signed. APK Installation File. I suggest placing all your keystore files in one place (the keystore file has the same name as its application ), because you need to use it to sign an upgraded application in the future.

Once you have a signed. APK file, you should consider the interface snapshot of your application. These images will be used to display your application in the Android Market. The Android marketplace only allows you to upload two snapshots, so which two images do you want to select to display the essential features of your application, in addition, you can still see the images after the image size is reduced by half: Your images will be reduced in the app description in the Android Market. You can click it to view the full-size images, I don't know how many people can do this.

You have two ways to capture screen snapshots: You can use the snapshot tool on the Android device simulator that comes with the eclispe Android plug-in, or start your Android device, use a screen capture program like drocap2 (Update: In fact, there is a tool in the SDK that can capture a screen without starting your application ). The android trading market only accepts screenshots of 320x480 or 480X854 pixels. Make sure that your images are in proportion to the two images.

You also need to provide a title for your application and a brief description. The title of your app can contain a maximum of 30 English characters, but note that on the android homepage screen, only 8 to 9 Characters of your title are displayed below the app startup image. The application description can contain a maximum of 325 characters: I don't know why Google chooses such a special length limit, but this means you must consider your words. Make sure that the descriptive word you use is your favorite word used when you search in the android trading market on your mobile phone.

You also need to leave contact information for your application, one of which is URL. I suggest that your url be directed to the web page of your application. You can provide more detailed instructions on your application, as well as other richer screens, this information is often useful for those who find your applications in the android trading market and want to know more details.

Once your application has a title, Introduction, screen snapshot, and contact information, you should renew it. You need to pay a one-time registration fee of $25. Once the registration is complete, you can access the Web interface of the developer console.
Application is linked to a page that can upload your .apk file, including uploading screenshots. You need to add other necessary information. When all the information meets the requirements, you can make your application program publicly available for download. Click the "publish" button on this page, your application is successfully launched in the trading market.

If your application is charged, you need to set up a Google merchant account ). Unless you want to run a real app development store, you only need to simply choose to store all your app sales revenue to your bank account, this process is very straightforward: All you need to know is that it takes one to two days to open an account. With an account, Google will inject your sales revenue into the account you provide once a day (excluding refund requests for inbound, weekend and bank leave for non-Checkout ). You can select "return" within 24 hours after purchasing your application (more than 24 hours means you cannot return the product ), therefore, Google will automatically deduct enough money from your business account to guarantee refund (that is, Google does not need to ask for money from your bank account ). Google's payment tool will show you all the transaction information, including the refund and cancellation records.

After the application is released, you can track all the performance of your application in the transaction market from the developer console. The console lists all your applications and:

• It tells you how many times each application has been downloaded.
• Tell you how many devices are installed with your application (I'm not sure they can track this information, but apparently they did ).
• Tell you how many user ratings each application has received, and the average rating (from 1 star to 5 stars)
• Provides a "comment" link that points to a page with detailed information about each rating and a list of Comments left by users using your application.

The data appears to be refreshed once a day or two.

Don't be discouraged if your applications do not have a large volume of downloads at the beginning: Unless you have been marketing in the blog or technical press, users can only search for applications on their mobile phones in the Android Market. If you want to expand the exposure of your application:

• Submit your application information on websites such as androidzoom, helloandroid.com, and androidpit. Androidzoom is a very good website, which allows you to specify which applications are available in the android Trading Market (this website pulls official transaction market data ), this allows you to provide more descriptions and additional screenshots.
• In some Android forums such as anddev.org, publicize your applications in the forum specifically used to declare new Android applications.
• Search for Android news websites that can accept comments on your applications, such as androinica and droidweb: Maybe they won't reply to you (I am), but try again.