Publishing Your Application

After you have created , and fully debugged , you application , you might want to deploy it to the Google.Store for others to enjoy. The following sections outline the steps for publishing your applications.

Generating a Signed APK

To Publish Your finished application on the Google Play Store , you must generate a signed APK ( the Android application package ) . The APK is the compiled , executable version of your application. Signing it is much like signing your name to a document. The signature identifies the app's developer to Google and the users who install your application. More importantly , unless your Android Studio is in developer mode , unsigned application will not run . Use the following steps to generate a signed APK :

1. Generate a signed APK from your code by selecting Build -> Generate Signed APK from the Menu bar to bring up the Generate Signed APK window as show in figure

2. Assuming you have never published an application from Android Studio , you need to create a new key store. Click the Create New button to display New Key Store window.

3. Fill out all of the information on this form because it pertains to your entity and application. Notice that there are two places for a password . These are the passwords for your key store and your key , respectively . Because a key store can hold multiple keys , it requires a separate password than that of the key for a specific app.

4. Click OK to return to the Generate Signed APK window.

5. In the Generate Signed APK windows , click Next to review and finish the process.

Now that you have a signed APK , you can upload it to the Google Play Store using developer console at https://play.google.com/apps/publish/

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