Native App Setup for Android

Developer Account Setup - Creating an Android Developer Account

A valid email to be used for the Developer account must be provided.
Developer accounts allowing submission of apps to the Google Play store have a fee of $25.
Although not required, a website for your organization that is publicly available is recommended.

Steps

Go to https://play.google.com/console/u/0/signup and sign into your Google account. If you do not already have a Google account, use the option to Create A New Google Account.
Select Continue to Payment.
Agree and Accept the Terms by selecting the boxes. Select Continue to Payment.
Enter payment information and select Buy. A confirmation window will display. Select Continue Registration.
Complete the Developer Profile information. Select Complete Registration.
Once the Google Play Developer account has been successfully created, the Welcome page displays.

Android Invitation to Build Grower360 App

Email the following information to SSI at support@agvance.net:

Icon sized 1024 x 1024 pixels
Name of App as it will appear in Google Play. It is recommended the name be less than 30 characters long.

After providing this information, complete the following steps in the Google Play Developer Account:

Invite a new admin user. Use the Google Play Add Developer Account documentation as a resource for this step.
1. Select Users & Permissions in the menu.
2. Select Invite New User.
  - Invite: ssijenkinsbuildhost@gmail.com
Create a service account. Use the Google Play Android Publisher documentation as a resource for completing the following steps:
1. Sign into the Google Play developer console as the Account Owner.
2. At Setup / API access / Service Accounts, select Create Service Account.
3. Follow the link to the Google Cloud Platform and select Create service account. Name the service account "Jenkins", then choose Create.
4. In the Role field, choose Service Accounts > Service Account User and select Done.
5. Select New Service Account from the grid, then select the Keys tab at the top of the page.
6. Enable the option to Create a new key and choose JSON as the key type. Select Save.
7. Email the .JSON file that downloads (e.g. api-xxxxxxxxx-xxxxx-xxxx.json) to ssijenkinsbuildhost@gmail.com. Close the dialog box that appears.
8. Copy the email address of the new user (e.g. jenkins@api-xxxxxxxxx-xxxxx-xxxx.iam.gserviceaccount.com). Close the page.
Set the appropriate permissions for the service account. Use the Google Play Android Publisher documentation as a reference to complete the following steps:
1. Return to the Google Play developer console page and select Done.
2. Note that the service account should be associated with the Google Play publisher account
  - If it isn't, follow these additional steps before continuing:
    1. Select Users & permissions in the menu.
    2. Select Invite new user.
    3. Paste in the email address copied above.
    4. Set the User Role to Release Manager.
3. Select Grant access for the new user email from Step G above.
4. Select Add user (or Send invitation, as appropriate).
5. Log out of the Google Play publisher account.

Notify SSI when all steps are completed by emailing support@agvance.net. In the email, confirm you have completed the invitation process for the Grower360 Native App setup, specify your app name, and include the icon you have associated with your app.

Submitting App for Review

To begin the app submission process, go to play.google.com and log in to your developer account.

Select the App that has been published.
Using the Dashboard tab on the right, complete the Provide information about your app and set up your store listing and Publish your app on Google Play sections.

Set Up Your App

Declarations – Check the options to Confirm App Meets the Developer Program Policies and Accept US Export Laws.
App Access – Select All or some functionality is restricted and input instructions.
- A sign-in must be provided for review of the app. To do this, the user must be set up in the Admin area for your Grower360 account. See Create Grower360 Users for instructions on completing this step.
Ads – Let Google know if the app contains ads. Select No, my app does not contain ads.
Content Ratings – Complete the questionnaire to receive content ratings from official rating authorities. Select the Utility, Productivity, Communication or Other category.
Target Audience – The App Access section must be completed prior to completing this section.
News App – No, this is not a news app.

Manage App Organization and Presentation

Select an app category and provide contact details.

App Category
- Application Type – Choose Applications.
- Category – Choose Business.
- Tags – Select the Business tag.
Contact Details
- Email – Enter the developer account email address.
- Phone – Enter a phone number for Google to contact should any contact be necessary.
External Marketing – Uncheck this option.

Set Up Your Store Listing

Product Details

Title – App title
Short Description – Brief description which is limited to 50 characters.
Full Description – A more complete description that is limited to 4,000 characters.

Graphic Assets

App Icon – Icon to display on Google Play (previously sent to SSI)
Hi Res Icon – a high resolution icon to be used for the app. this must be 512 x 512 pixels in a PNG format
Screenshots – Using the tabs, add screenshots for Phone and Tablet only. The same screenshots can be used for both Apple and Google submissions.
Feature Graphic – Add at least on screenshot to be used as a Feature graphic. This screenshot must be sized 1024w x 500h pixels.

Set Up Pricing

Create a merchant profile if one has not already been made.
This application is the Free option.

Publish Your App on Google Play

Countries - Identify in which countries the app is available
Create New Release
- Under App bundles and APKs, choose Add from Library, then select the bundle in this window.
- In the Release Details section, enter the long description used in the Store Listing, keeping the <en-US> and </en-US> tags at the beginning and end.
- Select Confirm.

Google does not send a notification of acceptance; therefore, it is recommended to log into the developer account periodically to determine if the app has been approved.

Once the app has been approved by Google, the app is available for download in Google Play. User access must be provided through Agvance SKY following the steps provided here.