Publish your app on Google Play

• A paid Pro or Business plan, to download the app project.
• A Google Play developer account, which Google charges US$25 for, once. It can be personal or for an organisation; an organisation needs a D-U-N-S number, as with Apple.
• A free account at expo.dev. Expo builds the Android app on its servers, so you need no Android Studio.
• A computer with Node.js 20 or newer.

1. 1

   In the editor, click Download app project in the Publish window, or in the project menu (click the project's name at the top left). Unzip the file.

2. 2

   Open a terminal in that folder and run npm install, then npx expo install --fix.

3. 3

   Open app.json: the package name under android.package, like app.frascati.mycafe, is your app's ID on Google Play, and once the app is there it cannot change. For your own, ask for it in the chat before you download, like “Set the Android package name to com.mybusiness.app”, so every later download keeps it.

In Google Play Console, click Create app. Give it its name and default language, choose app and free, and confirm the declarations. The app then waits as a draft until you upload a build and finish its setup.

In the project folder, run npx eas-cli build --platform android. Sign in with your Expo account when asked, and let Expo create the key that signs your app. Expo keeps it for every later update.

The build runs on Expo's servers and ends with an Android App Bundle (.aab), the format Google Play takes. Its build number goes up by itself with every build.

With a command

Run npx eas-cli submit --platform android. Expo uploads the build and creates the first release for internal testing. It needs a Google service account key, which you create once in Google Cloud and add to your project at expo.dev: Expo's guide Creating a Google Service Account key shows how.

By hand

Download the .aab from the build page at expo.dev. In Play Console, go to internal or closed testing, create a new release and upload the file.

Play Console lists what is still missing on the app's dashboard: the store listing with texts, icon and screenshots, the content rating questionnaire, the target audience, the data safety form and the address of your privacy policy. If your app has sign-in, add a test account under app access, so Google's reviewers can get in.

Already in the App Store? Reuse the texts from your App Store listing.

1. 1

   Add testers to a closed test by email address or with a Google Group, and share the link with them.

2. 2

   A new personal account waits until at least 12 testers have been in for 14 days, then applies for production access in Play Console and answers a few questions about the test.

3. 3

   Create a release for Production with the same build and send it for review. Once Google approves it, the app appears on Google Play.

Change the app in frascati, download the app project again and repeat steps 3 and 4. In Play Console, move the new release to production when you are happy with it.

Rather have us do it? Ask us.