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Next steps for getting your PWA into the Google Play Store

You've successfully generated a Google Play Store app package (.apk file) for your PWA. 😎

You chose to generate an unsigned package, so there are a few additional steps. If you'd rather generated a signed package, you can do so in PWABuilder's Android Options dialog.

Your next steps:

  1. Sign your APK.
  2. Generate assetlinks.json and deploy to your server.
  3. Test your package on an Android device or Android emulator.
  4. Upload your apk file to the Google Play Store.

Each step is explained below.

1. Sign your APK

You instructed PWABuilder to generate an unsigned APK. Before you can test your APK, you'll need to sign it.

To sign your APK, you can either instruct PWABuilder to generate a signed APK, or you can manually sign it with a new or existing key.

💁‍♂️ Heads up: If you create a new signing key, make sure you keep it and its credentials in a safe place. You'll need it again to upload future versions of your app.

2. Generate and deploy assetlinks.json

While this step is optional, skipping it will cause Android to display a browser addres bar in your app.

A Digital Asset Links file proves you own your PWA's domain.

Once you've signed your APK, you can use the signing key to generate assetlinks.json - your digital asset links file. To generate it, follow the steps outlined here.

Once you've generated assetlinks.json, upload it to your server at https://example.com/.well-known/assetlinks.json. (Replace example.com with your PWA's URL.)

💁‍♂️ Heads up: Digital asset links are required for your PWA to load without the browser address bar. If you're seeing a browser address bar in your app on Android, you likely forgot to generate your digital asset links file.

3. Test your APK on an Android device or Android emulator

Once you sign your .apk file, it can run on an Android device and you can submit to the Google Play Store.

To test your app, install your app by downloading and opening the .apk file on an Android device.

Alternately, if you don't have a physical Android device, you can use an Android emulator such as the free Android Emulator included in Android Studio. Run the emulator and open the .apk file to install your app. You can also drag and drop the .apk file onto the Android emulator to install it.

4. Upload your .apk file to the Google Play Store

Your .apk file can be submitted to the Play Store through the Google Play Console.

Once you submit your app, it will be reviewed. Once approved, your PWA will be available in the Google Play Store. 😎

💁🏽‍♀️ Heads up: when you submit your app to Google Play, you may receive a warning about your APK being unoptimized:

This warning can be safely ignored. For more information, see this thread.

Need more help?

If you're stuck and need help, we're here to help. You can open an issue and we'll help walk you through it.