Google Play Console

An app moves through tracks: internal testing (up to 100 testers), closed testing for invited groups, open testing, and production, where a staged rollout can release an update to a percentage of users first. Before launch every app needs a store listing, a content rating questionnaire, a Data safety form describing the data it collects and a target audience declaration, and each release is reviewed, which can take from hours to several days.

A new personal developer account must run a closed test with at least 12 testers opted in for 14 continuous days before it can apply for production access. Organisation accounts, which need a D-U-N-S number (a free company identifier from Dun & Bradstreet), skip that step. Google also raises the minimum target Android version every year, so an app that is never updated eventually stops being offered to new users on newer phones.

Android vitals report crash and ANR (app not responding) rates, which also affect how visible an app is in the store. The registration fee is paid once. The service fee on paid apps, in-app purchases and subscriptions depends on the region: from mid-2026 the US, UK and EEA moved to lower service fees with a separate billing fee, and other regions follow on a published schedule.