How do you publish to the Play Store? [Solved, with guide on creating apk]

Tom2012

Hi everyone,

Ready to put my game on the Play store but it seems like a complex process.

Is there a very simple guide to getting an app from Gideros onto the play store?

Thanks!

Tom

ar2rsawseen

Google Play store?

That seems to be quite easy, create an app on the store, fill in information, prepare apk and upload, then press publish

Tom2012

Hello ar2rsawseen! Nice to see you again.

The actual process of building the apk was a bit tricky for me.

Building an .apk file from your Gideros project

Here's my own notes for anyone looking to create a .apk file from their Gideros project.

- You need to create an .apk file to upload to the Play Store
- To do this, you’ll need two downloads:

1) Eclipse Software
http://www.eclipse.org/downloads/

I found this part a bit confusing. There’s a number of download links here. The one you need is the top one: “Eclipse IDE for Java Developers“

2) The Android SDK

This was also confusing as there's Android Studio, which I don't think you need (but won't hurt to install anyway),and Android SDK, which you do need.

https://developer.android.com/sdk/installing/index.html

- Once those are installed you need to start Eclipse and do some more setting up there. This threw me as you also need the 'Android SDK plugin' for Eclipse.

There's a page here that shows you how to do it, but I'll do a quick mini guide that will save you some time.

http://developer.android.com/sdk/installing/installing-adt.html

Quick version:

1) Start Eclipse
2) Go to 'Help' menu
3) Choose Install New Software
4) Click on 'Add'
5) In the name box put 'Android SDK' (doesn't have to be exact)
6) In location box put this https://dl-ssl.google.com/android/eclipse/

That should get the plugin working.

- One other thing worth mentioning that caused me problems: In Eclipse, check in preferences -> Android
- Make sure you have the correct folder listed there where you unzipped the Android SDK to

- Back in Gideros, open your project and go to Export (this bit is easy
- Export the Android code to a folder and remember where it is

- Back into Eclipse and choose Import and pick the folder where your Gideros export went.

So now the code should be loaded into Eclipse, it's time to get it running on your Android device!

- Connect your Android device to the computer with a USB cable.
- Next pitfall! You'll need to go into your Android device's settings and go to Developer options. Make sure USB debugging is checked. Without this step, Eclipse won't be able to talk to the device.

- Now go into Eclipse's 'Run' Menu and choose 'Run Configurations'
- Choose Android on the left panel. Click your app name, which should be just under that.
- and then on the right panel choose 'Target'
- This is where you choose whether to run on Device or 'AVD'
- AVD is Android Virtual Device, which is a simulator. I haven't got running on that yet, but building for device went OK, and will do the job of making the apk.

Now time to RUN.

Go to Run Menu in Eclipse and choose Run

- Next Pitfall - errors building!
- If there are any errors building that mention things like Android-19, or other errors, it's likely that there's some SDK components missing that eclipse needs.
- Luckily these are very easy to install:

1) Go to Window -> Android SDK Manager
2) This lists all the SDK components you have installed, and the ones you are missing.
3) If the error mentioned 'Android-19' then make sure you go down the list and install the SDK part that mentions Android 19

It's quick and easy to intall stuff with this tool.

Try running again.
If all went well, your app will run on the device (or simulator)

(If this doesn't fix it, it's worth copying and pasting any errors into google. There are plenty of clues in threads posted by other people having the same problem.)

Where's my APK?

- Next thing that confused me was "where's my apk?"
- Eclipse has built the apk and put it in the bin folder of the project.
(I think you have to have a successful 'build' for this to happen.
- Click on the bin folder left menu and you'll be able to see it.

pie

instead of going crazy with multiple downloads from a variety of websites, you can also use the nvidia developer pack:
https://developer.nvidia.com/AndroidWorks
It requires a free subscription to nvidia developers community (just an email address to receive some newsletter in a year), and it may fill your eclipse installation with a lot of unnecessary stuff, but it's pretty easy to set eclipse and android sdk up and running with this pack.

To publish in google play you also need to sign your apk with a key (I think that when you hit RUN in Eclipse you run (and compile) the apk in "debug mode" which is not suitable for the market).

SinisterSoft

I just use the Nvidia dload too, saves a lot of messing around.

rikolous

Hello ar2rsawseen! Nice to see you again.

The actual process of building the apk was a bit tricky for me.

Building an .apk file from your Gideros project

Here's my own notes for anyone looking to create a .apk file from their Gideros project.

- You need to create an .apk file to upload to the Play Store
- To do this, you’ll need two downloads:

1) Eclipse Software
http://www.eclipse.org/downloads/

I found this part a bit confusing. There’s a number of download links here. The one you need is the top one: “Eclipse IDE for Java Developers“

2) The Android SDK

This was also confusing as there's Android Studio, which I don't think you need (but won't hurt to install anyway),and Android SDK, which you do need.

https://developer.android.com/sdk/installing/index.html

- Once those are installed you need to start Eclipse and do some more setting up there. This threw me as you also need the 'Android SDK plugin' for Eclipse.

There's a page here that shows you how to do it, but I'll do a quick mini guide that will save you some time.

http://developer.android.com/sdk/installing/installing-adt.html

Quick version:

1) Start Eclipse
2) Go to 'Help' menu
3) Choose Install New Software
4) Click on 'Add'
5) In the name box put 'Android SDK' (doesn't have to be exact)
6) In location box put this https://dl-ssl.google.com/android/eclipse/

That should get the plugin working.

- One other thing worth mentioning that caused me problems: In Eclipse, check in preferences -> Android
- Make sure you have the correct folder listed there where you unzipped the Android SDK to

- Back in Gideros, open your project and go to Export (this bit is easy
- Export the Android code to a folder and remember where it is

- Back into Eclipse and choose Import and pick the folder where your Gideros export went.

So now the code should be loaded into Eclipse, it's time to get it running on your Android device!

- Connect your Android device to the computer with a USB cable.
- Next pitfall! You'll need to go into your Android device's settings and go to Developer options. Make sure USB debugging is checked. Without this step, Eclipse won't be able to talk to the device.

- Now go into Eclipse's 'Run' Menu and choose 'Run Configurations'
- Choose Android on the left panel. Click your app name, which should be just under that.
- and then on the right panel choose 'Target'
- This is where you choose whether to run on Device or 'AVD'
- AVD is Android Virtual Device, which is a simulator. I haven't got running on that yet, but building for device went OK, and will do the job of making the apk.

Now time to RUN.

Go to Run Menu in Eclipse and choose Run

- Next Pitfall - errors building!
- If there are any errors building that mention things like Android-19, or other errors, it's likely that there's some SDK components missing that eclipse needs.
- Luckily these are very easy to install:

1) Go to Window -> Android SDK Manager
2) This lists all the SDK components you have installed, and the ones you are missing.
3) If the error mentioned 'Android-19' then make sure you go down the list and install the SDK part that mentions Android 19

It's quick and easy to intall stuff with this tool.

Try running again.
If all went well, your app will run on the device (or simulator)

(If this doesn't fix it, it's worth copying and pasting any errors into google. There are plenty of clues in threads posted by other people having the same problem.)

Where's my APK?

- Next thing that confused me was "where's my apk?"
- Eclipse has built the apk and put it in the bin folder of the project.
(I think you have to have a successful 'build' for this to happen.
- Click on the bin folder left menu and you'll be able to see it.

OMG thank you for this... They should post this as part of the developer guide or the deployment thing. I did this a few years ago and it was a nightmare!!! I have a new computer and was reloading the app and this was a thousand times easier when I followed it. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!

yaxxar

But the apk on the bin folder is not the one that you need to use on the playstore, you need to use Android tools and export a signed APK or unsigned APK.

GiderosFan

Hello ar2rsawseen! Nice to see you again.

The actual process of building the apk was a bit tricky for me.

Building an .apk file from your Gideros project

Here's my own notes for anyone looking to create a .apk file from their Gideros project.

- You need to create an .apk file to upload to the Play Store
- To do this, you’ll need two downloads:

1) Eclipse Software
http://www.eclipse.org/downloads/

I found this part a bit confusing. There’s a number of download links here. The one you need is the top one: “Eclipse IDE for Java Developers“

2) The Android SDK

This was also confusing as there's Android Studio, which I don't think you need (but won't hurt to install anyway),and Android SDK, which you do need.

https://developer.android.com/sdk/installing/index.html

- Once those are installed you need to start Eclipse and do some more setting up there. This threw me as you also need the 'Android SDK plugin' for Eclipse.

There's a page here that shows you how to do it, but I'll do a quick mini guide that will save you some time.

http://developer.android.com/sdk/installing/installing-adt.html

Quick version:

1) Start Eclipse
2) Go to 'Help' menu
3) Choose Install New Software
4) Click on 'Add'
5) In the name box put 'Android SDK' (doesn't have to be exact)
6) In location box put this https://dl-ssl.google.com/android/eclipse/

That should get the plugin working.

- One other thing worth mentioning that caused me problems: In Eclipse, check in preferences -> Android
- Make sure you have the correct folder listed there where you unzipped the Android SDK to

- Back in Gideros, open your project and go to Export (this bit is easy
- Export the Android code to a folder and remember where it is

- Back into Eclipse and choose Import and pick the folder where your Gideros export went.

So now the code should be loaded into Eclipse, it's time to get it running on your Android device!

- Connect your Android device to the computer with a USB cable.
- Next pitfall! You'll need to go into your Android device's settings and go to Developer options. Make sure USB debugging is checked. Without this step, Eclipse won't be able to talk to the device.

- Now go into Eclipse's 'Run' Menu and choose 'Run Configurations'
- Choose Android on the left panel. Click your app name, which should be just under that.
- and then on the right panel choose 'Target'
- This is where you choose whether to run on Device or 'AVD'
- AVD is Android Virtual Device, which is a simulator. I haven't got running on that yet, but building for device went OK, and will do the job of making the apk.

Now time to RUN.

Go to Run Menu in Eclipse and choose Run

- Next Pitfall - errors building!
- If there are any errors building that mention things like Android-19, or other errors, it's likely that there's some SDK components missing that eclipse needs.
- Luckily these are very easy to install:

1) Go to Window -> Android SDK Manager
2) This lists all the SDK components you have installed, and the ones you are missing.
3) If the error mentioned 'Android-19' then make sure you go down the list and install the SDK part that mentions Android 19

It's quick and easy to intall stuff with this tool.

Try running again.
If all went well, your app will run on the device (or simulator)

(If this doesn't fix it, it's worth copying and pasting any errors into google. There are plenty of clues in threads posted by other people having the same problem.)

Where's my APK?

- Next thing that confused me was "where's my apk?"
- Eclipse has built the apk and put it in the bin folder of the project.
(I think you have to have a successful 'build' for this to happen.
- Click on the bin folder left menu and you'll be able to see it.

Thank you Tom for this little Tutorial to help for Building an APK and published them to the AppStore.

jdbc

You need to sign APK in order to publish to Google Play. Use export option in Eclipse IDE.