To prepare your Branded Mobile App for Google Play, you need to give the GroupApp team access to your Google Play Console. This usually takes about two minutes.
You'll remain the account owner at all times. This invitation does not transfer ownership of your developer account to GroupApp, and we never ask you to transfer it.
Before you begin: Make sure your Google Play developer account has been created. You'll also need to complete Google's required identity verification before your app can be published.
Important: If you're signed in to multiple Google Accounts in your browser, open a private or incognito window before starting. Make sure you sign in with the Google Account that owns your developer account. Otherwise, you may not see the correct account-level settings.
Go to Google Play Console.
Click Sign in if prompted.
Sign in with the Google Account that owns your developer account.
Make sure you're viewing your developer account's main dashboard, not the settings for a specific app.
You'll need to manage access at the account level so the GroupApp team can work across your developer account and manage your app's publishing requirements.
In the left-hand menu, click Users and permissions.
Click Invite new users.
In the Email address field, enter [email protected].
Leave Access expiry blank. This gives GroupApp ongoing access without an automatic expiration date, so we can maintain your app and publish future updates without requiring you to renew the invitation.
Open the Account permissions tab.
Select Admin (all permissions). Make sure you select this under Account permissions, not App permissions.
Click Invite user.
If prompted, confirm by clicking Send invite.
Once we receive and accept the invitation, we can begin setting up your Branded Mobile App.
No. You don't need to create a separate Google Cloud or Firebase project for the standard GroupApp Branded Mobile App publishing process.
You may come across older setup guides that ask you to create a Google Cloud project, grant GroupApp Owner access, enable APIs, or configure Firebase. These instructions relate to additional Google services that can be used during app development and notification setup.
For your GroupApp app, our team manages the required publishing credentials and push notification setup. You don't need to create these projects or grant us access to them as part of the standard setup.
Only set up or connect additional Google services if the GroupApp team specifically asks you to do so for a separate integration.
Once we accept your invitation, our team will handle the technical setup and publishing process.
Here's what we'll do:
Create your app in Google Play Console. We'll register your app and reserve its package name.
Connect your account to our build service. We'll connect your developer account to Codemagic so new app versions can be built and uploaded.
Build your Branded Mobile App. We'll prepare the app and make it available through an internal testing track for you to try.
Complete your Google Play setup. We'll prepare the store listing, content rating, Data safety form, and other required declarations.
Submit your app for review. Once you've reviewed and approved the app, we'll submit it to Google Play and coordinate its release.
Some requirements still need to be completed by you as the account owner. These are covered below.
Admin access allows us to manage most of the app setup and publishing work, but certain tasks remain your responsibility.
Your Google Play developer account must be fully verified before your app can be published. Granting GroupApp Admin access doesn't bypass Google's verification requirements.
Complete the steps in our guide:
How to Verify Your Google Developer Account
Google requires every developer account to be verified before it can publish. Learn what documents are accepted, how to complete each step, and how to fix the payments profile errors that block most people.
If you plan to sell subscriptions or paid content through your app, you may need to configure the relevant payments settings in Google Play Console.
Only the account owner can link the payments profile used for paid apps and access or edit the Payments settings page. GroupApp doesn't have access to these settings, so you'll need to complete any required payments configuration yourself.
If you registered a Personal developer account after November 13, 2023, Google requires you to complete a closed test before you can apply for public production access.
This requires at least 12 testers who remain opted in continuously for 14 consecutive days. Organization accounts are exempt from this requirement.
Let us know early if you're using a Personal account. We'll configure the closed-testing track for you, but you'll need to arrange the required testers and ensure they remain opted in for the full testing period.
This option is available from your developer account's main dashboard, not from an individual app's settings.
Return to the account-level view using the app selector at the top of Google Play Console, then look for Users and permissions in the left-hand menu.
You may be signed in with a Google Account that doesn't have permission to manage users.
Make sure you're signed in as the developer account owner. If you're using multiple Google Accounts, open an incognito or private browser window and sign in with the correct account.
The App permissions and Account permissions tabs appear on the invitation screen.
Select Account permissions, then grant Admin (all permissions). App-level access alone isn't sufficient for the GroupApp team to manage your developer account and all the app-level settings needed for publishing.
If you set an expiry date, GroupApp's access will end when that date is reached.
Open Users and permissions in Google Play Console.
Find and select the GroupApp user.
Edit the access expiry setting and clear the date, if the interface allows it.
If you can't remove the date or the invitation is still pending, contact GroupApp for help updating the access.
First, check that you entered the email address correctly: [email protected]
If the invitation is pending, return to Users and permissions and resend it. If the problem continues, contact us at [email protected].
Once you've sent the invitation, the GroupApp team can take care of the app setup and publishing process. Make sure your developer account verification is complete and let us know early if any account-owner requirements, such as closed testing or payments configuration, apply to your app.
