SPEAKER 1: Publishing a new app or releasing
a new version of an app is an exciting moment
for every developer.
It's a critical moment when you have to pay attention
to all the details to make sure your users will have the best
experience with your app.
To make this process easier, we're
announcing a new way to publish apps-- the Manage Releases
page in the Google Play Developer Console.
You start by creating a new app listing.
Click Create Application, and you
can access the new Manage Releases page in the left side
nav.
It takes you to this page which shows the tracks to which you
can publish your app-- the production, beta,
and alpha tracks.
Of course, we recommend running a beta test for all your apps.
It's a great way to test new features before you launch them
publicly.
If it's your first release, the page will be empty.
And you need to select a track to create the release.
For example, select Manage Production and then
New Release.
Clicking on Upload APK will open the usual pop-up.
And you can pick the file you want to upload.
After uploading the APK, it shows up in the APKs
to Add section.
The release name is filled in with the version
name from the uploaded APK.
And if you're releasing an app update,
don't forget to fill in the What's
New section in the release.
You also get the chance to provide localization
for all the languages you already
support in your app listing.
And one of the best things about the new Manage Releases flow
is that at any moment, you can save your draft release date
and you can work on other parts of the listing
and come back to finish it later.
To resume to your save state, navigate back
to Manage Releases, Manage Production, and hit Resume.
Once the release is ready to be published,
you can click on Review, and you'll
be presented with a summary of the release.
If you've got no validation errors,
click on Confirm Rollout to publish your app.
And you'll be redirected to the Releases page.
The flow is slightly different if you're updating an existing
app, because when you choose your track and click on New
Release, a new draft is created, like before,
but the draft is based on the previous release.
The APKs of the previous release will all
be added to the list of APKs to deactivate.
Of course, if you want, you can choose to retain them.
Click the Retain button.
And you'll keep the old APKs because maybe they're
providing support for earlier API versions.
You can add as many APKs you want at this stage.
And for each upload, you'll see a basic pop-up
with information about the APK.
And it's here that you can also attach expansion files.
When you are done with new APKs, like before,
you can edit the release name and the What's New.
After filling in all the information,
you're ready to review your release.
If you're releasing on the production track,
you can change your rollout percentage directly
in this summary screen.
Rolling out your app gradually is a recommended best practice,
and it has been for a while, especially
for significant app releases.
It helps you identify problems and fix them
before your app update hits 100% of the user base,
helping avoid bad reviews and low ratings.
You can read more about staged rollouts
in the Google Play Developer Help Center.
Now, whenever you're ready, you can adjust your rollout
percentage by clicking on Update Rollout
and just changing the value.
If you have any doubts about what percentage to use,
we have suggestions there for you.
So if you have any problems on your ongoing stage rollout,
it's now easier than ever to halt it.
Just click on the Halt Rollout button and confirm the action.
It's worth being aware that halting a stage rollout out
will prevent new users from being
able to update to this version.
But users who already have the bad update will still have it.
So make sure you introduce the fix as quickly as you can.
Once you've got the fix, create another release,
upload it, and then roll out that release.
Simply keep the bad release halted.
Of course, if the fix was made without creating a new release,
maybe you fixed it on your servers.
You can just choose to hit Resume Rollout at any point.
Another new feature we're launching
to help give you greater control over the releases
is the Artifact Library.
Artifacts include APKs, expansion files,
and any other app files.
And you can see the update in the apps artifacts
if you go to the Artifact Library under Manage Releases.
You'll see everything uploaded with your release app.
With the new Manage Releases functionality,
managing your app release is now smoother, more transparent,
and easier to track.
It gives you the ability to manage your app releases
with more confidence.
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