Google Play Console

Google Play Console is where an Android build becomes a Play Store app. A developer account costs a one-time registration fee, and from there each app gets its own section for releases, listing, policy and quality data.

What a React Native developer does there:

• Uploads releases as Android App Bundles to a track: internal, closed, open testing or production. See internal testing track.
• Manages Play App Signing, where Google holds the key that signs what users install and you sign uploads with a separate upload key.
• Completes policy declarations: the Data safety form, content rating questionnaire, target audience and, depending on the app, permission justifications.
• Watches Android vitals: crash rate, ANR rate and startup time from real devices. Crossing Google’s bad-behaviour thresholds can reduce the app’s visibility in the store.
• Controls rollout of production releases by percentage, the Android form of a staged rollout.

Gotchas specific to Play:

• The first upload must be manual. The Play Developer API, which EAS Submit and fastlane use, cannot upload until the app exists and has had a release in the console.
• New personal developer accounts must run a closed test with a minimum number of opted-in testers for a set period before they can apply for production access. Plan for this weeks before launch.
• Google requires apps to target a recent Android API level. When the deadline passes, you cannot publish updates until you raise targetSdkVersion, which in React Native usually means upgrading React Native or the Expo SDK.
• A rejected or suspended release blocks every track, so read policy emails promptly.

To automate uploads, create a Google Cloud service account, grant it access in Play Console and give its JSON key to your CI or EAS.