Submit & Publish Flutter App on Google Play Store

Publish Flutter App on Android Store

So, to publish any Android App or Flutter App to Google Play, requires a digital signature. Let’s sign our App using the keytool to build a keystore.

Step 1: Generate KeyStore using KeyTool

On Mac:

keytool -genkey -v -keystore ~/key.jks -storetype JKS -keyalg RSA -keysize 2048 -validity 10000 -alias key

On Windows, use the following command:

keytool -genkey -v -keystore c:/Users/REPLACE_USER_NAME/key.jks -storetype JKS -keyalg RSA -keysize 2048 -validity 10000 -alias key

As a result, it will prompt to confirm the information for Name, Organisation Name, Password, City, State & Country Code. Upon confirming with Y or Yes to generate the Keystore for your Flutter App. Make note of the password submitted above as we will use it in next step.

Step 2: Reference KeyStore in the App

Create a new file named /android/key.properties inside the flutter app root directory, that contains a reference of the above keystore. Add the following content in the file:

storePassword=REPLACE_STORE_PASSWORD
keyPassword=REPLACE_KEY_PASSWORD
keyAlias=key
storeFile=c:/Users/REPLACE_USER_NAME/key.jks

Give the password, alias & keystore path which you had given earlier to generate the keystore.

Step 3: Configure signing in Gradle

Open application level build.gradle file from /android/app/build.gradle and add the following code before android {….} block:

def keystoreProperties = new Properties()
   def keystorePropertiesFile = rootProject.file('key.properties')
   if (keystorePropertiesFile.exists()) {
       keystoreProperties.load(new FileInputStream(keystorePropertiesFile))
   }

   android {
         ...
   }

And the following code before buildTypes:

signingConfigs {
       release {
           keyAlias keystoreProperties['keyAlias']
           keyPassword keystoreProperties['keyPassword']
           storeFile keystoreProperties['storeFile'] ? file(keystoreProperties['storeFile']) : null
           storePassword keystoreProperties['storePassword']
       }
   }
   buildTypes {
       release {
           signingConfig signingConfigs.release
       }
   }

Step 4: Versioning & Build App bundle

Review the version in the App in pubspec.yaml file:

version: 1.0.0+1

After saving the version build your app’s APK to finally publish it on Google Play Store. In the terminal window type the following commands:

cd <flutter app root directory path>
flutter build apk

The App release bundle is saved at /build/app/outputs/apk/release/app.apk and we are partially ready to submit flutter app on Google Play.

Step 5: Submit Flutter App on Google Play for Review

Final step is to submit the Flutter App on Google Play. Following the below steps:

Sign up for or Sign in into the Google Play Console.
Create a new application and give it a relevant name.
On the Store Listing page fill up all the mandatory details such as upload icons, screenshots, assign categories and other content ratings.
On the App releases page, add the flutter app APK release bundle to the production track and give a release name.
Also make sure to complete all the mandatory fields and sections before you submit your app for review.
Press the Submit for Review button and wait for Google Play team to revert back with a store listing page.

That’s pretty much it. In case you have any questions to ask, do leave a comment below.

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