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Overview

Creating a Google Play Developer account is essential for anyone looking to publish Android apps to a broad audience. It is a straightforward process, but there are some specific steps and details to bear in mind, especially if you're creating an account for a company.

Setting up a Google Account for Your Company

  1. Visit Gmail's website (www.gmail.com) and click on "Create Account".

  2. Select "To manage my business."

  3. Follow the prompts, entering your company's name for the "First" and "Last" fields. This will serve as your email username (example: 'companyname@gmail.com')

  4. Complete the rest of the form with the requested details, including the creation of a strong password.

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Verify your Account: Google might require you to verify your account using a mobile phone number to ensure the account's security. ID, passport, or driving license is typically not also required to verify a Google account.

Initiating the Developer Account Setup on Google Console

Note

If you're creating an account for your organization, as of August 31, 2023, you will need your organization's D-U-N-S number. This is a unique nine-digit number used to globally identify a business​

  1. Once you've set up and verified your Gmail account, head to the Google Play Console (https://play.google.com/console/u/0/signup). Here, you'll use your company's Gmail account to set up the developer account.

  2. Choose An organization and click Get started.

  3. The prerequisites for creating a Google Developer account look as follows:

  4. Enter your organization’s name and click Next:

  5. Create or select payments profile by clicking Create or select payments profile:

  6. Provide D-U-N-S number in the pop-up window that appears:

  7. Handling the One-Time Payment

There is a one-time registration fee of around $25 to create a Google Play Developer account. Make sure to process this payment.

Note

Google does not provide invoices for this payment. You will get a receipt. If you require an invoice, you'll need to check their website and contact Google support for more details.

  1. Verify Your Identity and Organization

The requirement for setting up a developer account is to upload your government ID document e.g. driving license, and also your organization’s details, e.g. certificate of incorporation, VAT registration deed.

  1. Submit Your Application
    After completing all the steps and verifying the information, submit your application to create your Google Play Developer account.Testing Requirements for New Accounts
    If this is a new developer account, remember that you must conduct a closed test with at least 20 testers for 14 consecutive days before you can release any apps.

Granting Access to tech@spaceos.io

...

Enabling API for Google Play

Automating the app upload process makes it faster and simpler for you to start using it. That's why spaceOS is working hard to do it.

  • Sign in to the Google Play Console as the developer account owner 

  • Go to Setup -> API access, select “Create a new Google Cloud project” and click Next.

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  • The page should become like on picture, and here you'll need to click on "Learn how to create service accounts".

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  • You'll be shown a prompt, follow the link to "Google Cloud Platform".

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  • Once you're in a Cloud Console, click on the "Create Service Account" button.

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  • Give the account a name, e.g. "SpaceOS-automation", and click "Done" at the bottom of the screen.

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  • In Console, you'll see a new entry for the service account. Click on its email link.

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  • On the new screen, go to the "Keys" tab. Click on the "Add Key" button and choose "Create new key".

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  • Once prompted, choose a "JSON" type for a key and click Create.

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  • Your browser should automatically download that .json file, named e.g. "pc-api-xxxxxxxxx-xxxxx-xxxx.json".

  • Close a prompt that appears.

  • Copy the email address of your service account (from Step 7) and send it to our team along with the .json file. The rest will be on us
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    It's always a good practice to have a backup person in your company with access to the Owner account. This ensures continuity in case the primary account manager is unavailable.

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    Enabling API

    After configuring your Google Cloud project, you need to enable the Google Play Developer API interface in it.

    To enable the Google Play Developer API interface:

    1. Open the Google Play Developer API page in the Google Cloud Console.

    2. Click Enable.

    3. Set up OAuth and service accounts You need to set up access to the Google Play Developer API using an OAuth client or service account. In most cases, a service account should be used to access the API.

    Service accounts must be used in a secure environment, such as a server. The service account's login details must be managed securely, so they are not visible to anyone who does not have permission to use the API.

    An OAuth client ID should be used if you want to access the API on behalf of a single user. For example, if your website needs to access the Google Play Developer API on behalf of a user from a web client, you can use the client ID. The user will be authenticated using a Google account, not a service account. This allows you to make API calls on behalf of the user without compromising the service account's login details.

    Service account: a secure software service will have access to the API (most common method) OAuth clients: the user will gain access to the API Using a service account You can create a service account in the Google Play Console.

    1. In the Google Cloud console, select Service accounts.

    2. Click Create service account and follow the instructions.

    3. Open the Users and Permissions page in the Google Play Console.

    4. Click Invite new users.

    5. Enter the service account's email address in the email address field and grant the necessary permissions to perform actions.

    To use Google Play Payment APIs, you must grant these permissions:

    • View financial data, orders, and survey responses on cancellations

    • Manage orders and subscriptions

    1. Click Invite user.

    From this point, access to the Google Play Developer API via the service account should be possible. More information can be found in the article about using OAuth 2.0 in server-to-server applications.

    Using OAuth clients

    You can allow users to perform actions using the API with their own login details using an OAuth client. The user's actions are limited to those allowed on the Users and Permissions page in the Google Play Console.

    Before you create OAuth clients, you need to set up brand information for your service. More information can be found in the article Configuring the OAuth consent screen.

    1. In the Google Cloud console, open the OAuth consent screen page.

    2. Follow the instructions to create an OAuth consent screen.

    To create an OAuth client:

    1. In the Google Cloud console, open Credentials.

    2. Click Create credentials > OAuth client ID.

    3. Select the type of application and follow the instructions.

    Additional Information

    Take advantage of these tips and guidelines to start using the API in Google Play.

    Obtaining the developer ID Some APIs require the developer ID in the Google Play Console. It is a long number assigned when creating a developer account on Google Play. The developer ID can be found in the URL of almost every page in the Google Play Console, e.g., the API Access page.

    For example, consider the URL of the Google Play Console:

    https://play.google.com/console/developers/1234567890123456789/api-access In the URL above, the developer ID is 1234567890123456789.

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    Note: If an app is transferred from one Google Play developer account to another, the associated developer ID will change. This means that after the transfer is completed, you must use the developer ID for the new Google Play developer account in the API calls for that app.