Introduction

To update your application on the Google Play Console you follow a similar process to the initial submission of your application. This reading will provide a quick overview of how to perform an update of your application.

Update process

As before, you will need to make sure your application builds successfully and doesn’t have any errors. Your application should also be tested on real devices. All the other steps will be the same. This means that a new archive will have to be created and uploaded to the Google Play Store. Fortunately, all the previous information will be saved and transferred when you create a new version of your application. This means that information such as your application name, description, category, screenshots and so on will be preserved and ready to use in the new version of the application.

Of course, if the update includes new capabilities that have not previously been described you should amend the application information to suit the new version. Usually, the application name and general description should stay the same for the entire lifetime of your application, but screenshots and other information can change from version to version. Most importantly, when uploading a new version of your application, you need to add a description of what has changed in the new version. In this text field, you should describe the most important changes and improvements included in the new version. Also, try to provide information about specific bugs that you managed to remove from the previous version of the application. For inspiration on how to write this section, explore the messages provided when a new version of the Android system is published. These will serve as good examples of how to write proper and precise descriptions of the important features of a new application version.

User comments

It is very important to track your app’s ratings and the comments users make about your app on the Google Play Store. This is one of the best ways to monitor if there are any potential issues with the application since many users are willing to share comments about how they would like the application to be improved. This is just one way to monitor how your application is doing but it’s definitely worth it.

Conclusion

This reading has provided a quick overview of the process you should follow to update your app on the Google Play Store. You’ve already covered most of the information needed to submit your application to the Google Play Store for updating application versions and you will follow the exact same steps as before. By keeping to the additional guidelines provided in this reading, your users will be well aware of the changes and improvements you make to each version of your application.