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Google Play Setup

The Google Play side is straightforward compared to Apple. Account approval happens the same day, there's a one-time $25 fee, and your app can be live within the same week you start.

Step 1: Create a Google Play Developer Account​

  1. Go to play.google.com/console
  2. Sign in with a Google account — use a church-owned Google account, not a personal one
  3. Click Create account and follow the prompts
  4. Pay the one-time $25 registration fee (this is a one-time cost, not annual)
  5. Fill in your developer profile using your church's legal name and real contact info
  6. Account review is typically completed the same day
Use a church-owned Google account

Create a dedicated Google account for your church (like apps@yourchurch.org) if you don't already have one. Tying your Play developer account to a personal Gmail means access headaches down the road.

Step 2: Invite FaithMade in Play Console​

Once your account is active:

  1. In Google Play Console, go to Users & Permissions
  2. Click Invite new users
  3. Enter the FaithMade team email address (check your FaithMade dashboard or contact support for the current address)
  4. Under Account permissions, select Admin — or under App permissions, add your app and set the role to Release manager
  5. Send the invite

FaithMade will accept and can begin building your app.

Step 3: Generate a Service Account Key​

Google Play uses a service account for automated build submissions. This is a one-time setup.

  1. Go to Setup → API access in Play Console
  2. Click Create new service account (or link an existing Google Cloud project if you have one)
  3. Follow the link to Google Cloud Console
  4. Create a new service account, give it a name like "FaithMade Build Service"
  5. Grant it the Service Account User role
  6. Under Keys, click Add Key → Create new key
  7. Choose JSON format and click Create — a .json file downloads automatically
  8. Back in Play Console, grant the service account Release manager access (or the level your FaithMade onboarding instructions specify)
  9. In your FaithMade Dashboard, go to FaithMade App → Launch
  10. Upload the JSON key file
Keep the JSON key file secure

This key file gives programmatic access to your Play Console. Don't email it or store it in a shared Google Drive folder. Upload it directly to the FaithMade dashboard and then store a backup somewhere only your team can access.

Step 4: One-Time First Release (manual — but we can do it for you)​

Google has no API for creating a brand-new app listing, so the very first release involves a few manual steps inside Play Console. If you gave FaithMade Admin access in Step 2, our team does all of this for you — you only need to know it happens:

  1. Create the app in Play Console (All apps → Create app: app name, default language, "App", "Free")
  2. Complete the store listing questionnaires — Google requires these before anything can go live:
    • Privacy policy URL (FaithMade provides a hosted one for your app)
    • App content declarations: content rating questionnaire, target audience, data safety form
  3. Upload the first app bundle by hand — Google requires the first .aab to be uploaded manually in Play Console (automated submission only works from the second release onward). FaithMade downloads your built .aab from the dashboard and uploads it to the Internal testing track, then promotes to Production.

After this one-time setup, every future update is fully automated through the service account from Step 3.

Who does what

You (once): create the account, pay $25, invite FaithMade, approve the service key. FaithMade: creates the app entry, fills the questionnaires with you, uploads the first build, automates everything after.

Step 5: Your First Android Release (One-Time Manual Upload)​

If you'd rather do the first upload yourself instead of granting FaithMade Admin access, here's the walkthrough. Google requires a person to upload the very first release of every app — there's no way around it, and it only happens once. Every release after this is fully automated.

  1. Go to play.google.com/console and sign in
  2. Click Create app
  3. Fill in the basics: app name, default language, select App, select Free
  4. In the left navigation, go to Testing → Internal testing
  5. Click Create new release
  6. Upload the .aab file — FaithMade provides a download link for it in your dashboard once your first build finishes
  7. The release name auto-fills from the .aab — leave it as-is
  8. Click Save, then Review release, then Start rollout to Internal testing

That's the one-time manual step done. From here, FaithMade's service account (Step 3) handles every future release automatically — no more manual uploads.

What Happens Next​

FaithMade will use the service account to submit and update your Android app. Your church's name appears as the developer on the Play Store listing. Ratings, reviews, and your listing are yours.

Your app's bundle ID (com.faithmade.yourdomain) is set automatically from your website address when your first build runs — you don't choose it, and it's the same ID used on both platforms. See Store Listing Assets — Your Bundle ID if Google Play asks for a package name.

Related: Overview · Apple Developer Account Setup · Launch Checklist & Timeline · Store Listing Assets