Ship your Android app to Google Play
Every build is signed for release, goes to your testers and keeps the bundle Google Play asks for. You can choose to upload it to a Play testing track, and the app goes public only when you approve it. Crash reports and usage analytics are set up with it if you want them.
A new personal Google Play account has to run a closed test with 12 testers for 14 days before its app can go public. Add a release build signed the way Google Play asks for and a store listing, and launch day comes weeks after the code works.
launchpad does that part with one command in Claude Code, so your testers can have the app the day it first builds and the 14 days start as early as they can.
What launchpad sets up for an Android app
The production checklist has 34 items that apply to an Android app. launchpad sets up each one, or checks it and keeps it on your dashboard until it passes.
Live on the web2
- A landing page designed to convert
+1 more with a key
App stores and downloads8
- Every build to your testers · iOS, Android
- People can install or open it
+6 more with a key
Security and data4
- Keys in your OS keychain, not git
- No secret keys leaked or shipped
+2 more with a key
See how it is used2
- Usage analytics, no cookie banner · iOS, Android, Mac, Web, Sites
+1 more with a key
Legal and trust2
- Privacy policy and terms
- A way for users to reach you
Payments and costs3
- Payments the stores and Stripe accept · iOS, Android, Web
- Every cost, before you pay it
- Spend caps on pay-per-use services
Builds and releases5
- Finds every app in your repo
- Every app builds the same way each time
- Tests run before anything ships
+2 more with a key
Mission Control and safety8
- Every project on one screen
- A readiness checklist per project
- Asks before money, DNS or stores
+5 more with a key
Fees and waiting times
Android app
- Fees
Shipping an Android app costs one fee: Google Play Console, $25 once.
Google charges this fee to every developer. Everything else runs on free plans.
- Accounts you sign in to
-
Claude CodeRuns launchpad: it reads your repo and sets it up
Your Claude subscription -
GitHubYour code, the builds (Actions) and their secrets
Free to startthen $4 a month per seat for a private repository with staging and production
-
FirebaseApp Distribution: Android builds to your testers
Free -
Google Play ConsoleYour public listing on the Play Store
$25 onceGoogle charges this to every developer. -
SentryWhen you turn crash reporting on
Free -
Firebase CrashlyticsWhen the app already uses Firebase
Free -
RevenueCatWhen your mobile app sells subscriptions or unlocks
Free until $2.5k of monthly tracked revenue -
Google Auth PlatformWhen your app has "Sign in with Google"
Free
-
- Timeline
Before your first release
- Closed test with 12 testersonly if personal accounts created after 13 November 202314 days
- D-U-N-S numberonly if enrolling as a company
Common questions
Do I need a Mac?
Your app builds and ships on GitHub's Linux machines. launchpad itself works today on a Mac. It doesn't run in cloud sessions, in WSL or on Windows without Git Bash, and on Windows with Git Bash or on Linux, ask support before you buy.
What does it cost?
Google charges every developer $25 once. Everything else starts on plans with no charge, and a paid plan is named with its price before you need it. launchpad itself is $49 once, for unlimited projects, and runs on the Claude plan you already have.
Who has to run the closed test?
Google's rule names personal developer accounts created after 13 November 2023: they need 12 testers for 14 days before their first app goes public. An account registered to an organization is not named in it.