Here is a list of the most common issues and questions that you may encounter when setting up your app on the Google Play Store.
- After downloading the app it shows as"Free", content looks "locked" or new subscribers can't join
- I tried to pay for my Google Developer Account, but the payment did not go through.
- Where can I change the name of my app or edit the app information?
- Why can't I download the APK and PEPK files from my Passion.io account?
- Why can't I submit an Alpha Release?
- I received warnings/error messages whilst performing an Alpha Release. What should I do?
- When uploading the aab file, I have received an error message. What should I do?
- The price of my app in the Google Play Store is different from the price in PassionApps.
- How long does it take until my app gets published?
- How do I update my app?
- I don’t see the option to create a key from my service account?
- I can't find my app (App visibility & discovery issues)
- How do I remove my app from the Google Playstore?
After downloading the app it shows as"Free", content looks "locked" or new subscribers can't join
This means that your pricing was not correctly set up in your Google Individual Account. The pricing plans must appear in the left-hand-side menu, section Monetise/Products.
For Google:
- "In-app products" means one-time payment plans
- "Subscriptions" are monthly recurring payments
Once your app is ready, you should be able to see the plans you created after clicking on either (or both) sections.
If these pages look empty and you see no pricing at all in either of these sections, this means that your app is not ready yet because your merchant account is missing. Your Google Merchant account lets you manage how your in-store and online product inventory appears on Google.
Please proceed to set up your merchant account.
If your merchant account is active, you will see the prices of your plans in the Monetise/Products section under the In-app products, and/or Subscriptions page.
If after downloading the app you can see it's for "Free" or if after buying the subscription (monthly or one-time), the end-user sees the content as "locked" and is unable to access the subscribed course, go access your Google Console, without selecting your app, and select in the left menu:
Developer Account → Setup → API access:
After clicking API access, a pop-up window will appear with the in-app purchase terms and conditions, click "I agree". Everything will be solved just by doing so.
I tried to pay for my Google Developer Account, but the payment did not go through.
This situation might happen for several reasons:
- If the card has expired
- The credit card or credit card verification (CVC) number was entered incorrectly
- If your billing address doesn't match the address in your Google Payments account
In order to find the details of the transaction, you need to follow the next steps:
- Sign in to your Google Payments account at https://payments.google.com.
- On the left menu, select the “Subscriptions and services” page.
- On the “Other purchase activity” card, click View purchases.
- Click the “Google Play” registration transaction to see your payment method.
- Click “Payment methods” on the left menu if you need to edit the addresses on their Google Payments account.
To add a new credit or debit card to your account, please follow the instructions from Google Payments Help Center available here: https://support.google.com/payments/answer/62203
Where can I change the name of my app or edit the app information?
You can make changes to your app directly from your Passion.io AppBuilder under the Sales Channels. You can change the name, app description, pricing, etc. Once done with the changes, click on Submit for Review.
Note: If the fields are greyed out and it's not letting you update anything, please reach out to us so we can assist you.
You can also overwrite this information and customize it from your own Google Developer Account in the appropriate sections. Please remember, if you choose this option, you will need to manually edit those sections every time you release a new update for the app.
Why can't I download the AAB and PEPK files from my Passion.io account?
In rare cases, the AAB and PEPK files are not uploaded automatically and may not be immediately available for download. In utmost cases, it may take 24-48hours for these files to appear.
If this happens, please contact us by filling up the Contact Form. We will fix the issue in the backend and we will let you know once the files are available for download from your account.
Why can't I submit an Alpha Release?
In order to submit a release, make sure that you have already completed the configuration steps from this article: Configure your Google Developer Account
I received warnings/error messages whilst performing an Alpha Release. What should I do?
In case you have received the above error message, you first need to fill in the information with regard to the Privacy Policy. The steps to add this information are available on page 21 of this tutorial: Configure your Google Developer Account
Once all the fields are completed, you can submit the release.
In case you have received the above error messages, you can ignore them and go ahead and start the roll-out. These messages will not affect app publication.
When uploading the AAB file, I have received an error message. What should I do?
In this case, please contact our Customer Service Team by filling up the Contact Form and request that a new file be generated that complies with the API requested by Google.
The price of my app in the Google Play Store is different from the price in PassionApps.
The price in Google Play Store will be higher by approximately 5%. This is due to the Google transaction fee that is applied for payments via Google Chrome Web Store. More information regarding this fee can be found here: https://developer.chrome.com/webstore/pricing
How long does it take until my app gets published?
Google review process could take up to 7 days or longer depending on their review/revision requests.
How do I update my app?
We have prepared a separate article regarding this. Please check this out: How to publish an update to my Android App?
I don’t see the option to create a key from my service account?
In some cases, the option to create the key JSON file will not be available immediately.
From the page where you have created the Service account, you need to go to the right side of the page and click the button corresponding to the Actions column. From there, select the Create key and the JSON file will be created.
I can't find my app using Search (App visibility & discovery issues)
It sometimes may take up to 10 days for Google to list the app once published. This period of time should be considered in case your app may not show up right away after being published.
You can manually find your Google Playstore app link by logging in to your Google Developer account. Click your app.
Under the Google Play Console Dashboard, click on View on Google Play. You can use the link in the meantime while waiting for Google to list your app.
To find answers to many questions about app visibility and discovery issues, please refer to this link for further help. App visibility & discovery issues
How do I remove my app from the Google Playstore?
You cannot delete your app from Google Play. Instead, you can unpublish the app and it will no longer appear in the store.
To unpublish, open up your Google Developer account, click on your app.
Under Setup > Advanced Settings, click on Unpublish.
Note: New users cannot find and install your app. Existing users can still find it and will receive updates.
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