Releasing your App on Google Play

After your app has gone through all previous stages, it is ready for release. You can release your app to all users at the same time, or configure staged rollout for Google Play.

Configuring staged rollout

You can release your app to Google Play in staged rollouts. With staged rollout, you release your apps in several different stages, with only a certain percentage of users getting the new version with each stage. Users aren’t notified that they are in a staged release. Automating the process means you don’t have to manually release the app at each stage to a different segment of users: Rollout takes care of that automatically.

If you choose this option, your version update will be released over a seven-day period to a percentage of your users. Users aren’t notified that they’re in a staged release of your app.

If the rollout stage fails for any reason, we’ll try it again later, until it succeeds, or you cancel or pause the automation. We try the failed rollout three times in an hour.

Clearing the rollout schedule

You can clear the scheduled automation at any time before the first stage of the rollout has started. After the first stage is completed, you can only pause the automation, or cancel it.

Open your release
Go to the Release stage
Find the Release summary section
Click the Clear schedule button

Cancelling an automated staged rollout

You can cancel the automated rollout at any time after the first stage of the rollout is completed. However, once the automation is cancelled, you can’t resume it and you can only update it manually in Rollout.

Open your release
Go to the Release app version stage
Find the Release summary section
Click the Cancel automation button

Pausing and resuming an automated staged rollout

You can pause and resume the automated rollout at any time after the first stage of the rollout is completed. Once paused, you can resume the automation. When you resume, you have to set a new time for the pause.

Open your release
Go to the Release stage
Find the Release summary section
Click the Resume automation button
Select the resume time and date

The time and date must be at least ten minutes after the current time.

Releasing your app

Once everything is configured, you can release your app. Depending on your settings, you can either release the app to all your users at the same time, or do a staged rollout.

To release your app, you need to have the Release Manager role for your connected app.

Open your release
Select Release on the left navigation bar
Click Release app to release your app

It either releases your app to all users or starts a staged rollout, depending on your settings.

Editing Android release notes

If you wish to release an app with a different release note than what’s already set in Rollout presets, you can manually edit the note before rolling out a new app version. This change will not override the default configuration of the Rollout presets, it only affects the current release.

Please note that only Release Managers can edit release notes.

Go through the Release candidate, Google Play, and Approvals stages, then click Release app version on the left
Scroll down to Release note and click Edit

You can see the default release note content in the text box.
Make your changes to the text

This new content will apply for the localization under Language.
Copy the new content to additional localizations

Click Copy to and select other localizations.