Prepare and Submit Your Android Branded Mobile App

Ready to create and set up your own branded app on Android? This article will walk you through the necessary steps to help you submit your branded mobile app to the Apple App Store.

About This Feature

Branded Mobile fits into your audience’s existing routines, making it easier for them to learn and engage with your content — all on their own schedule. This means higher course completion rates, improved student satisfaction, and more revenue opportunities for your business.

The Thinkific team will work with you to build your own branded app and ensure that it is approved by Apple and Google. However, there are certain steps that need to be completed by you. These steps are outlined below.

Important Considerations

We strongly recommend creating your Google Play Console account as soon as possible. Creating a developer account in advance can help shorten the time it takes to submit the app.
Unlike the Apple App Store, the app automatically becomes available when it is reviewed and approved by Google. Learn more: Branded Mobile: What is the Difference between App Submission and App Launch?
For the Apple App Store instructions, see: Prepare and Submit Your iOS Branded Mobile App.

Step 1: Prepare and Grant Access to Your Android Branded Mobile App

First things first, you'll need a Google Play Console account! This is where the Thinkific team will build your Android mobile app and where you'll manage it.

Create a Google Play Console Account

You can sign up for either a Personal or Organization account. We recommend selecting Organization if possible, but for Google, there's no functional difference between account types.

There is a one-time fee associated with a Google Play Console account. A paid account is required in order to distribute your app on the Google Play Store.

Grant Thinkific Access to Your Account

To help build and submit your app to the Google Play store, Thinkific will need Developer access to your developer account. To add Thinkific:

In your Play Console, select Users & Permissions on the left-hand side
Select Invite New Users
Enter the following information:
1. Email: svc-mobileapp-mgt@thinkific.com
2. Access Expiry Date: leave unchecked
Under Permissions, select the Account Permissions tab
Check the Admin (all permissions) box
Click on Invite User.

The invite will be automatically sent to the Thinkific team. See this article for detailed information: Add developer account users and manage permissions.

Once we have access to your Google Play Console, we will take the initial steps to create your App. We will contact you once it is time to complete Step 2.

Thinkific will prepare your creative assets, such as App Icon and App Splash Screen for you. If there is any difficulty in creating these assets, our team will reach out to you.

Step 2: Retrieve Your Google JSON API Keys

You can start this step only after the Thinkific team has completed the initial app setup. We will contact you once the setup is complete and you can complete this step.

A Service Account allows the Thinkific team to update your app remotely and in a timely manner.

Create Your Service Account

In your Play Console, select Setup > API Access on the left-hand side
Select Choose a project to link
Select Create a new Google Cloud project
In the pop-window, review the Google Terms of Services and click I agree
Go to Google Cloud Platform
Select IAM & Admin on the left-hand side
On the left-hand side, select Service Accounts
In the top row, click on +CREATE SERVICE ACCOUNT
Under the Service account details section, fill out the following details:
1. Service Account Name: Thinkific Mobile App
2. Service Account ID: thinkific-mobile-app
3. Service Account Description: Allows for managing new release versions of the mobile app
Click on Create and Continue
Under the Grant this service account access to project section, in the Select a role section, choose Service Accounts > Service Account User
Optional. If you will be enabling In-App Purchases, select two additional roles:
1. Click on +Add another role and select Pub/Sub Admin role
2. Click on +Add another role and select Monitoring Viewer role
  
  Note that searching by name in the filter does not always bring up both roles. You can find each role by scrolling through the list in the Pub/Sub and Monitoring folders respectively.
Click on Create and Continue
Leave the Grant users access to this service account section blank
Click Done

Create Your JSON Private Key

Once you create a Service Account, you need to create a private key and provide this key to the Thinkific team:

Still in the IAM & Admin page > Service Accounts section , find the service account you created following the steps above
Under the Actions column, click on three vertical dots, and select Manage Keys
Select Add Key > Create New Key
Select JSON key type
Click Create
The key will be automatically downloaded to your computer
In your Thinkific site, navigate to Mobile App > Your Branded App
Select the Connect tab
Under Google Play Store, upload the file in the Private Key field
Click Save

Make sure you save the key in a secure place, as it cannot be recovered if lost.

Grant Thinkific Access to Your Service Account

Complete the setup by granting permissions to the Service account you created

In your Play Console, select Setup > API Access on the left-hand side
Under the Credentials > Service accounts section, click on Manage Play Console permissions next to the service account you just created

The email of the service account will start with thinkific-mobile-app
On a new screen, under Permissions, select App permissions
Select the branded app you created earlier and click Apply
In the new screen, titled Permissions for [your app], ensure that the following options are selected:
1. App Access: View App information (read-only)
2. App Access: Edit and delete draft apps
3. Releases: Release to productions, exclude devices, and use Play App Signing
4. Release apps to testing tracks
Click Apply
Click Invite User
Confirm your selection by clicking Send Invite

Once you have provided access to Thinkific and sent Thinkific the JSON file with the private key, the Thinkific team can continue to work on your branded app. We will also work with you to ensure that the app gets approved after a review by Google.

Enable the Pub/Sub API

If you will be enabling In-App Purchases, please complete these steps:

Open this Pub/Sub API page
Select your project
Click Next to confirm your project
Click Enable to enable Cloud Pub/Sub API

Step 3: App Approval and Launch

Once your app is reviewed and approved by Google, it will be automatically available in the Google Play Store for your audience to access and download. If you prefer to wait and publish your app at a specific date, simply communicate this with the Thinkific team.