Android | Creating a Signing Certificate (Keystore) and Signing your APK
In this article creating a keystore with Android Studio will be explained.
What is a Signing Certificate (Keystore) and why you need it?
A keystore file is used for several security purposes. It can be used to identify the author of an Android app during a build and when publishing in various platforms. Since a keystore file contains valuable data, the file is encrypted and protected by a password to secure the file from unauthorized parties.
Steps
- Open your project with Android Studio and go to Build ->Generate Signed Bundle/APK
2. After completing first step you will see a popup with title Generate Signed Bundle or APK. Select APK and click next
3. If you already have a signature file (Keystore) click on Choose existing… then select the signature file (Keystore) then enter Keystore Password, Key Alias and Key Password
4. If you do not have a signature file (Keystore) then click Create New… button and specify required information. Mandatory fields are Key store path, Password, Alias and Alias Password
5. After successfully creating the signature file, you will find the signature file information automatically filled in the displayed page. Click Next.
6. On the final page, select V1 and V2 next to Signature Versions, and then click Finish.
7. You can find your signed Apk in app\release folder.
