Putting an App on the Google Play Store: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

If you remember a few days ago I wrote a post about making an app on 24 hours. Well I was telling a few people about it and the first thing they said was “Is in on the app store”. I was just like “Do you know how simple the idea is?? Of course it isn’t but check my Github.” But then I had people telling me to “Just do it” so I went and bought a developer license.

By now I have realized that I need an icon and I need to check for consistencies in the app in the event I’m blessed with a iOS developers license. After some research for similar apps and I came up with an icon and put my beginner Photoshop skills to work. Here was the result:

I thought this was cool for a first app so now to package everything and add it to the market. I made some decent copy to describe my app, added screen shots, added a name, found a fitting category, and then I got stuck. It asked for a … and … Now again I’m not really a designer so I started Googling. Up to this point Android documentation was keeping me alive but this was the ultimate curve ball.

The Pros:

The pros of this process was is just that everything was so easy. I typically think the Android Documentation is garbage but when it comes to getting things to the play store I could ask for better steps. Everything is almost stress-free.

The Cons:

It took a week for me to try to get all the pictures straight. The hardest thing was getting the 512x512 and the 1024x500 picture added. I found a dope tool you can use though so if you are struggling check it out. Also if you can’t design (like me) please please please find a designer. I was able to fake my way through this one but I don’t think I’ll ever do it again. I wholeheartedly believe that the first thing devs are judged on is their icon.

In conclusion:

So my conclusion is real simple: Learn from me! Network for a designer and have fun. This was the highlight of my semester honestly (until May 14th comes) and I wouldn’t trade it for class ever.