Android Release Preparation Guide

This guide outlines the steps to securely prepare an Android app for release on the Google Play Store.

1. 🔐 Secure Signing Keys

IMPORTANT: Never commit your .jks or key.properties files to version control (GitHub). They are already added to .gitignore.

Generate a keystore

If you haven’t already, generate an upload key:

keytool -genkey -v -keystore ~/upload-keystore.jks -keyalg RSA -keysize 2048 -validity 10000 -alias upload

Create key.properties

Create a file at android/key.properties with the following content:

storePassword=<your-store-password>
keyPassword=<your-key-password>
keyAlias=upload
storeFile=<path-to-your-keystore-file>

2. 🏗️ Update Build Configuration

To use the key.properties file, update your android/app/build.gradle.kts:

// Add this near the top of the 'android' block
val keystorePropertiesFile = rootProject.file("key.properties")
val keystoreProperties = Properties()
if (keystorePropertiesFile.exists()) {
    keystoreProperties.load(FileInputStream(keystorePropertiesFile))
}

android {
    // ...
    signingConfigs {
        create("release") {
            keyAlias = keystoreProperties["keyAlias"] as String?
            keyPassword = keystoreProperties["keyPassword"] as String?
            storeFile = keystoreProperties["storeFile"]?.let { file(it) }
            storePassword = keystoreProperties["storePassword"] as String?
        }
    }

    buildTypes {
        getByName("release") {
            signingConfig = signingConfigs.getByName("release")
            // Optional: Add obfuscation
            isMinifyEnabled = true
            isShrinkResources = true
            proguardFiles(getDefaultProguardFile("proguard-android-optimize.txt"), "proguard-rules.pro")
        }
    }
}

3. 📦 Build the App Bundle

Google Play Store requires the App Bundle (.aab) format:

flutter build appbundle --release

The output file will be located at: build/app/outputs/bundle/release/app-release.aab

4. ✅ Pre-launch Checklist

• Version name and code are updated in pubspec.yaml.
• App icon is correctly generated (done).
• Privacy Policy is uploaded to your website/GitHub and linked in Play Console.
• All debug prints and logs are removed or disabled.