Publish private apps from managed Play in your EMM console

Note: Not all EMM consoles support publishing private apps from the Managed Google Play iframe. Contact your EMM provider for details. To compare private app publishing methods, see Publish private apps.

Managed Google Play's private app publishing iframe lets you publish private apps directly from your EMM console. The only details you need to provide are an app's title and app file, and most apps are ready for distribution within 10 minutes.

We recommend using AABs when publishing private apps. However, the iframe does support uploading APKs as well. For more details on the benefits of using AAB, see App bundle features and benefits.

When you publish a private app for the first time, Managed Google Play automatically creates a Play Developer account on behalf of your organization. You don't need to pay a registration fee for this account. Private apps published from the iframe:

• Aren't subject to the same checks as other apps. As a result, they can't be converted to public apps.
• Are non-transferable. You can't transfer ownership of an app to a different Play Developer account.

Note: Private apps that are created for the first time by uploading an AAB to the iframe will use a Google-generated app signing key. Use one of the options below to use your own signing key:

• Use the Play Console to create the private app with an AAB
• Use the iframe to create the private app with an APK then switch to AAB.

Read Use Play app signing.

Publish a private app

Private apps are automatically approved for your organization and are typically ready for distribution within 10 minutes. You can upload a total of 15 private apps per day. Note that web apps also count towards this total. To publish a private app:

1. On the left, click Private apps .
2. At the bottom, click Create .
3. Enter a title.
4. Select an AAB or APK and click Open.
5. If an AAB is selected, agree to the Play signing Terms of Service*.
6. Click Create.

The first time you publish a private app, you'll need to provide an email address to receive notifications from the Play Console about your apps and Google Play developer account. You can update your contact email at any time.

*Note: When creating new private apps using AAB in the iframe, Google will generate and manage the signing key for the app. You can instead utilize your own signing key by publishing via the Play Console or uploading the apps APK in the iframe and following the instructions for uploading an AAB for a private app created with an APK.

Edit the title or upload a new version of your app

1. On the left, click Private apps .
2. Select the private app you want to edit.
3. Click Edit.
4. Update the title or click edit to upload a new AAB or APK.
   • If you’d like to upload an AAB for an app that was created using an APK, follow the instructions.
5. Click Save.

Upload an AAB for a private app created with an APK

To start uploading AAB for existing apps uploaded as APK, you should enroll in Play app signing. Otherwise, Google will not be able to sign generated APKs. Follow the steps below to enroll in Play app signing.

1. Go to Play Console by clicking “Make advanced edits” in the iframe UI.
2. Select the app.
3. Follow the instructions to upload the signing key in the Play Console.

Now that Play app signing is enabled, you can upload AABs in the Managed Play iframe and the Play Console.

Update your contact email

Note: Your contact email is different than the email shown in your private apps' store listing. To update a private app's store listing, see Edit advanced app details.

The Play Console sends notifications about your apps and Google Play developer account to your contact email. To update your contact email:

1. On the left, click Private apps .
2. Next to your contact email address, click Update.
3. Enter a new email address.
4. Click OK.

   Any future notifications from the Play Console will be sent to the updated email address.

Edit advanced app details

To add a description, screenshots, and other advanced app details, or unpublish an app, you need use the Google Play Console. You can access the Google Play Console from the Private apps feature:

1. On the left, click Private apps .
2. Select the private app you want to edit.
3. Click Make advanced edits.
4. Using a Google Account, sign in to the Play Console.
   Note: Your account will be added as an admin of your organization's Play Console account. You can use this account in the future to sign into the Play Console.
5. Go to Grow Store presence Main store listing.
6. Make any edits and click Save.

Unpublish an app

Unlike deleted apps, you can republish an unpublished app. If you unpublish an app, existing users can still use your app. Your app won't be available for new users to find and download in Managed Google Play. To unpublish an app:

1. On the left, click Private apps .
2. Select the private app you want to unpublish.
3. Click Make advanced edits.
4. Sign in to the Play Console with a Google Account.
   Note: Your account will be added as an admin of your organization's Play Console account. You can use this account in the future to sign into the Play Console.
5. Go to Release Setup Advanced settings.
6. In the App Availability section, select Unpublish.

Delete a private app

While deleting a private app from your Play Console account permanently removes the app, it will not release the app's package name. This means you won't be able to republish the app under the same package name. Deleted apps aren't available for new users to find and download in Managed Google Play, but existing users can still use them.

To delete an app, contact the Play Console support team.

Manage Play Console admins

You can manage the users who have access to your organization's Play Console account. To ensure your domain retains access to published apps in case an employee leaves the organization, we recommend that administrators create dedicated role accounts.