Manage private Android apps in Google Play

You can publish private apps to the Play store from the Google Admin console or the Google Play Console. After you add a private app to the apps list, users can ... ManageprivateAndroidappsinGooglePlayMakeinternalworkappsavailabletousersSupportededitionsforthisfeature:Frontline;BusinessStarter,StandardandPlus;Enterprise;EducationFundamentals,Standard,TeachingandLearningUpgrade,andPlus;G SuiteBasicandBusiness;Essentials;CloudIdentityFreeandPremium. Compare your edition YoucanhostAndroidappsspecificallyforyourorganizationinthemanagedGooglePlaystoreandcontrolwhocandownloadthem.WithmanagedGooglePlay,youalsogetsecuritychecks,suchasuserauthenticationandmalwaredetection. YoucanpublishprivateappstothePlaystorefromtheGoogleAdminconsoleortheGooglePlayConsole.Afteryouaddaprivateapptotheappslist,userscandownloaditfromthemanagedPlayStoreontheirAndroiddevice.Itcantakeafewhoursfortheapptobeavailabletousers. Beforeyoubegin Readthefollowingsectionstodecidehowtopublishyourappandimportantconsiderations. Openallinthissection  |  Closeall ManagingprivateappsinAdminconsoleversusGooglePlayConsole YoumightwanttouseGooglePlayConsoleif thefollowingistrue: YouhaveexistingprivateappsinPlayConsole.Youcan'tmanageexistingprivateappsintheAdminconsole. YoumightwanttouseAdminconsoleifanyofthefollowingaretrue: Youdon'tplanonmakingyourprivateappspublic. Youdon'twanttopayaone-time25USDregistrationfee. Youwanttoyourappslisttoincludeallmanagedapps—publicmobileapps,SAMLapps,andprivateapps. Youwanttomaketheappavailabletoonlyselectorganizationalunitsandgroups. Importantinformationaboutapppublishing Appscan'tbepublishedasaprivateappandinthepublicGooglePlaystoreatthesametime.IfanappwiththesameappIDwaspublishedbyanotherorganization(publiclyorprivately),youcan’tpublishtheappuntilthedeveloperchangestheapplicationIDforyourvariant.However,youcanaddpublicappstoyourapplisttomakethemavailabletoyourusersasmanagedapps.Thissetupallowsyouruserstoeasilyfindallwork-relatedappsinoneplace. IfyoupublishanapptothepublicGooglePlaystore,youcanchangeittoaprivateappbutyouwon'tbeabletomanageitinyourAdminconsole. Privateappsdon'tsupportbillingfeatures.Publisherscan'tchargeforprivateapps. InPlayConsole,youcan'tpublishtheappforaspecificgroupofusers.Youcanpublishanappintendedforaspecificcountryorspecificdevicemodels.Ifyouwanttobetatestyourappwithspecificgroups,orPlayStoreusers,youcansetupalpha/betatesting. Theappmustbelessthanthedownloadsizelimit. Option1:PublishprivateappsfromtheAdminconsole TouploadandpublishprivateappsintheAdminconsole,youonlyneedanAndroidapplicationpackage(APK)andatitle.Whenyoupublishaprivateappforthefirsttime,aPlayConsoleaccountiscreatedonbehalfofyourorganization.Privateappsareautomaticallyapprovedforyourorganizationandaretypicallyreadyfordistributionwithin10minutes.Youcanuploadupto15privateappsperday. SignintoyourGoogleAdminconsole. Signinusingyouradministratoraccount([email protected]). FromtheAdminconsoleHomepage,gotoAppsWebandmobileapps. Click AddappAddprivateAndroidapp. Atthebottom,clickCreate . Enteratitle. ClickUploadAPK. SelectanAPKandclickOpen. ClickSelect. Setwhocanfindanddownloadtheapp. Toletallusersinyourorganizationinstalltheapp,selectEntireorganization. Toallowonlycertainuserstoinstalltheapp,click SelectgroupsorSelectorganizationalunits.Youcanaddbothgroupsandorganizationalunits.Supportededitionsforthisfeature:Frontline;BusinessPlus;Enterprise;EducationStandardandPlus;G SuiteBasicandBusiness;CloudIdentityPremium. Compare your edition Groupssettingsareappliedatthetoporganizationalunitlevelandoverrideorganizationalunitsettings.Ifauserbelongstomultiplegroupswithconflictingconfigurations,thesettingsareappliedinorderofgroupprecedence,whichyoucansetafteryouaddtheapp. ClickContinue. Setappoptions. Accessmethod:Choosehowusersgettheapp.Toapplyamanagedconfigurationbeforeyouforceinstallanapp,selectAvailable,completeappsetup,applythemanagedconfiguration,thenedittheappsettingstoforceinstalltheapp. Toletusersinstalltheappthemselves,selectAvailable.Withthisoption,userswhodon’tneedtheappdon’thavetodownloadit. Toinstalltheapponallmanageddevices,selectForceinstall.Withthisoption,theappisautomaticallyinstalledonallmanageddevices,withnooptiontooptout.Optionally,youcanpreventusersfromuninstallingaforceinstalledapp. ForceinstallisalsosupportedforbasicmobilemanagementwithBusinessPlus,Enterprise,GSuiteBusiness,andCloudIdentityPremiumeditions. Allowuserstoaddwidgetstohomescreen–Letuserscreateahomescreenshortcutwhenawidgetisavailable. Useasthealways-onVPNapp–Whenturnedon,apptrafficfromaworkprofileormanageddevicemustpassthroughthisapp.RequiresAndroid7.0orlater.Thissettingcreatesamoresecurenetworkconnectionforworkprofiletraffic. ClickFinish. Dependingontheapp,youmighthavemoresettingsoptions.Fordetails,seeConfigureappsettings. EditandunpublishprivateappsfromtheAdminconsole Openallinthissection  |  Closeallandreturntotop EditthetitleorAPKofaprivateapp SignintoyourGoogleAdminconsole. Signinusingyouradministratoraccount([email protected]). FromtheAdminconsoleHomepage,gotoAppsWebandmobileapps. Click AddappAddprivateAndroidapp. Selecttheprivateappyouwanttoedit. ClickEdit. UpdatethetitleorclickedittouploadanewAPK. ClickSave. Editadvancedprivateappdetails Toaddadescription,screenshots,andotheradvancedappdetails: SignintoyourGoogleAdminconsole. Signinusingyouradministratoraccount([email protected]). FromtheAdminconsoleHomepage,gotoAppsWebandmobileapps. Click AddappAddprivateAndroidapp. Selecttheprivateappyouwanttoedit. ClickMakeadvancededits. GotoGrowStorepresenceMainstorelisting. MakeanyeditsandclickSave. Unpublishaprivateapp Ifyouunpublishaprivateapp,theappisn'tavailablefornewuserstofindanddownloadinmanagedGooglePlay.However,existinguserscanstilluseyourapp. Tounpublishanapp: SignintoyourGoogleAdminconsole. Signinusingyouradministratoraccount([email protected]). FromtheAdminconsoleHomepage,gotoAppsWebandmobileapps. Click AddappAddprivateAndroidapp. Selecttheprivateappyouwanttounpublish. ClickMakeadvancededits. UsingaGoogleAccount,signintothePlayConsole.YoucanusethisaccountinthefuturetosignintothePlayConsole. GotoReleaseSetupAdvancedsettings. IntheAppAvailabilitysection,selectUnpublish. Option2:PublishprivateappsfromthePlayConsole Forinstructions,seePublishprivateappsfromthePlayConsole.Note:Toavoidtheregistrationfee,followtheinstructionsinthisarticletopublishprivateappsfromtheAdminconsole. Setwhocanpublishandaccessprivateapps Ifyouaren'ttheonewhopublishesprivateapps,youcanallowotherusersorthird-partydeveloperstopublishprivateapps.IfyourorganizationusesmanagedPlaywithoutanEMM(formerlycalledGooglePlayPrivateChannel)tograntaccesstoprivateapps,youmustexplicitlyallowuserstoaccessanddownloadprivateapps.Forinstructions,seethefollowingsections. Openallinthissection  |  Closeallandreturntotop Allowotheruserstopublishprivateapps Toensureyourorganizationretainsaccesstopublishedappswhenanemployeeleavestheorganization,werecommendthatadministratorscreatededicatedroleaccounts.Youcanalsoconfigureanadministratorroletouploadprivateapps. Beforeyoubegin:Toapplythesettingforcertainusers,puttheiraccountsinanorganizationalunit. SignintoyourGoogleAdminconsole. Signinusingyouradministratoraccount([email protected]). ClickAppsAdditionalGoogleservices Toapplythesettingtoeveryone,leavethetoporganizationalunitselected.Otherwise,selectachildorganizationalunit. TurnontheGooglePlayConsoleforusersintheselectedorganizationalunit. OntheleftoftheAdminconsole,goto Devices Mobile&endpointsAndroidsettings. ClickAppsanddatasharingGooglePlayprivateapps. Toapplythesettingtoeveryone,leavethetoporganizationalunitselected.Otherwise,selectachildorganizationalunit. Toallowusersintheselectedorganizationalunittopublishprivateapps,checkthe AllowuserstopublishandupdateGooglePlayPrivateapps box.  ClickSave.Ifyouconfiguredachild organizationalunit,youmightbeabletoInheritorOverrideaparentorganizationalunit'ssettings. Allowthird-partydeveloperstopublishapps Forinstructions,seePublishprivateappsfromthePlayConsole. NoEMM:Allowuserstoaccessprivateapps Beforeyoubegin:Toapplythesettingforcertainusers,puttheiraccountsinanorganizationalunit. SignintoyourGoogleAdminconsole. Signinusingyouradministratoraccount([email protected]). FromtheAdminconsoleHomepage,gotoDevices. Ontheleft,click Mobile&endpointsSettingsAndroidsettings. ClickAppsanddatasharingGooglePlayprivateapps. Toapplythesettingtoeveryone,leavethetoporganizationalunitselected.Otherwise,selectachildorganizationalunit. Checkthe AllowuserstoaccessGooglePlayprivateapps box. ClickSave.Ifyouconfiguredachild organizationalunit,youmightbeabletoInheritorOverrideaparentorganizationalunit'ssettings. Relatedtopics Manageprivateapps(ManagedGooglePlay) Wasthishelpful?Howcanweimproveit?YesNoSubmitNeedmorehelp?SigninforadditionalsupportoptionstoquicklysolveyourissueSignintrueManagedevicesforyourorganizationManagemobileappsforyourorganizationBlockinstallationofunmanagedmobileappsManageprivateAndroidappsinGooglePlayOrganizemanagedAndroidappsintocollectionsPublishprivateAndroidwebappsManagesystemappsoncompany-ownedmobiledevicesManageprivateiOSappsStartyourfree14-daytrialtodayProfessionalemail,onlinestorage,sharedcalendars,videomeetingsandmore.StartyourfreeGoogleWorkspacetrialtoday.SearchClearsearchClosesearchGoogleappsMainmenuSearchHelpCentertrue73010false