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Google Play Developer Console Beta Tests Updates

June 13th, 2020

Google Play Developer Console Beta Tests Updates
Anh Nguyen

by Anh Nguyen

COO & Co-Founder at Gummicube, Inc

The Google Play Developer Console is getting an upgrade, which means it’s time for a beta test.

Google recently announced the Google Play Console beta, which redesigns the Developer Console and adds new tools to help developers. To understand what these new changes are and how they can help, we should explore the beta in relation to App Store Optimization.

App Publishing Tools

The Developer Console lets developers publish their apps to the Google Play Store, so it’s no surprise that the beta update has a number of new tools and features for that purpose. Updates in the beta are designed to make app publishing easier to understand and to do.

Managed Publishing

Timed Publishing is getting rebranded as Managed Publishing. Developers can still use it to set a specific time for their apps and updates to go live, in addition to new features.

Managed Publishing can also help track and understand what changes each new app submission includes. App development teams can use this to review and coordinate changes, ensuring everything is published at the right time and everyone is fully informed.

Photo via Google

App Bundle Explorer

The Artifact library is also changing into the App Bundle Explorer. Developers can access this in the “Release” section and use it to manage their bundles. This includes:

  • Inspecting apps and bundles
  • Understanding how Google Play processes bundles
  • Download APKs
  • Install historical versions of apps and bundles for testing purposes
  • Detailed delivery information

Guided Setup

Along with the App Bundle Explorer, Google is including a guided setup for launching apps. This includes step by step instructions for setting up and releasing apps, along with best practices for production.

New developers in particular can benefit from this, but even longtime developers may find helpful advice from the guided process.

Compliance Guidelines

A common question app developers have is if their apps are fully compliant with the Play Store guidelines. Google has been attempting to make the guidelines clearer and more coherent, such as in the new Policy Status and App Content sections.

These sections can help developers quickly identify if their apps have any compliance issues to address. It provides a simple list of policies that developers can go through, such as app access or ads, so developers can check their apps one section at a time.

Performance Metrics

The Play Console beta provides an array of new metrics that can help developers track their performance. These will particularly help following performance trends, as well as analyzing performance across multiple dimensions.

New acquisitions reports include:

  • Trend analysis
  • Relationships between metrics
  • Language
  • Store listings
  • Reacquisitions
Google Play Developer Console

Image via Google

Developers can also drill down by acquisition type and region, enabling a more precise view of performances. Google also stated that deeply integrated benchmarks are on the way to help developers better identify areas for growth.

Visual Updates

With all the changes to the tools and functionality, the Developer Console is also getting a visual update. These changes are built to make it easier for developers to navigate and use the page with an easy to read style.

Navigation

The Play Console beta includes a new navigation that groups related features together. For instance, all tools for acquisition setup, reporting and optimization are collected under the “Grow” category.

This also makes the production track and the testing tracks more distinct. The change is designed to make it easier for developers and teams to understand the status of each track at a glance.

Overviews

The update is also designed to help developers get overviews of their releases and performance at a glance. With the new releases overview page, developers can quickly see information about their apps such as whether they’re in a testing track or widely released, the last update and how many countries they’re available in.

Other Updates

While those are the biggest updates, the beta still has more. Other updates to the Developer Console include:

  • An inbox for all important messages, updates and milestones
  • Educational tools for helping developers learn how the console works
  • Team management to manage permissions with granular controls, full user search and bulk editing

The new Developer Console capabilities can provide more in-depth information and publishing tools to help app developers launch their apps and track the success of their App Store Optimization strategies. Developers interested in the new Play Console beta can go to play.google.com/console to try it out and share their thoughts.

Want more information regarding App Store Optimization? Contact Gummicube and we’ll help get your strategy started.

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