Publishing applications

Developing a mobile application, even a relatively simple one, is a lengthy process, and once we have tested all our code, ironed out any bumps, and polished our UI, we want to be able to get our product on the shelf as quickly and simply as possible. Android Studio has all these processes incorporated into the workspace.

As the reader will know, the first step toward publication is generating a signed APK.

Generating a signed APK

All Android applications require a digital certificate before they can be installed on a user's device. These certificates follow the usual pattern of including a public key with every download that corresponds with our own private key. This process guarantees authenticity for the user and prevents anyone else producing updates of other developers' work.

Note

During development, the IDE automatically generates a debug certificate for us, for use only during development. These certificates can be found in: \SomeApp\build\outputs\apk\debug

There...