file-manager/docs/PLAY_RELEASE_CHECKLIST.md

# Google Play release checklist

Work top to bottom. Items marked **[code]** are already handled in this repository; the
rest are things you must do in the Play Console or with your own accounts.

## 1. Identity and signing

- [x] **Application id** chosen: `de.softwareapp_hb.filemanager`
      (`applicationId` in `app/build.gradle.kts`). It can **never be changed after the first
      release**, so treat it as locked. `namespace` and the Kotlin package of the same name
      are aligned with it; debug builds append `.debug`.
- [x] **[code] Upload keystore generated** — `filemanager-upload.jks` in the project root
      (git-ignored, `alias upload`, 4096-bit RSA, 10 000 days, `CN=Hadrian Burkhardt,
      L=Potsdam, C=DE`). Certificate SHA-256 fingerprint, to confirm the right key is
      registered when Play App Signing is enabled:
      `49:A9:FC:13:F5:13:24:48:AE:74:5A:AE:7E:05:D9:2F:67:55:1F:EE:71:A5:64:A1:10:13:57:4D:0E:AA:0E:4E`
- [x] **[code] `keystore.properties` written** (git-ignored, mode `600`). The Gradle build
      picks it up automatically and signs release builds; without it the release APK stays
      unsigned.
- [ ] **Store the keystore and its password in a password manager and back it up.** Losing
      the upload key means you cannot ship updates.
- [ ] Enable **Play App Signing** in the Play Console with the first upload. Google then
      holds the app signing key and this one only signs uploads:
      ```bash
      keytool -exportcert -alias upload -keystore filemanager-upload.jks -rfc > upload_cert.pem
      ```

## 2. Versioning

- [x] `versionName` **[code]** — `1.0.0` in `app/build.gradle.kts`.
- [x] `versionCode` **[code]** — `1`. Play orders uploads by it, so every later upload must
      be higher.

## 3. Build the release artefacts

```bash
./gradlew :app:bundleRelease      # -> app/build/outputs/bundle/release/app-release.aab
./gradlew :app:assembleRelease    # -> APK, for local checks
./gradlew :app:testDebugUnitTest  # JVM unit tests
./gradlew :app:lintDebug          # Android Lint
```

- [x] **[code] verified 2026-10-14.** `bundleRelease` and `assembleRelease` both succeed
      with R8 minification and resource shrinking on.
      - `app-release.aab` is **4 682 814 bytes**
        (`sha256 9014627a8596397623404cb9d986af5019c5e33cf331c5d363427c140f121788`).
      - `app-release.apk` is **2 081 955 bytes**, signed by the upload key above.
      - Both report `versionCode=1 versionName=1.0.0 targetSdk=36` and exactly the
        permission set in step 4 — **no `INTERNET`**, so "nothing leaves the device" holds
        in the shipped artefact and not just in the source manifest.
- [ ] Upload the **`.aab`** (not the APK) to the Play Console.
      ⚠️ **Expect a native-debug-symbols warning and ignore it.** Play finds
      `base/lib/<abi>/libandroidx.graphics.path.so`, which arrives transitively through
      `androidx.compose.ui:ui-graphics` → `androidx.graphics:graphics-path`. It is a
      recommendation, not an error: it does not block upload, review or rollout. This
      project has **no** `ndk`/`externalNativeBuild`/`jniLibs` configuration and no native
      sources of its own.
- [ ] Keep `app/build/outputs/mapping/release/mapping.txt` for every release so Play can
      de-obfuscate crash reports.

## 4. Sensitive permissions — the Permissions Declaration Form

This is the step that can block a file manager, and the one to get right.

- [ ] In the Play Console open **App content → Sensitive app permissions** (older UI:
      *Permissions Declaration Form*) and declare **All files access**
      (`MANAGE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE`).
- [ ] Select the **file manager** use case. Google's policy — *Use of All files access
      (MANAGE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE) permission* — names file managers explicitly:
      *"intended and permitted use includes file managers, backup and restore apps,
      anti-virus apps, and document management apps."*
- [ ] Make sure the **store description states the core purpose** (browsing, organising and
      managing files on the device). The policy requires the core functionality to be
      "prominently documented and promoted in the app's description" — the listing copy in
      `docs/STORE_LISTING.md` (M10) is written to satisfy that.
- [ ] **Do not** add `QUERY_ALL_PACKAGES`, `REQUEST_INSTALL_PACKAGES` or `INTERNET` without
      declaring them. The app currently requests none of them.
- [ ] Provide the **privacy policy URL** ([PRIVACY.md](../PRIVACY.md) — it must be a public
      URL, not a file in the repo).
- [ ] Keep the permission set honest: declaring a permission the app does not use is itself
      a policy violation.

**Verify the shipped permission set** after every release build:

```bash
$ANDROID_HOME/build-tools/36.0.0/aapt2 dump permissions \
  app/build/outputs/apk/release/app-release.apk
```

Expected, and nothing else:

```
MANAGE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE
READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE                  (maxSdkVersion=32)
READ_MEDIA_IMAGES
READ_MEDIA_VIDEO
READ_MEDIA_AUDIO
READ_MEDIA_VISUAL_USER_SELECTED
WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE                 (maxSdkVersion=29)
FOREGROUND_SERVICE
FOREGROUND_SERVICE_DATA_SYNC
POST_NOTIFICATIONS
<applicationId>.DYNAMIC_RECEIVER_NOT_EXPORTED_PERMISSION   (added by AndroidX)
```

## 5. Data safety, content rating, audience

- [ ] **Data safety** form: the app collects **nothing** and shares **nothing**. Answer "No"
      to collection, "No" to sharing, and state that data is not transmitted off the device.
- [ ] Confirm the answers match [PRIVACY.md](../PRIVACY.md).
- [ ] Content rating questionnaire: utility, no user-generated content, no ads.
- [ ] Target audience: not directed at children.

## 6. Store listing

Full copy and the generated graphics land in **M10** (`docs/STORE_LISTING.md`). Console
fields needed: app name, short description, full description, app icon 512×512, feature
graphic 1024×500, and the screenshots.

- [ ] Upload the screenshots from `store-assets/screenshots/`: **phone** 1080×2160 (5),
      **7-inch tablet** 1200×1920 (4), **10-inch tablet** 2560×1600 (4). Play wants 4+ per
      large-screen form factor. All three sets clear its rules — 24-bit PNG with no alpha,
      shorter side ≥ 320, longer side ≤ 3840, and longer side ≤ 2× the shorter side.
      `tools/make-store-screenshots.sh` enforces the aspect ratio and rejects a capture
      whose app area is blank.
- [ ] Expect the 7-inch set to be single-pane and the 10-inch set two-pane. That is the
      adaptive layout working, not an inconsistency — see the CHANGELOG.

## 7. Release tracks and pricing

- [ ] Create the app, complete *App content*, then roll out
      **internal → closed → production**, checking the pre-launch report on the way.
- [ ] ⚠️ **Set the price before the first upload.** Play's own wording: *"You can change your
      app from paid to free. Once your app has been offered for free, the app can't be
      changed to paid."* So:
      1. Create a **payments profile** (identity, tax, bank details).
      2. *Products › App pricing*: base price **€4.49**.
      3. Launch price **€2.29** for the first **14 days**, then diarise changing it back.
      4. Do every step above **before uploading**.
- [x] **[code] no Billing client and no `BILLING` permission** — the price lives on the
      listing, not in the build, so the APK contains no purchase code at all. Verified
      2026-10-14 against the release APK. Full rationale and the rejected alternatives:
      [MONETISATION](MONETISATION.md).