Google Play Store upload issues

Resolving frequent Google Play Store upload issues

When uploading your app to Google Play, the binary must be production-ready, otherwise you may encounter specific errors. Here are explanations for some common issues:

Version Code Already Used

Error: "APK specifies a version code that has already been used."

Solution: Each app upload requires a unique version code, even if the release version remains the same. Update the version code in your app's source code before attempting to upload again.

Cannot Update a Published APK

Error: "Cannot update a published APK."

Solution: Once an APK is uploaded to a specific track, it cannot be re-uploaded to the same track. To upload a new version, change the track from the Google Play Dashboard.

APK Marked as Debuggable

Error: "APK is marked as debuggable."

Solution: For release distribution, the binary must be in release mode. Modify the build configuration to set the app to release mode, then rebuild the app.

Incorrect Signing Key

Error: "APK was signed with the wrong key."

Solution: The APK must be signed with the same keystore as the previous version. Adjust the keystore in your build configuration and rebuild the app before uploading.

Endless Loading / Google API not fully propagated

Error: If you enabled this API recently, wait a few minutes for the action to propagate to our systems and retry

The error message you're seeing suggests that the API you are trying to access in your Google Cloud project, specifically the Android Publisher API (androidpublisher.googleapis.com), is either not enabled or the action of enabling it hasn't fully propagated through Google's systems yet. Here’s how you can resolve the issue:

Steps to troubleshoot and resolve the issue:

1. Enable the API:

   • Go to the Google Cloud Console.

   • Select your project (ID: 726374296589 based on the error message).

   • Navigate to APIs & Services > Library.

   • Search for the Android Publisher API.

   • Click on it and ensure that the API is enabled.

2. Check for propagation:

   • If you just enabled the API, wait for a few minutes. Sometimes, enabling an API can take some time to fully propagate across Google's systems.

3. Check Permissions:

   • Make sure the account you're using has the correct roles and permissions to access the Android Publisher API. The role "Service Account User" or similar with appropriate permissions might be needed.

4. Retry the request:

   • After waiting for a few minutes (if you recently enabled it), try running the command again.

5. API Quotas:

   • If you've used this API a lot, check if you’ve hit any quota limits for the Android Publisher API in the Quotas section of the Google Cloud Console.

Tracks and Release Channels in Google Play

Some upload issues occur because a required track has not been initialised in the Google Play Console. Understanding track behaviour helps avoid common pitfalls.

Possible Tracks

Google Play provides several distribution channels (“tracks”), each tailored for a different release stage:

• Internal testing: Fastest testing path; limited to up to 100 testers.

• Closed testing: Invite-only testing for selected groups (QA, beta teams).

• Open testing: Public beta available via Play Store.

• Production: Public, stable release for all users.

Track Status Overview

Track Status	Description
Draft	A release exists but is not yet published. You may still edit, upload, or remove files.
In review	Google Play is currently reviewing or processing the release.
Published	The release is live on the selected track.
Archived	The release is no longer active but remains stored for reference.

Required Setup: Initialising the Internal Testing Track

Some tools (such as Updraft or CI/CD pipelines) require the Internal testing track to exist before they can upload builds. If the track has never been initialised, uploads may fail or produce unclear Google API errors.

💡 Important: Create a single draft release on the Internal testing track once. No further manual action is required for future automated uploads.

Steps to initialise the track:

1. Open Google Play Console → Your App → Testing → Internal testing

2. Click Create new release

3. Upload any .aab or .apk (does not need to be final)

4. Click Save (do not publish)

5. Return to Updraft and retry the upload - it should now work

This ensures Google Play recognises the track and allows automation tools to target it.