Wrapping a site in an Android app takes two minutes. Getting that app listed — signed bundle, 512×512 icon, feature graphic, Data safety form, content rating, closed test, review — is where most first-time publishers get stuck. This site builds the bundle and then walks you through everything Google Play asks for, in order, with the exact specs.
The process is the same for every app, but website-based apps trip over particular steps: the bundle format, the forms that must match what the site actually collects, and a policy written specifically about apps that are "just a web page". Here is the whole road, in the order the Play Console asks for it.
Each station links to a guide written for a website-based app, and the publishing checklist puts all of them on one page you can work down.
US$25 once, identity verified. Personal or organisation changes what comes later. Developer account guide
Play accepts only the .aab for new apps, targeting the current required API level. APK vs AAB · Target API level
512×512 icon, 1024×500 feature graphic, 2–8 screenshots, and texts of 30, 80 and 4,000 characters. Listing tools
Public, reachable without login, and consistent with the Data safety answers. Privacy policy guide
Answered for what your website and its integrations collect, not for the wrapper. Data safety · Content rating
12 testers opted in for 14 continuous days before you can apply for production. Closed testing guide
Google's minimum functionality policy; push, offline handling and native navigation are the usual answer. Policy guide
Google Play's reviewers see thousands of apps that are nothing but a web page in a frame, and a second cluster of refusals is pure paperwork. None of it is hard. All of it is unforgiving. The guides here exist so you learn it from a page instead of a rejection email.
The app offers nothing a browser bookmark doesn't. A bare wrapper is refused; a wrapper with push notifications, an offline state and native navigation is approved every day.
Fix: turn those features on in the builder and describe them in the listing. What reviewers look for
The form says "no data collected" while the site runs analytics, a chat widget or push notifications. Reviewers compare the form with the app's behaviour.
Fix: declare what your website and integrations actually collect. Data safety for a website app
No URL, a URL behind a login, a policy that doesn't mention the app, or one that contradicts the Data safety answers.
Fix: a public page on your own domain, written for the app. Privacy policy guide
Screenshots with a browser bar showing, "#1" or "best" in the title, keyword-stuffed descriptions, a feature graphic with text under Play's video button.
Fix: framed screenshots and plain, honest text — the tools below produce both. Listing guide
Your website address, the app name, a package name that will be yours forever on Play, and your icon. The icon becomes an adaptive launcher icon and the 512×512 listing icon.
Splash screen colours and logo, orientation, pull-to-refresh, exit confirmation, external-link handling, an offline screen, optional OneSignal push and AdMob — the features that make it an app rather than a bookmark.
Everything is generated in your browser; the signing key is derived deterministically so rebuilds keep the same signature. App signing explained
A signed APK for direct installs and testing. No account, no watermark, no limit on rebuilds.
The Android App Bundle Google Play requires, paid on the download step through Dodo Payments; both files download instantly and are emailed to you as a backup. Pricing in full
| Question | Short answer | Guide |
|---|---|---|
| Personal or organisation developer account? | Personal is faster; organisation skips the 14-day closed test but needs a D-U-N-S number | Developer account |
| Can I use my own checkout in the app? | Yes for physical goods and off-app services; digital goods must use Play Billing | Payments policy |
| What do I put in Data safety for a WebView app? | Whatever your website and integrations collect — analytics, push identifiers, account data | Data safety |
| Will a website app pass review at all? | Yes, with push, offline handling, native navigation and honest metadata | Minimum functionality |
| Why was my app rejected? | The eight most common reasons, decoded | Rejection reasons |
| Should I use a PWA instead? | If iPhone matters and you control your hosting, maybe — compared honestly | Compare |
Each platform brings its own Play-policy wrinkles: what you sell, how checkout works, what data the platform collects on your behalf. The platform guides cover them.
Physical vs digital products under Play Billing rules; plugins that leak data you must declare.
Shopify checkout inside a Play app is allowed for physical goods — here's the exact policy line and how to declare it.
Wix Stores, Bookings and the Data safety answers Wix's built-in analytics require.
Commerce, member areas and the cookie banner inside a Play app.
Marketing sites on Play: clearing minimum functionality when there's nothing to sell.
Game category rules, IARC rating, ads and in-game purchases under Play Billing.
Content policies for publications, AdSense inside the app, the News policy question.
Website Builder and Online Store on Play, and the privacy policy page you'll need to add.
Each image and text field in the Play Console has a rule. These tools produce assets that meet them, in your browser, with nothing uploaded — the badge on each card is the requirement it targets.
The 512×512 hi-res icon to Play's spec plus every launcher density, from one upload.
16:9 or 9:16 · 2–8 shotsFramed phone and tablet screenshots, exported within Play's size and ratio limits.
1024 × 500The required 1024×500 banner, with the centre kept clear for Play's video button.
Listing previewHow the listing will look on a phone, before you touch the Play Console.
30 / 80 / 4,000 charsTitle, short and full description drafts within Play's limits, plus the wording rules.
Store linkA scannable code for your Play listing with install-referrer tracking, print-ready.
Brand coloursHex colours from your logo for splash, app bar, status bar and icon background.
Launch kitLaunch graphics for every network, plus the Google Play badge rules.
Promo videoA short animated preview for the listing's YouTube promo video and your launch posts.
Written from real Play Console behaviour and real rejection emails, dated, and updated when Google moves the goalposts.
Account, bundle, listing, forms, testing, review, launch and maintenance — every step the Play Console will put in front of you, with the specs and the traps that catch WebView apps.
Read the guide →What the $25 buys, how identity verification works, when you need a D-U-N-S number, why personal accounts must run a 14-day closed test, and how to avoid the account mistakes that follow you forever.
Read the guide →The APK is what installs; the AAB is what you upload. What Play does with a bundle, why new apps can't be uploaded as APKs, when you still want an APK, and how to test one before the other.
Read the guide →The APK is free — no charge, no account, no watermark. The AAB that Google Play requires comes in the APK + AAB bundle for a one-time US$5 per build, paid through Dodo Payments; both files download immediately and are emailed to you as a backup. Google's own US$25 one-time developer registration is paid to Google.
Yes, provided it offers more than a browser does and the listing is honest. Google's minimum-functionality policy targets bare wrappers; enable push notifications, the offline screen and native navigation in the builder, and fill the forms accurately. The policy guide explains what reviewers check.
Google Play accepts only the AAB for new apps. The APK is for installing on your own devices, sharing with testers outside Play, or distributing yourself. The free build gives you the APK; the US$5 bundle adds the AAB from the same configuration.
They appear in the app immediately — the app displays your live website. You only publish a new bundle when you change the icon, colours, package settings or need a new target API level, which Google raises about once a year.
In your browser tab. The URL, icon and settings you enter are used locally to assemble the package; we do not receive them. The website itself uses Google Analytics and shows Google AdSense ads, described in the privacy policy.
The APK is free. The APK + AAB bundle Google Play needs is US$5, one-time, per build — and every step after the upload is documented here.
Build APK + AAB → Publishing checklist