Register your app on open-source repositories

This guide explains how to register your apps on open-source repositories. The process is similar to distributing your app through app distributors. While you don't have to register your app in order to continue distributing them on open-source repositories, doing so will let your users continue with the same install experience they have today.

Before you begin, set up an Android Developer Console account or Google Play Console account. If you don't have an account, sign up by following the developer verification guide.

Choose how users install your app

Depending on whether you verify and register, users can install your app in one of two ways:

  • No changes for your users. Register your apps to your verified identity so users can install it just like they always have.
  • Advanced flow setup. If you prefer not to register your app, users can enable advanced flow on their device. This one-time setup allows them to install apps from unverified developers.

Register a new app

Complete the following steps to register a new app.

  1. In the Android Developer Console or the Android developer verification tab on Google Play Console, click Register package name.
  2. Enter the package name of your new app, and click Next.
  3. Click Add key, and enter the SHA-256 certificate fingerprint of your signing key. See the Help Center guide for instructions on extracting the fingerprint. If the open-source repository uses your signing key to distribute the app, you don't need to complete any further steps.
  4. If the open-source repository re-signs the app with their key, download the store-signed APK after you publish your app on the repository.
  5. Extract the SHA-256 certificate fingerprint from the APK.
  6. In the console, go to your registered app, click Add key, and enter the extracted SHA-256 certificate fingerprint. If you receive a prompt to verify ownership, click Verify, and follow steps 9 through 12 in the Register an existing app section. This prompt appears in the rare case that the new app gets installed on 50 or more Android devices from the repository before you register the repository's key.

Register an existing app

If the open-source repository uses your signing key to distribute the app, follow the existing package name registration guide.

To register an existing app that the registry re-signs with their key, complete the following steps:

  1. Download the platform-signed APK from the open source platform.
  2. Extract the SHA-256 certificate fingerprint from the APK. See the Help Center guide for instructions on extracting the fingerprint.
  3. In the Android Developer Console or the Android developer verification page on Google Play Console, click Register package name.
  4. Enter the package name of your existing app, and click Next.
  5. Click Select key. If the app has fewer than 50 known installs, click Add key, and enter the SHA-256 certificate fingerprint instead.
  6. Select the extracted SHA-256 certificate fingerprint from the list of eligible fingerprints. If the fingerprint isn't listed, click Show another way to register, click Show fingerprints for other keys, and select the fingerprint from that list.
  7. Click Add key.
  8. Click Upload APK.
  9. Copy the provided snippet, go to your app's source tree, create a file named adi-registration.properties in the assets folder, and paste the snippet in the file.
  10. Publish the new app version containing the snippet to the repository.
  11. Download the new APK version from the repository.
  12. Upload the APK to the console.