Async Office Hours: How to quickly publish to the App store & Play Store with EAS Submit

Summary

In this tutorial, Keith, a developer and success engineer with Expo, demonstrates how to set up automatic submissions of app builds to the App Store and Google Play Store using EAS Submit. He walks through the process of creating a Google service account and submitting an app to Google Play, followed by a guide on how to submit an iOS app to the Apple App Store via EAS Submit. Keith highlights key steps, offers tips for avoiding errors, and explains how to enable auto-submit for future builds, simplifying app deployment.

Takeaways

• 🔑 EAS Submit automates the submission process for apps to both the Google Play Store and Apple App Store.
• 📱 To submit an Android app, a Google service account is required, which can be created via the Google Cloud Platform.
• 🛠️ The process involves setting up API access in the Google Play console and creating a service account in the Google Cloud platform.
• 📂 You need to generate a JSON key file for the service account, which is then used in the submission process.
• 🚀 Submitting through EAS Submit sends the app to the internal testing track on the Google Play Store, from where it can be promoted to production.
• 📝 First-time submissions to the Play Store must be done manually to associate the app and its package name with the Play Store.
• 🍎 For iOS apps, the first submission must also be done manually to set up App Store Connect API keys, but subsequent submissions can be automated.
• 💻 With EAS Submit, developers can submit iOS apps to the App Store without needing a Mac, as Expo's cloud handles the submission via its cloud Mac servers.
• 📤 Once set up, the EAS build process can be configured to automatically trigger EAS Submit after successful builds for both Android and iOS apps.
• 🧰 EAS Submit can also handle app metadata, such as store descriptions and screenshots, during the submission process.

Q & A

What is the purpose of using EAS submit in the context of the script?

EAS submit is used to automate the process of submitting apps to app stores (Google Play and App Store) after a build is completed, streamlining the deployment workflow.

What prerequisites are required before setting up auto submission to the Google Play Store?

Prerequisites include having a paid developer account, creating a Google service account, having a completed Android Play Store build, and having an app already listed on the Google Play Store.

What steps are involved in creating a Google service account for Play Store submissions?

The steps include going to the Google Play Console, navigating to Setup > API access, linking or creating a Google Cloud project, creating a new service account, assigning the role 'Service Account User,' generating a JSON key, and linking the service account to the Google Play Console.

Why is manual submission necessary for the first time when using EAS submit for Android?

Manual submission is required the first time because the app and package name association needs to be established in the Play Store, which can only be done by manually uploading the APK/AAB file.

What happens when you submit your Android app using EAS submit?

By default, the app is sent to the internal testing track on the Play Store, which allows developers to test their app before promoting it to production.

What error did the speaker encounter during their first submission attempt and how was it resolved?

The speaker encountered an error due to targeting Android 13, which required filling out a form to declare that the app was not using the advertising API. This was resolved by submitting the form in the Google Play Console.

How does EAS submit handle iOS app submissions, and what are the prerequisites for it?

EAS submit for iOS automates the submission of apps to App Store Connect. Prerequisites include a paid developer account, EAS CLI installation, and a standalone app build for the App Store.

Why is the first submission for iOS apps also manual, similar to Android?

The first submission is manual because EAS submit needs to set up the App Store Connect API key, which is required for future automatic submissions to TestFlight.

What advantage does EAS submit provide to iOS developers who do not have access to a Mac?

EAS submit allows iOS app submissions to the App Store without a Mac by using Expo’s cloud Macs, bypassing the need for Apple’s Transporter app or command line tools that typically require macOS.

What additional features can EAS submit handle besides app submission?

EAS submit can also manage metadata, such as store descriptions and screenshots, to streamline the submission process further. This feature is especially useful for managing app store listings.

Outlines

00:00

👨‍💻 Setting Up Auto Submission for Google Play Store

Keith introduces himself as a developer and success engineer with Expo, discussing his live app on both the App Store and Play Store. He expresses a desire to automate the submission process using EAS Submit, focusing on submitting the app to Google Play Store. Keith walks through the steps for setting up the Google service account, linking it to the Play Store console, and creating a build. He highlights that while some steps are prerequisites (such as having a developer account), others like creating a service account involve following instructions from Google's platform. This is the most complex part of the auto-submission process.

05:01

📦 Preparing for Auto Submissions and First-Time Uploads

Keith explains the additional steps required for first-time Play Store submissions. The initial manual upload of the app creates an association between the package name and the app, which enables future automatic submissions. He then demonstrates running the EAS submit command for Android, which walks through selecting the build and uploading the service account key. He emphasizes that the app is submitted to the internal testing track by default, and the user will need to promote it to production later. Keith also discusses a submission error he encountered, which required filling out a new Play Store form due to Android 13 targeting, before successfully completing the submission.

10:04

📲 Auto Submitting Android Apps and Expediting Future Builds

Keith completes the Android submission process and reflects on how EAS submit can be set up for future auto submissions. He highlights that once the initial steps are complete, running a single build command can now trigger an auto submission process, saving time and effort. The submission sends the app to the internal track for testing, allowing him to later promote it to production. He notes that future builds can use the `EAS build --auto-submit` command to automatically submit the app after each successful build, further streamlining the release process for Android.

🍏 Setting Up EAS Submit for iOS App Submissions

Keith shifts focus to setting up EAS submit for iOS app submissions to the Apple App Store. He outlines the requirements, such as having a paid developer account and installing the EAS CLI. Similar to Android, the first submission must be done manually to set up the App Store Connect API key, but future submissions can be automated. He walks through running the `EAS submit -p iOS` command, choosing a build, and generating an App Store Connect API key for future auto submissions. Keith explains that after this initial manual step, future iOS builds can also be auto-submitted.

🚀 Automating iOS Submissions to TestFlight

Keith completes the iOS submission process, noting that it takes a few minutes for the app to be processed by Apple. He receives an email once the app is ready for TestFlight, allowing him to review and manage testers. Now that the first submission is complete, Keith explains how future builds can be auto-submitted using `EAS build --auto-submit`. He emphasizes the convenience of running a single build command to trigger both the build and the TestFlight submission, enabling a smoother workflow for testing and releasing iOS apps.

💻 Submitting iOS Apps Without a Mac

Keith highlights a significant advantage of EAS submit: the ability to submit iOS apps without needing a Mac. Normally, submitting apps to the App Store requires using Apple's Transporter app, which only runs on macOS. However, EAS submit runs on Expo's cloud infrastructure, bypassing the need for a local Mac. This makes the submission process more accessible to developers using other platforms. Keith wraps up the video by encouraging viewers to explore more about EAS submit and related Expo services through the documentation.

Keywords

💡EAS Submit

EAS Submit is a tool provided by Expo to automate the process of submitting app builds to app stores like Google Play and Apple App Store. In the video, the speaker demonstrates how to configure EAS Submit to automatically upload app builds after they are completed. It simplifies the submission process by handling authentication, uploading, and tracking submissions.

💡Google Play Console

Google Play Console is a platform where Android developers manage their apps that are published on the Google Play Store. In the video, the speaker explains how to set up API access in the Google Play Console to enable automatic submission of apps using EAS Submit. The Console is essential for managing app releases and handling service accounts.

💡Google Service Account

A Google Service Account is a special type of account used by apps or virtual machines to interact with Google's APIs. The speaker walks through the process of creating a Google Service Account, which is required to grant permissions for EAS Submit to interact with the Google Play Console. This account handles tasks like submitting app updates to the Play Store.

💡API Access

API Access refers to the permissions required for external tools (like EAS Submit) to interact with Google Play Console or other systems. In the video, API Access is configured to allow EAS Submit to automatically upload app builds to Google Play. The speaker shows how to manage API access by creating a new Google Cloud project and linking it to the Play Store.

💡Internal Track

The Internal Track is a release track on the Google Play Store where developers can upload their app for internal testing. In the video, the speaker mentions that when EAS Submit uploads an app, it first goes to the Internal Track, similar to how TestFlight works for iOS apps. Developers can then promote the app to production after testing.

💡TestFlight

TestFlight is a platform for testing iOS apps before they are released on the App Store. The speaker explains that EAS Submit automates the process of submitting iOS app builds to TestFlight, allowing for easy distribution to testers. Once the app is in TestFlight, developers can invite testers and get feedback before pushing the app to production.

💡App Store Connect

App Store Connect is the Apple developer platform where developers manage app submissions, releases, and testing on TestFlight. In the video, the speaker uses App Store Connect to manage the app submission process for iOS apps, explaining how EAS Submit simplifies the creation of App Store Connect API keys and the submission process to TestFlight.

💡App Store Connect API Key

An App Store Connect API Key is a token used to authenticate automated services like EAS Submit when interacting with App Store Connect. In the video, the speaker demonstrates how EAS Submit automatically creates this API key during the first submission, enabling future automated submissions to TestFlight without manual intervention.

💡Expo SDK

Expo SDK is a set of tools and libraries that developers use to build React Native apps. In the video, the speaker upgrades their app to the latest Expo SDK, which introduces compatibility with Android 13. However, the upgrade also triggers a Play Store requirement to declare the app’s usage of advertising IDs, demonstrating how changes in the SDK can affect the submission process.

💡Transporter App

The Transporter App is an Apple tool used to upload iOS apps to the App Store, traditionally available only on macOS. The speaker highlights that EAS Submit allows developers to submit iOS apps without needing a Mac or the Transporter App, as Expo Cloud manages this process on their servers, making the submission process platform-agnostic.

Highlights

Introduction to the developer's role at Expo and app submission goals.

Explanation of the purpose of EAS submit for automating app submissions to app stores.

Detailed walkthrough of setting up Google Play Store submission using EAS submit.

Prerequisites required for submitting an app, such as a paid developer account and Google service account setup.

Step-by-step guide for creating a Google Cloud project and a Google service account.

Important instruction on generating a service account key and securely storing it.

Instructions on linking the Google Cloud project to the Google Play console and assigning permissions.

Explanation that the first-time app upload must be done manually to create an association with the Play Store.

Using EAS submit to automate updates after the initial app association is complete.

Specific mention of how to handle errors like the Android 13 advertising ID requirement.

Details on managing internal track testing and promoting app updates to production in Google Play.

Explanation of auto-submitting new versions of the iOS app using EAS submit.

Process for generating an App Store Connect API key to facilitate auto-submission to TestFlight.

Insight on submitting iOS apps without needing a Mac by using Expo's cloud-based submission process.

Brief mention of additional EAS features like EAS metadata for attaching store descriptions and screenshots.

Transcripts

hi my name is Keith I'm a developer

success engineer with Expo I have an app

that's on the App Store and play store

it's live already and it's working great

with the as build but I really want it

to automatically submit to the App

Stores when my build's done fortunately

there's a way to do that it's a EAS

submit so uh join me as we set that up

for my app

let's work on submitting my app to the

Google Play store so you can go to

docs.expo.dev and look for EAS submit

and you'll see there's instructions here

for the App Store and Play Store we're

going to go to the Play Store here

and there's a few prerequisites some of

them I've already done so a paid

developer account is required by apps

already in the store so I have the

developer account we need to create this

Google service account I have not done

that yet my app is of course I already

have the Google Play console I also have

already created a build that is going to

be submitted so I have my completed

Android play store build here

so we're gonna head over to this

creating a Google service account

document right here

so this could change this is of course

entirely on the Google Play Store

console side as of March 2023 this is

how it goes and even though it could

change a little bit there's a few steps

involved and I thought it would be good

to show someone walking through this

because this is probably the most

complex part of setting up Auto

submission

on Google Play okay we're in the Google

Play console we're going to go down to

setup and API access

sometimes this will show like a little

kind of starting screen just with a

fancy design on it or icon and a button

that says choose project to link for

whatever reason mine's not showing that

today but it's showing the very next

screen after that which would let us

either link an existing Google Cloud

project or create a new one I'm going to

go ahead and create a new one

and hit save here

Google Cloud project is now created

and I will scroll down here to service

accounts I need to create a new service

account

and this actually needs to be done on

the Google Cloud platform

so we're going to follow this link

and then we're going to click create

service account you can name this

service account for your app or possibly

for your Play Store account if you're

going to be submitting multiple apps

this can work for

all the apps under your account

if you want to add a description you

could

then you click the create

and continue button

now we need to select a role we want

that to be service account user

there's a lot of rules here so it can be

a little

difficult to find

we want to look for service accounts

and then service account user

here we go

then we can click done

now we will make the key that will

actually be used by EAS submit go to

this little action button next to our

service account

and click manage keys

then click add key and create new key

we will choose Json

and it's been saved to our computer

be sure to keep this file in a safe

place so we will need it again in a

little while

my downloads are safe enough

now we need to head all the way back to

the Play Store console

and to the API access page

to refresh these service accounts we

should see our new service account

and then click manage console

permissions

the defaults are usually fine here and

then we can click invite user

and then send invite

and that we should be everything we need

to do in the Play Store console for now

so now we are ready to use es submit on

the build that I already built

do note that if this is the first time

you're uploading your app to the Play

Store you have to manually upload it you

literally have to go into Play Store

console create your app

and then drag and drop the A B file and

that actually creates the association

between the app

and the package name which is then used

for future submissions so this is a

limitation of the Google Play Store API

but we've already done that one time so

we're going to be able to submit an

update with EAS submit so let's head

over here to my project we'll run EAS

submit

Dash

Android and this should walk us through

any first time steps which will then set

us up going forward to be able to use

Auto submit

let's select a build from EAS

we'll use my latest build

okay and now we're going to

provide the path to the service account

file I'm going to make this a very easy

and rename it and drag it to my project

for now and then delete it

okay let's fix that terrible name here

we'll just call it Play Store

and then drag it over here

I'm going to need to make sure I go

delete it afterwards so if you're doing

it the way I'm doing it be careful

because I don't want to commit that

but at least this makes this very easy

and now it's submitting it has uploaded

my key and taken my build ID and gone

straight with it to submit to the Play

Store

and note by default it's going to send

it to the internal track so so just like

with iOS where submitting it is actually

going to send it to test flight

submitting with EAS submit is not going

to send your app straight to production

with the Play Store which is not

something we usually want to do so it'll

put it on the internal release track and

then I can promote it to production

so the first time I tried to submit my

app I got an error but it was totally

coincidental I had upgraded my app to

the latest Expo SDK and that was the

first time my app was targeting Android

13 and there was a new requirement in

the Play Store that I actually had to go

fill out a form to declare that it was

not using the advertising API or

advertising ID I should say so I

literally had to go to this app content

thing and just say no

and now I'm going to submit again

I will select my latest build one more

time

and it's going to go straight away into

the submit because I've already uploaded

my Play Store key

so wait for the submit to be complete

and there it is my submission is

complete I can go to my Play Store

console and I could take a look at it

let's go into my app here

and go to

my releases

and now I have a new release

in internal testing that I could then

promote to production

so that's it for submitting to Android

of course you know the one other thing I

will add is the next time I build I can

actually use Auto submit so I could run

EAS build

my profile in there production usually

for my platform Android and then use

Auto Dash submit

and then it will start the EAS submit

directly after my build is done assuming

it's successful of course so I can

complete all of that from one step

let's work on setting up EAS submit to

Auto submit new versions of my IOS app

to the App Store so you can go to

docs.expo.dev

and look for EAS submit there'll be

directions for each platform I will go

to submitting to the Apple App Store

there's a few prerequisites here you'll

need a paid developer account to submit

your app

so you can head over to

developer.apple.com to learn more about

that if you need one

you'll need the EES CLI installed and

also before you do the submission itself

for the first time you'll want to build

your Standalone app for the store

which I have done right here I have a

new build a new app store build

I'm at the council for my app project

here

and it's a standard project I built it

with EAS build

I'm going to run EAS submits

Dash p iOS

and so we're going to eventually get to

the point where we allow it to Auto

submit but the first submission needs to

be done manually because EAS submit will

do all the initial setup including

creating the App Store connect API key

in this first step here and then after

that you'll be able to do auto submit

which will submit your app to test

flight right after your build is

completed

so let's run that

if you had just recently built you

already have your Apple ID defaulted in

here

and you'll probably be restoring a App

Store connect session that already

exists

select my team

so I'm going to select a build from Eis

you actually don't need to build your

app on EAS build in order to use EAS

submit but I have my build on the EAS

submit about es build so let's select

that

I built it just recently so we'll pick

the most recent one

so this is the key here this is the part

that needs to be set up so you'll be

able to do auto submit in the future so

we're going to use and this is I think

the easiest way is a new app store

connect API key and it'll create it for

us

choose yes it's now creating the key

and now it's

going to submit my app so this is the

long part here using you to wait a few

minutes for the submission process to

complete and then of course Apple does

some processing at its end and you um

eventually get an email actually from

App Store connect that tells you that

your app is ready

for test flight

so we'll be back in a while once that's

done

we're back and our submission has

completed now you get this helpful

message here it says your binary has

been successfully uploaded to App Store

connect it is now being processed by

Apple you'll receive an email when

processing finishes I checked my inbox I

did receive the email usually takes

about five to ten minutes which is

correct it also even gives you a helpful

link to take you directly to your build

and test flight and it'll take you right

here so you'll see I previously had 1.01

up there I have version 1.02 up there my

bill is up there it's ready for me to

add any new testers I already had one

tester added so that build already went

to them in test flight

now that I've done the first submission

I'm set up to do auto submit in the

future so to do that I would do

EAS build then choose my profile in this

case will be my production profiles

usually with the one I submit to

actually make a production store build

that'll eventually make it all the way

live

uh platform iOS

and this would run your build just like

normal but once your build is completed

it would also automatically submit it it

would do just what I did the first time

manually with the EAS submit command so

you can have a nice workflow here where

you're running the one build command and

data lays that building but it's also

getting it right at the test flight so

the very next step is wait for

everything to be done and it shows up on

your phone and test flight which is

great and then from there you can do

whatever you need to do in app store

connect to release your app after you've

tested it and there's also more things

you can do with EAS submit you can find

more in our docs especially about EAS

metadata which allows you to attach like

store descriptions screenshots and other

information about your app along with

your submission

one more nice thing about EAS submit is

with iOS apps you normally have to have

a Mac to submit the app to the App Store

that's because the transporter app from

Apple only runs on a Mac

and even if you're doing it from the

command line you would still have to be

using command line tools that can only

run on the Mac well since EA submit runs

unexposed Cloud on our our Cloud Max you

can submit to the app store without a

Mac

and that's it for now you can learn more

about all the things you can do with EAS

a bit and other EAS Services by going to

docs.expo.dev

thank you for watching and have a great

day