Summary: This guide is for IT administrators setting up a custom branded (whitelabel) Android app. Following these steps grants Speakap the ability to publish your whitelabel app quickly and securely, so your organization is always using the latest version of the application.
Following this guide will take 30 to 60 minutes and can be completed by any non-technical member of your organization. Please note that some steps involve sensitive information, and that this process involves paying a 25 USD one-time registration fee to Google.
Step 1: Create a Google Gmail account for your organization
If you already have a Gmail account for your organization, you can skip this step and proceed using your organization's existing Gmail account.
To follow the steps in this guide, you need a Gmail address to set up your Google Developer account. We recommend you avoid using personal email addresses and use your organization's email address instead. If your organization doesn't use Gmail, you can create a new account here: https://accounts.google.com/signup/v2/createaccount?flowName=GlifWebSignIn&flowEntry=SignUp
Step 2: Create a Google Developer account for your organization
What you'll need:
- Credit card (one-time $25 registration fee)
- D-U-N-S Number
- Company details (contact phone, email, etc.)
- A clear copy of any one of these official government identity documents:
- ID card
- Passport
- Driver's license
- A clear copy of any one of these official organisation documents:
- Certificate of incorporation or registration
- Extract from commercial registration
- VAT registration certificate
2a. Get started
Follow this link to create a Google Developer account: https://play.google.com/console/u/0/signup
Select the Google account from which you want to create the Developer account in the left panel, and click "Get started" under 'An Organisation'.
Important: it has to be an ORGANISATION account. Please use a reliable email address to create the account. We recommend using a company-managed account, allowing future team members to manage the account as needed.
Next you will be shown a list of things you will need to have for creating the account.
You have now defined the type of Developer account. Make your company name your developer name.
2b. Create or select a payment profile
You will be prompted to enter your company's D-U-N-S number.
Important: if you are entering your organisation's name at any point of creating a payments profile, be sure that it matches the name linked to your D-U-N-S number.
2c. About your organisation
2d. Contact details
Enter whatever details you feel comfortable with here.
2e. About you as an account owner
2f. About the account
- Please make the 'Developer account name' the name of your company.
- The contact email is where Google sends important updates about your account. Make sure this is a reliable and easily accessed company email address.
2g. About the type of apps
2h. Accept Google's terms of service
2i. Pay the registration fee and your account is created
Step 3: Verify your new Google Developer account
You will be prompted to verify your identity and organisation. After supplying the information, verification takes a couple of days to complete, but luckily this does not stop you from continuing with the steps below.
The steps to verify your identity are generally straightforward and clearly outlined by Google. However, there is one step that can be a bit tricky and requires some technical knowledge. We'll guide you through it below.
Organisation website verification
Important: you will need a person with technical knowledge of your organisation's domain to get your website verified.
This step takes place in two parts and sends a verification message between two accounts:
- Your Google Play Console account (created in this guide)
- Any Google Search Console account (you can log in here with any email)
Here are the steps:
- Go to your Google Search Console account and put in your company website under 'Domain'. [IMAGE: Google Search Console screen with the Domain option]
- Then copy your unique TXT record. [IMAGE: Search Console dialog showing the TXT record to copy]
- Find the technical person at your organisation that owns the domain and manages that website, and ask them to use your TXT record in one of the six options in this guide to verify the site in the Google Search Console: https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/9008080?hl=en
- Once this is done, go back to your Google Search Console account and click "Verify". You should then see the domain listed in your account.
- The final step is to go back to your Google Developer account and "Verify" your organization's website. This sends a message back to your Google Search Console account, where you can click "Accept", and the website will be verified. [IMAGE: website verification confirmation in the Google Developer account]
You're halfway there. Take a quick coffee break if you need one.
Step 4: Give access to our speakap-automation user by creating a JSON API key
Completing this step allows us to automatically update your app in your account.
- Log in on "Go to Google Cloud Platform" via https://cloud.google.com/cloud-console/ and click "Go to console".
- In the top right dropdown, either select an existing project or create a new one and call it Speakap.
- In the search bar type 'Service Accounts' and click the Service Accounts option.
- On the Service Accounts screen, click "Create Service Account".
- This opens a new menu. Give the name "speakap-automation" as the Service account name and click "Create". This generates a Service account ID.
- In step number two of the form, search and select "Service Account User" in the search bar, then click the "Done" button.
- This brings you back to the previous screen, where you will see the new service account. Click the three dots to open the Actions menu, then click "Manage keys".
- This opens a new tab where you will see an option to add a key. Click that button to open the menu and select "Create new key".
- Select the JSON option and click "Create".
- This creates a new key and opens a menu to save it locally. Save it and you will see a confirmation.
- Copy the email address of the service account, close this tab, and go back to the Google Play Console. Select 'Users and permissions' in the left menu, then click 'Invite new users' on the right.
- Fill in the email address of the service account. Under "Account permissions" select "Admin". If you prefer not to grant us admin access, or company policy does not allow it, please ensure the following permissions are checked:
- Draft apps
- Releases
- Store presence
- User feedback
- Policy
- Deep links
- Android developer verification
- Click the "Invite user" button and "Send invite".
Step 5: Enable the API
Go to this link and enable the "Google Play Android Developer API". This must be enabled in order to use the API key to send updates of the application automatically: https://console.developers.google.com/apis/api/androidpublisher.googleapis.com/
[IMAGE: Google Play Android Developer API page with the Enable button]
Step 6: Invite our mobile-development user
- Now speakap-automation is invited, but we also need to add mobile-development as a user. To add it, click the "Invite new users" option under the three dots menu.
- Specify the email address mobile-development@speakap.nl and give it "Admin" in "Account permissions" as well. This avoids delays in the future. Once again, if you prefer not to give us admin access, or company policy does not allow it, please ensure the following permissions are checked:
- Draft apps
- Releases
- Store presence
- User feedback
- Policy
- Deep links
- Android developer verification
- If you now go to the "Users and Permissions" menu (accessible from the left panel), you should see at least three users: mobile-development, speakap-automation, and yourself.
Step 7: Share the details with your CSM
Finally, please share the following with your CSM:
- Your Google Developer account name
- The email address it was created under
- The API key file (.json)
You've now completed all the steps necessary to allow Speakap to publish and manage your Android whitelabel app!
Still stuck?
Email us at technicalimplementations@speakap.nl with your organization name, the step you are stuck on, and a screenshot of what you see, and we'll help you out.