Posted by Kobi Glick, Product Manager, Google Play

Publishing a new app, or app update, is an important and exciting milestone for every developer. In order to make the process smoother and more trackable, we're announcing the launch of a new way to publish apps on Google Play with some new features. The changes will give you the ability to manage your app releases with more confidence via a new manage releases page in the Google Play Developer Console.

Manage your app updates with clarity and control

The new manage releases page is where you upload alpha, beta, and production releases of your app. From here, you can see important information and the status of all your releases across tracks.

Easier access to existing and new publishing features

Publishing an app or update is a big step, and one that every developer wants to have confidence in taking. To help, we've added two new features.

First, we've added a validation step that highlights potential issues before you publish. The new "review and rollout" page will appear before you confirm the roll out of a new app and flag if there are validation errors or warnings. This new flow will make the app release process easier, especially for apps using multi-APK. It also provides new information; for example, in cases where you added new permissions to your app, the system will highlight it.

Second, it's now simpler to perform and track staged roll-outs during the publishing flow. With staged rollouts, you can release your update to a growing % of users, giving you a chance to catch and address any issues before affecting your whole audience.

If you want to review the history of your releases, it is now possible to track them granularly and download previous APKs.

Finally we've added a new artifacts library under manage releases where you can find all the files that help you manage a release.

Start using the new manage releases page today

You can access the new manage releases page in the Developer Console. Visit the Google Play Developer Help Center for more information. With these changes, we're helping you to publish, track and manage your app with confidence on Google Play.

Source: Android Developers Blog