docs/html/distribute/googleplay/edu/start.jd

page.title=Publish Education Apps
page.image=/distribute/images/play-education.jpg
meta.tags="education", "guidelines", "quality"
page.tags="education", "addendum"
page.metaDescription=Join Google Play for Education in just a few simple steps.

@jd:body

<div id="qv-wrapper"><div id="qv">
<h2>Steps to Join</h2>
<ol>
<li><a href="#register">Register for a Publisher Account</a></li>
<li><a href="#prepare">Prepare Your Apps</a></li>
<li><a href="#publish">Publish Your Apps</a></li>
<li><a href="#related-resources">Related Resources</a></li>
</ol>
</div></div>
<p>
  If you've got great Android and Chrome apps for education and want to reach even more teachers
  and students, you can join the <strong>Google Play for Education</strong>
  program in a few simple steps. You do everything using the familiar tools and
  processes you currently use to manage your Android or Chrome apps.
</p>

<p>
Note that Google Play for Education is currently available to <strong>K-12 schools in the United
States</strong> only.</p>


<img src="{@docRoot}images/gpfe-start-0.jpg" style=
  "border:1px solid #ddd;padding:0px" width="760" height="403">

<div class="headerLine">
  <h2 id="register">
    Register for a Publisher Account
  </h2>


</div>

<p>
  To publish an Android app in Google Play for Education, review the information on <a href=
  "{@docRoot}distribute/googleplay/start.html">getting started</a> with
  publishing on Google Play. You’ll gain access to the <a href=
  "{@docRoot}distribute/googleplay/developer-console.html">Developer
  Console</a>, where you’ll manage your details, apps, and payments.
</p>

<p>To publish a Chrome app in Google Play for Education, you'll need a
<a href="https://developer.chrome.com/webstore/publish">Chrome Web Store account</a>.</p>

<div class="headerLine">
  <h2 id="prepare">
    Prepare Your Apps
  </h2>
</div>

<p>
  By participating in Google Play for Education you’ll be placing your apps
  before a new audience of teachers and educators. To address this audience,
  there are specific guidelines and policies your apps should meet and specific
  design considerations too.
</p>

<h3>
  Understand guidelines and policies
</h3>

<p>
  To prepare for a launch on Google Play for Education, start by reviewing the
  guidelines for educational apps in Google Play and the policies that apply to
  your apps. See the <a href=
  "https://developers.google.com/edu/guidelines">Education
  Guidelines</a> for details.
</p>

<p>
  Also, make sure that you're familiar with the policies that your app must
  comply with. For Android, they include <a href=
  "http://play.google.com/about/developer-content-policy.html">content
  policies</a>, the <a href=
  "http://play.google.com/about/developer-distribution-agreement.html">Developer
  Distribution Agreement</a>, and <a href=
  "https://play.google.com/about/developer-distribution-agreement-addendum.html">
  Google Play for Education Addendum</a>.
</p>
<p>For Chrome, they include <a href=
  "https://developer.chrome.com/webstore/program_policies">content
  policies</a>, the <a href=
  "https://developer.chrome.com/webstore/terms">Developer
  Distribution Agreement</a>, and <a href=
  "https://developers.google.com/edu/chrome-d-d-a-addendum">
  Google Play for Education Addendum</a>.
</p>

<h3>
  Design and develop a great app for education
</h3>

<p>
  Great apps for educators and students <strong>offer educational
  value</strong>, are <strong>designed for K-12 classroom use</strong>,
  <strong>deliver a compelling feature set</strong>, and are refined to offer a
  polished, <strong>high-quality tablet experience</strong>.
</p>

<p>
  Assess your app against the criteria listed in the <a href=
  "https://developers.google.com/edu/guidelines">Education
  Guidelines</a> and plan on supporting them to the greatest extent possible.
  In some cases you might need to modify the app’s features or UI to support
  classroom requirements. It's a good idea to identify any changes early in
  development, so that you can address them properly.
</p>

<p>
  With Google Play for Education, optimizing your Android apps for tablets is crucial.
  A variety of resources are available to help you understand what you need to
  do — a good starting point is the <a href=
  "{@docRoot}distribute/essentials/quality/tablets.html">Tablet App Quality</a>
  guidelines.
</p>

<p>
  Throughout design and development, it's important to have suitable devices on
  which to prototype and test your user experience. It's recommended highly
  that you acquire 7-inch and 10-inch tablet devices and set up your testing
  environment as early as possible. The recommended 7-inch hardware device that
  replicates the Google Play for Education environment is the Nexus 7, which is
  available from <a href=
  "https://play.google.com/store/devices/details?id=nexus_7_16gb_2013">Google
  Play</a> and other stores.
</p>

<p>
For Chrome apps, optimizing your apps for mouse, keyboard, and touch is just as important.
Some students will use touch as their primary input method, and some will have Chromebooks
without touch. Make sure your app works for all students.
</p>
<p>
  Comprehensive testing and quality assurance are key aspects of delivering
  great apps for teachers and students. Make sure you set up a <a href=
  "{@docRoot}distribute/essentials/gpfe-guidelines.html#test-environment">proper
  test environment</a> to, ensure that your apps meet the guidelines under
  realistic conditions.
</p>

<div class="headerLine">
  <h2 id="publish">
    Publish Your Apps
  </h2>


</div>

<p>
  Once you have designed, built, and tested your apps, you take two steps to
  publish them:
</p>

<ul>
  <li>Before you opt-in any apps, agree to the <a href=
  "https://play.google.com/about/developer-distribution-agreement-addendum.html"
    target="_policies">Google Play for Education Addendum</a>. Ensure you
    review the Addendum completely and make any necessary modifications to your
    apps.
  </li>

  <li>Publish your apps in the Developer Console (for Android apps) or the Chrome Web Store
  (for Chrome apps) as normal, but opt-in to
  Google Play for Education.
  </li>
</ul>

<h3>Opt-in to Google Play for Education and publish Android apps</h3>
<p>
  Once you've built your release-ready APK upload it to the Developer Console,
  create your store listing, and set distribution options. If you aren't
  familiar with preparing for launch on Google Play, see the <a href=
  "{@docRoot}distribute/tools/launch-checklist.html">Launch Checklist</a>.
</p>

<div>
  <img src="{@docRoot}images/gp-edu-optin-console.jpg" style=
  "border:2px solid #ddd;width:660px;">
</div>

<p>
  When your apps are ready to publish, you <em>opt-in</em> to Google Play for
  Education directly from the <a href=
  "https://play.google.com/apps/publish/">Developer Console</a>. Opt-in means
  that you want your apps to be made available to educators through Google Play
  for Education, including review, classification, and approval by our
  third-party educator network. Note that opt-in doesn’t affect the
  availability of your app in Google Play Store.
</p>

<p>
  Opt-in also confirms that your app complies with <a href=
  "http://play.google.com/about/developer-content-policy.html" target=
  "_policies">Google Play Developer Program Policies</a> and the <a href=
  "http://play.google.com/about/developer-distribution-agreement.html" target=
  "_policies">Developer Distribution Agreement</a>, including a <a href=
  "https://play.google.com/about/developer-distribution-agreement-addendum.html"
  target="_policies">Google Play for Education Addendum</a>. If you are not
  familiar with these policy documents or the Addendum, make sure to read them
  before opting-in.
</p>

<p>
  Here's how to opt-in to Google Play for Education for a specific app:
</p>

<ol>
  <li>In the Developer Console <strong>All Applications</strong> page, click
  the app you want to opt-in.
  </li>

  <li>Under Pricing and Distribution, scroll down to find <strong>Google Play
  for Education</strong> and the opt-in checkbox.
  </li>

  <li>Click the checkbox next to <strong>Include my app in Google Play for
  Education...</strong>
  </li>

  <li>In the first dialog that appears, review the content policies and
  guidelines and click <strong>Continue</strong> if your app meets the the
  policies and guidelines.
  </li>

  <li>In the next dialog that appears, shown below, find the
  <strong>Ads</strong> and <strong>In-app purchases</strong> radio buttons.
  Check each option that applies. Your app's use of ads or in-app purchases
  will be shown to educators when they are browsing your app.
  </li>

  <li>Click <strong>Save</strong> to save your Pricing and Distribution
  changes.
  </li>
</ol>

<div style="clear:both;margin-top:1.5em;margin-bottom:1.5em;width:660px;">
  <img src="{@docRoot}images/gp-edu-ads-iab.png" style=
  "border:2px solid #ddd;width:660px;">
  <p class="img-caption">
    <strong>Ads and in-app purchase</strong>: When you opt-in to Google Play
    for Education, make sure to declare your app's use of ads and in-app
    purchases.
  </p>
</div>

<p>
  Once you save changes and publish your app, the app will be available on Google Play for
  Education. We may submit your app to our
  third-party educator network for additional review and to be featured and badged as
  Educator-approved.
</p>

<p class="note">
  <strong>Note</strong>: Google Play for Education is part of Google Play. When
  you publish an Android app that's opted-in to Google Play for Education, the app
  becomes available to users in Google Play.
</p>

<h3>Opt-in to Google Play for Education and publish Chrome apps</h3>
<p>
Once you've uploaded your app or extension to the Developer Dashboard, create your store listing
and set distribution options.
</p>
<p>
When your apps are ready to publish, you opt-in to Google Play for Education directly from the
<a href="https://chrome.google.com/webstore/developer/dashboard">Developer Dashboard</a>.
Opt-in means that you want your apps to be made available to educators
through Google Play for Education, including review, classification, and approval by our
third-party educator network.
</p>
<p>
Opt-in also confirms that your app complies with
<a href="https://developer.chrome.com/webstore/program_policies">Chrome Web Store Program Policies</a>
and the <a href="https://developer.chrome.com/webstore/terms">Terms of Service</a>, including a
<a href="https://developers.google.com/edu/chrome-d-d-a-addendum">Google Play for Education Addendum</a>.
If you are not familiar with these
policy documents or the Addendum, make sure to read them before opting-in.
</p>

<p>Here's how to opt-in to Google Play for Education for a specific app or extension:</p>
<ol>
<li>In the Developer Dashboard, click <b>Edit</b> on the app you want to opt-in.</li>
<li>Scroll down to <b>Google Play for Education</b> and review the additional
Developer Terms and Conditions.</li>
<li>Select the checkbox to opt-in to include this item in Google Play for Education.</li>
<li>Click <b>Publish Changes</b> to save your changes and submit your application.
Once you save changes and publish your app, the app will be available on Google Play for Education.
We may submit your app to our third-party educator network for additional review, and to be
featured and badged as Educator-approved.</li>
<p class="note"><b>Note:</b>
When you publish an app that's opted-in to Google Play for Education,
the app becomes available to users in the Chrome Web Store.
</p>
</ol>

<div class="headerLine">
<h2 id="related-resources">Related Resources</h2>
</div>

<div class="dynamic-grid">
<h3>FOR DEVELOPERS</h3>

<div class="resource-widget resource-flow-layout col-13"
    data-query="collection:distribute/googleplay/gpfe/dev"
    data-sortOrder="-timestamp"
    data-cardSizes="9x3,9x3,6x3,6x3,6x3"
    data-maxResults="8"></div>

<h3>FOR EDUCATORS</h3>

<div class="resource-widget resource-flow-layout col-13"
    data-query="collection:distribute/googleplay/aboutgpfe/educators"
    data-sortOrder="-timestamp"
    data-cardSizes="9x3"
    data-maxResults="3"></div>
</div>