docs/html/distribute/googleplay/tv.jd

page.title=Distribute to Android TV
page.image=/design/tv/images/atv-home.jpg
meta.tags="tv", "publish", "quality"
page.tags="tv", "publish", "googleplay"
page.metaDescription=Distribute your apps, games, and content to Android TV.

@jd:body

<div id="qv-wrapper"><div id="qv">
<h2>How to Participate</h2>
<ol>
<li><a href="#understand_guidelines">Understand the guidelines</a></li>
<li><a href="#develop_app">Develop a great app for TV</a></li>
<li><a href="#test_app">Test for TV App Quality</a></li>
<li><a href="#opt_in">Opt-in</a></li>
<li><a href="#track_review">Track your review</a></li>
</ol>

<h2>You Should Also Read</h2>
<ol>
<li><a href="{@docRoot}distribute/essentials/quality/tv.html">TV App Quality</a></li>
<li><a href="{@docRoot}distribute/essentials/quality/core.html">Core App Quality</a></li>
</ol>

</div></div>

<p>
  If you've got a great app or game, Android TV and Google Play can help you
  bring it to users right in their living rooms. You'll be able to offer your
  apps and games in a storefront experience that’s optimized for TV. You can
  extend your new or existing apps for TV and then publish them using familiar
  tools and processes in Google Play.
</p>

<p>
  To get started, review the sections in this document to learn how to
  distribute your TV apps to users through Google Play. Be sure to read
  <a href="{@docRoot}distribute/essentials/quality/tv.html">TV App Quality</a>
  for information on the usability and quality standards that your apps should
  meet. When your app is ready, you can opt-in to publishing in the Android TV
  storefront from the Developer Console.
</p>

<h2 id="how_to_participate">
  How to Participate
</h2>

<p>
  Google Play lets you put your TV apps in front of a new audience of users in
  their living rooms. You can develop and publish using your existing Developer
  Console account and your current distribution and pricing settings. It's easy
  to participate — the sections below outline the process.
</p>

<div style="float:right;margin:1em 0 1.5em 2em;">
  <img src="{@docRoot}images/gp-tv-process.png">
</div>

<h3 id="understand_guidelines">
  1. Understand guidelines and requirements
</h3>

<p>
  To prepare for a successful launch on Android TV, start by reviewing the
  guidelines for creating great app experiences on TV. See the <a href=
  "{@docRoot}design/tv/index.html">Android TV design guidelines</a> for ideas
  on extending your app for TV and details on design and usability.
</p>

<p>
  As you get started designing your TV experience, make sure to read and
  understand the quality criteria for TV apps. The Google Play experience for
  Android TV <strong>showcases only apps that are usable on the TV</strong>
  &mdash; your apps can participate if they meet a set of basic quality
  criteria. See <a href="{@docRoot}distribute/essentials/quality/tv.html">TV
  App Quality</a> for details.
</p>

<h3 id="develop_app">2. Develop a great app for TV</h3>

<p>
  A great app for TV is designed for living room use and takes advantage of the
  capabilities of Android TV and related input accessories such as game
  controllers, D-pads, and remotes. The app is refined to offer a polished,
  high-quality experience on large screens and delivers a compelling feature
  set for users.
</p>

<p>
  As you consider your TV app, review the <a href=
  "{@docRoot}training/tv/start/index.html">developer documentation</a> and
  usability guidelines and plan on supporting them to the greatest extent
  possible. Make sure to design a great leanback experience for users and build
  it with the leanback library included in the SDK. You’ll want to optimize
  other parts of your app for the TV use case and it's a good idea to identify
  those early in your development process.
</p>

<p>
  In most cases, we recommend delivering your TV experience as part of your
  existing app for phones, tablets, and other devices, using the same package
  name and store listing. This approach lets users upgrade to your TV experience
  seamlessly and also lets you take advantage of the reviews and ratings you’ve
  earned in your app for phones and tablets.
</p>

<p>
  You can bundle your TV intents, leanback library, and TV-specific code and
  resources as part of a single APK solution for all supported devices. If
  necessary, you can use <a href=
  "{@docRoot}google/play/publishing/multiple-apks.html">Multiple APK
  Support</a> to deliver a custom binary to Android TV devices under the same
  package name and store listing that you use for phones and tablets.
</p>

<p>
  Throughout design and development, it's important to have a suitable device
  on which to prototype and test your user experience. You should acquire one
  or more Android TV devices or emulators and set up your testing environment
  as early as possible. The recommended hardware device for testing in the
  Android TV environment is Nexus Player, which is <a href=
  "http://www.google.com/intl/all/nexus/player/">available from Google Play</a>
  and other stores, and you should also acquire a game controller and other TV
  input devices.
</p>

<h3 id="test_app">3. Test for TV App Quality</h3>

<p>
  Your TV apps should be designed to perform well, look great on Android TV,
  and offer the best user experience possible. Google Play showcases
  high-quality apps for easy discovery by users in Google Play. Here’s how you
  can participate and deliver an Android TV app that users will enjoy.
</p>

<ul>
  <li>Meet Core App Quality guidelines
    <ul>
      <li>Follow <a href="{@docRoot}design/index.html">Android Design
      guidelines</a>. Pay special attention to using <a href=
      "http://www.google.com/design/spec/material-design/introduction.html">material
      design</a> in your app.
      </li>

      <li>Test your apps against the <a href=
      "{@docRoot}distribute/essentials/quality/core.html">Core App Quality
      guidelines</a>.
      </li>
    </ul>
  </li>
  <li>Meet <a href="{@docRoot}distribute/essentials/quality/tv.html">TV App
  Quality</a> guidelines
    <ul>
      <li>Follow our best practices for <a href="{@docRoot}training/tv/index.html">
      TV app development</a></li>
      <li>Make sure your app meets all of the <a href=
      "{@docRoot}distribute/essentials/quality/tv.html">TV App Quality</a> criteria</li>
    </ul>
  </li>
  <li>Strive for simplicity and highest usability</li>
</ul>

<h3 id="opt_in">4. Opt-in to Android TV and publish</h3>

<p>
  When you've built your release-ready APK and tested to ensure that it meets
  all of the <a href="{@docRoot}distribute/essentials/quality/tv.html">TV App
  Quality</a> guidelines, upload it to the Developer Console. Update your store
  listing with TV screenshots and TV banner, and set distribution options as
  needed. If you aren't familiar with how to prepare for launch on Google Play,
  see the <a href=
  "{@docRoot}distribute/googleplay/publish/preparing.html">Launch
  Checklist.</a>
</p>

<p>
  Before you can publish to Android TV users, you need to opt-in to Android
  TV from the <strong>Pricing and Distribution</strong> section of the
  Developer Console. Opt-in means that you want your app to be made available
  to Android TV users through Google Play, and that
  your app meets <a href="{@docRoot}distribute/essentials/quality/tv.html">TV
  App Quality</a> guidelines.
</p>

<p>
  You can opt-in only if your app meets two preliminary quality
  criteria that are automatically checked on APK upload:
</p>

<ul>
  <li>Your app manifest must include an intent type of <a href=
  "{@docRoot}reference/android/content/Intent.html#ACTION_MAIN"><code>ACTION_MAIN</code></a>
  with category <a href=
  "{@docRoot}reference/android/content/Intent.html#CATEGORY_LEANBACK_LAUNCHER">
    <code>CATEGORY_LEANBACK_LAUNCHER</code></a>. Learn more <a href=
    "{@docRoot}training/tv/start/start.html#tv-activity">here</a>.
  </li>

  <li>Your app must declare that it does not require a touchscreen. The
  manifest must declare the <code>android.hardware.touchscreen</code> hardware
  with <code>android:required="false”</code>. Learn more <a href=
  "{@docRoot}training/tv/start/hardware.html#declare-hardware-requirements">here</a>.
  </li>
</ul>

<p>
  If your app meets the preliminary criteria, you’ll see an opt-in checkbox for
  Android TV, as shown below. If the opt-in checkbox is not enabled, review
  your APK to ensure it meets the preliminary criteria.
</p>

<p>
  After you opt-in and save the changes, you can publish your app as usual.
  Before making the app available to Android TV users, Google Play submits
  your app for review against the <a href=
  "{@docRoot}distribute/essentials/quality/tv.html">TV App Quality</a> criteria
  and notifies you of the result. See the next section for details on how to
  track the approval status of your app.
</p>

<p>
  If your app meet <a href="{@docRoot}distribute/essentials/quality/tv.html">TV
  App Quality</a> criteria, Google Play makes that app available to Android TV
  users. Your app is alsoeligible for higher-visibility featuring in app
  collections and promotions. To let users everywhere know that your app is
  designed for Android TV, Google Play decorates the app’s store listing with a
  TV badge.
</p>

<p>
  Note that opt-in and review do not affect the availability of your app to
  other devices in Google Play Store &mdash; on phones and tablets, for
  example, your app is available as soon as you publish.
</p>

<p>
  Here are the steps to opt-in to Android TV in the Developer Console:
</p>

<ol>
  <li>Make sure your app meets all <a href=
  "{@docRoot}distribute/essentials/quality/tv.html">TV App Quality</a> criteria
  </li>

  <li>Add TV screenshots and banner graphic to the app’s store listing
  </li>

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

  <li>Under <strong>Pricing and Distribution</strong>, scroll down to find <em>Android TV</em> and the
  opt-in checkbox.
  </li>

  <li>Click the checkbox next to <em>Distribute your app to Android TV</em>.
  </li>

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

<div style="padding-top:1em">
  <img style="border:2px solid #ddd;" src="{@docRoot}images/gp-tv-opt-in.png">
  <p class="caption">
    <strong>Opt-in for TV:</strong> Include your app in Android TV by opting-in from the
    Developer Console.
  </p>
</div>

<h3 id="track_review">5. Track your review and approval</h3>

<p>
  If your app meets the technical and quality criteria for Android TV, as described above,
  your app will be available for users to enjoy on Android TV. If your app doesn’t meet
  the criteria, you’ll receive a <strong>notification email sent to your developer account
  address</strong>, with a summary of the areas that you need to address. When you’ve made
  the necessary adjustments, you can upload a new version of your app to the Developer
  Console. 
</p>

<p>
  At any time, you can check the review and approval status of your app in the
  Developer Console, under <em>Android TV</em> in the app's <strong>Pricing and Distribution</strong>
  page.
</p>

<p>
  There are three approval states:
</p>

<ul>
  <li>
    <em>Pending</em> — Your app was sent for review and the review is not yet
    complete.
  </li>

  <li>
    <em>Approved</em> — Your app was reviewed and approved. The app will be
    made available directly to Android TV users. 
  </li>

  <li>
    <em>Not approved</em> — Your app was reviewed and not approved. Check the
    notification email for information about why the app was not approved. You
    can address any issues and opt-in and publish again to initiate another
    review.
  </li>
</ul>

<p>To understand how your apps are evaluated, please see the <a href=
"{@docRoot}distribute/essentials/quality/tv.html">TV App Quality</a> document. </p>


  <h3>Related resources</h3>

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