Android app build and publishing workflow using GitHub Actions

To fully automate your Android app build and publishing workflow using GitHub Actions, we’ll break it into three main steps:

✅ What This GitHub Action Will Do

1. Build the APK using Gradle on a GitHub Actions runner.
2. Upload the APK to GitHub Releases as an asset (optional: GitHub Packages if you prefer).
3. Deploy the APK to Google Play Store – Internal/Test Track using the r0adkll/upload-google-play action.

📁 Prerequisites

1. Play Store Setup

• Create a Google Play Console account.
• Upload the initial APK manually once to create the app entry.
• Create a Service Account with Release access and generate a JSON key file.

2. GitHub Repository Secrets

Add these secrets to your repository settings:

📜 GitHub Actions Workflow (.github/workflows/android-release.yml)

name: Android Release Pipeline

on:
  push:
    tags:
      - 'v*'  # Triggers on version tags like v1.0.0

jobs:
  build:
    name: Build APK
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest

    steps:
    - name: Checkout Code
      uses: actions/checkout@v4

    - name: Set up JDK
      uses: actions/setup-java@v3
      with:
        distribution: 'temurin'
        java-version: '17'

    - name: Decode Keystore
      if: env.RELEASE_SIGNING_ENABLED == 'true'
      run: |
        echo "${{ secrets.ANDROID_KEYSTORE_BASE64 }}" | base64 -d > my-release-key.keystore

    - name: Build APK
      run: ./gradlew assembleRelease
      env:
        KEYSTORE_FILE: my-release-key.keystore
        KEYSTORE_PASSWORD: ${{ secrets.ANDROID_KEYSTORE_PASSWORD }}
        KEY_ALIAS: ${{ secrets.ANDROID_KEY_ALIAS }}
        KEY_PASSWORD: ${{ secrets.ANDROID_KEY_PASSWORD }}

    - name: Upload APK to GitHub Release
      uses: softprops/action-gh-release@v2
      with:
        name: "Release ${{ github.ref_name }}"
        tag_name: ${{ github.ref_name }}
        files: app/build/outputs/apk/release/app-release.apk
      env:
        GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}

  upload_to_playstore:
    name: Upload to Google Play
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    needs: build

    steps:
    - name: Download Release APK from GitHub
      uses: actions/download-artifact@v4
      with:
        name: app-release.apk

    - name: Upload to Google Play (Internal)
      uses: r0adkll/upload-google-play@v1
      with:
        serviceAccountJsonPlainText: ${{ secrets.GOOGLE_PLAY_SERVICE_ACCOUNT_JSON }}
        packageName: ${{ secrets.PACKAGE_NAME }}
        releaseFiles: app/build/outputs/apk/release/app-release.apk
        track: internal  # use 'alpha', 'beta', 'production', or 'internal'
Code language: PHP (php)

📌 Notes

• This will auto-trigger when you push a tag like v1.0.0.
• r0adkll/upload-google-play handles version codes and uploads the APK to the internal testing track.
• You can switch the track to alpha, beta, or production as needed.

🔐 How to Encode Keystore

base64 your-release-key.keystore > keystore.txt
# Copy contents and store in GitHub secret: ANDROID_KEYSTORE_BASE64
Code language: CSS (css)

Rajesh Kumar

I’m Rajesh Kumar, a DevOps, SRE, DevSecOps, Cloud, and Platform Engineering expert passionate about sharing practical knowledge, real-world experiences, and industry best practices. I have worked at Cotocus and regularly write about technology, travel, investing, health, product reviews, and digital marketing through my various platforms.

I publish technical articles at DevOps School, travel stories at Holiday Landmark, stock market insights at Stocks Mantra, health and fitness guidance at My Medic Plus, product reviews at TrueReviewNow, and SEO and digital marketing strategies at Wizbrand.