Google Play Console New App Signing Process: Do we need .pepk and .keystore files both everytime when we release the app?

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I am planning to upload a brand new app to the Google Play Store.

I have followed this link to generate .aab file. https://developer.android.com/studio/publish/app-signing#sign_release

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.pepk, KeyStore, .aab files generated.

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Now I have selected the first option("Let Google manage and protect your app signing key") in Google Play Console for the app signing and uploaded the .aab file.

I am not sure whether this is the correct way of uploading the .aab file because it never asked me to upload the .pepk file. However .aab file uploaded successfully.

I guess I don't need to generate .pepk file from Android Studio if I go with the option "Let Google manage and protect your app signing key"

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So hereafter do I need to use both .pepk and .keystore files to sign the .aab file? What happens if I lose any of the two or both?

android-app-signing android-keystore google-play-console android
1 Answers

The .pepk file is only needed when you are already publishing an app and had initially opted out of Play Signing. This is the way to securely transfer your app signing key to Google.

If you're creating a new app, you don't need this file, you can enroll in Play Signing immediately selecting the first option "Let Google manage and protect app signing key (Recommended)" and Play will generate the app signing key for you. If you want to also keep a hold of the private key, you can use the option "Export and upload a key from Java keystore" which will give you the tool and commands to run (unfortunately, the .pepk file cannot be used in this flow the moment).

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