A Beginner’s Guide on How to Manage Google Play Store Apps with Google Apps Script

If you are a developer who manages multiple applications on Google Play Store, then you know how time-consuming it can be to manually go through each app and make changes, such as updating metadata, pricing, or publishing status. Luckily, you can automate this process using Google Apps Script. This guide will show you how to manage Google Play Store apps with Google Apps Script in just a few simple steps.

Step 1: Setting up the Google Play Developer API

Before you can start managing apps with Google Apps Script, you need to enable the Google Play Developer API in the Google Cloud Console. Here’s how:

1. Go to the Google Cloud Console and select your project.
2. Click on “APIs & Services” in the left-hand menu.
3. Click on “Library” and search for “Google Play Developer API”.
4. Click on “Enable” to activate the API.

Step 2: Creating a Service Account

Now that the Google Play Developer API is enabled, you need to create a service account to authorize the API requests.

1. Go back to the Google Cloud Console and select your project.
2. Click on “APIs & Services” in the left-hand menu.
3. Click on “Credentials” and then “Create credentials”.
4. Select “Service account key” and fill in the form with the required information.
5. Under “Role”, select “Project” and then “Editor”.
6. Click on “Create” to generate the service account.

After creating the service account, you will be given a JSON file that contains the service account credentials. Save this file in a secure location as you will need it later.

Step 3: Writing Google Apps Script

Now that you have set up the Google Play Developer API and created a service account, it’s time to start writing the Google Apps Script.

1. Open up the Google Apps Script editor and create a new script file.
2. In the script file, paste the following code snippet:

   function getAppsList() {
       var serviceAccountEmail = 'SERVICE_ACCOUNT_EMAIL';
       var keyFile = 'SERVICE_ACCOUNT_KEY.json';
       var key = DriveApp.getFileById(keyFile).getBlob().getBytes();
       var jwt = new cGoogleAuth.JWToken();
       var private_key = jwt.encode(key, null, 'RS256');
       var payload = {
           iss: serviceAccountEmail,
           scope: 'https://www.googleapis.com/auth/androidpublisher',
           aud: 'https://www.googleapis.com/oauth2/v4/token',
           exp: Math.floor(Date.now() / 1000) + 60 * 60,
           iat: Math.floor(Date.now() / 1000)
       };
       var assertion = jwt.encode(payload, private_key);
   
       var options = {
           method: 'post',
           contentType: 'application/x-www-form-urlencoded',
           headers: {
               authorization: 'Bearer ',
           },
           payload: {
               grant_type: 'urn:ietf:params:oauth:grant-type:jwt-bearer',
               assertion: assertion
           }
       };
   
       var url = 'https://accounts.google.com/o/oauth2/token';
       var response = UrlFetchApp.fetch(url, options);
       var json = JSON.parse(response.getContentText());
   
       var accessToken = json.access_token;
   
       var packageName = 'PACKAGE_NAME';
       var url = 'https://www.googleapis.com/androidpublisher/v3/applications/' + packageName + '/listings/en_US';
       var options = {
           headers: {
               Authorization: 'Bearer ' + accessToken,
           },
           contentType: 'application/json',
       };
       var response = UrlFetchApp.fetch(url, options);
   
       Logger.log(response.getContentText());
   }

3. Replace “SERVICE_ACCOUNT_EMAIL” with the email address of the service account you created in step 2.
4. Replace “SERVICE_ACCOUNT_KEY.json” with the name of the service account file you downloaded in step 2.
5. Replace “PACKAGE_NAME” with the package name of the app you want to manage.

This code snippet retrieves a list of all the listings for the app with the specified package name. The listings include metadata such as title, description, and images.

Step 4: Testing the Script

Now that you have written the Google Apps Script, it’s time to test it to make sure it works as intended.

1. Save the script file.
2. Click on “Run” in the top menu and select “getAppsList”.
3. If everything is set up correctly, the script will retrieve the app listings for the specified package name and display them in the logs.

Step 5: Modifying the Script

Now that you have successfully tested the script, you can modify it to perform other actions, such as updating metadata or changing the app’s publishing status.

Check out the Google Developer documentation for Google Play Developer API to learn more about what actions you can perform with the API, and use the Google Apps Script documentation for reference on how to write scripts.

In conclusion, managing multiple Google Play Store apps can be a tedious task, but with Google Apps Script and the Google Play Developer API, you can automate the process and save valuable time. By following the steps outlined in this guide, you can easily get started with script management of Google Play Store apps.