path: root/docs/html/distribute/googleplay/edu/start.jd

page.title=Get Started
page.metaDescription=Get Started with Google Play for Education
excludeFromSuggestions=true
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    <div class="jd-descr" itemprop="articleBody">
    <div style="position:absolute;margin-left: 636px;
            margin-top:-76px;color:#777;">If you're interested<br>
            <a href="{@docRoot}distribute/googleplay/edu/contact.html"
            class="go-link"
            style="display: block;text-align: right;">SIGN UP</a></div>

<div style="background-color:#fffdeb;width:100%;margin-bottom:1em;padding:.5em;">You
can now include your educational apps in the Google Play for Education program,
getting it into the hands of participating schools and key influencers in the
education technology community. See the sections below to learn more.</div>

<p>If you've got a great app for education, be
part of Google Play for Education to reach even more teachers and students. It's
easy to participate, and you'll be able to offer new or existing Android apps
using familiar tools and processes in Google Play.</p>

<p>To get started, review the sections in this document and learn how to make
your apps available through Google Play for Education. Also make sure to read <a
href="{@docRoot}distribute/googleplay/edu/guidelines.html">Guidelines for
Apps</a>  for information on the safety, usability, and quality standards that
your apps should meet. When your app is ready, you can opt-in to Google Play for
Education from the Developer Console.</p>

<p>Note that Google Play for Education is currently available to schools in the
United States only, with support for schools in other
countries to follow. At this time, please include your app in Google Play for
Education only if it is targeting the <strong>US K-12 market</strong>. </p>


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

<div style="float:right; padding-top:2em;"><img
src="{@docRoot}images/gp-edu-process.png" /></div>

<p>Google Play for Education is a great way to put your educational apps in front of a
new audience of teachers and students. You can develop and publish using
familiar tools and processes, such as your existing <a
href="https://play.google.com/apps/publish/">Developer Console</a> account
and your current distribution and pricing settings. It's easy to participate
&mdash; the sections below outline the process.</p>

<h3 id="basic-info">1. Understand guidelines and policies</h3>

<p>To prepare for a successful 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 <a
href="{@docRoot}distribute/googleplay/edu/guidelines.html">Guidelines for
Apps</a> for details.</p>

<p>Also, make sure that your are familiar with the policies that your app must
comply with, including
<a href="http://play.google.com/about/developer-content-policy.html" target="_policies">content
policies</a>, the <a
href="http://play.google.com/about/developer-distribution-agreement.html"
target="_policies">developer agreement</a>,  and <a
href="https://play.google.com/about/developer-distribution-agreement-addendum.html"
target="_policies">Google Play for Education Addendum</a>.</p>

<h3 id="developing">2. Design and develop a great app for education</h3>

<p>A great app for educators and students is designed for classroom use, looks
great on tablets, and delivers a compelling feature set for teachers and
students. If you are developing an app for education, make sure that it is
appropriate for K-12 classrooms, offers educational value, and is refined to
offer a polished, high-quality tablet experience.</p>

<p>Assess your app against the criteria listed in <a
href="{@docRoot}distribute/googleplay/edu/guidelines.html">Guidelines for
Apps</a> and plan on supporting them to the greatest extent possible. In some
cases you might need to modify your features or UI to support the requirements
of the classroom use-case. It's a good idea to identify those areas early in
development so that you are able address them properly. </p>

<p>With Google Play for Education, optimizing your app for tablets is a crucial
part of getting your app ready for distribution to educators. A variety of
resources are available to help you understand what you need to optimize for
tablets &mdash; a good starting point is the <a
href="{@docRoot}distribute/googleplay/quality/tablet.html">Tablet App Quality
Guidelines</a>. </p>

<p>Throughout design and development, it's important to have a suitable device
on which to prototype and test your user experience. It's highly recommended
that you acquire one or more tablet devices and set up your testing environment
as early as possible. The recommended 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" target="_android">Google Play</a> and other stores.</p>

<p>Proper testing and quality assurance are key aspects of delivering a great
app for teachers and students. Make sure you set up a <a
href="{@docRoot}distribute/googleplay/edu/guidelines.html#test-environment">
proper test environment</a> to ensure that your app meets guidelines under
realistic conditions.</p>

<h3 id="opt-in">3. Opt-in to Google Play for Education and publish</h3>

<div class="sidebox-wrapper">
<div class="sidebox">
<h2>Before you opt-in</h2>
<p>To participate in Google Play for Education, you must agree to a <a
href="https://play.google.com/about/developer-distribution-agreement-addendum.html"
target="_policies">Google Play for Education Addendum</a>
to the standard Developer Distribution Agreement.</p>

<p>Before you opt-in, review the Addendum completely and make any necessary
modifications to your app.</p>
</div>
</div>

<p>Once you've built your release-ready APK and tested to ensure that it meets
the <a href="{@docRoot}distribute/googleplay/edu/guidelines.html">app guidelines</a>,
upload it to the Developer Console, create your store listing, and set
distribution options. 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>When your app is ready to publish, you can <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 app 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 does not 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 All Applications page, click the app you want to
opt-in. </li>
  <li>Under Pricing and Distribution, scroll down to find "Google Play for
Education" and the opt-in checkbox. </li>
  <li>Click the checkbox next to "Include this application in Google Play for
Education."</li>
  <li>In the first dialog that appears, review the content policies and guidelines
  and click "Continue" if your app meets the the policies and guidelines.</li>
  <li>In next dialog that appears, shown below, find the "Ads" and "In-app purchases" 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 "Save" 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="image-caption"><span style="font-weight:500;">Ads and in-app purchase</span>:
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 submitted to our
third-party educator network for review and approval. If the app is already
published, it will be submitted for review as soon as you opt-in and save your
changes. </p>

<p class="note"><strong>Note</strong>: Google Play for Education is part of
Google Play. When you publish an app that's opted-in to Google Play for
Education, the app becomes available to users in Google Play right away. After
the app is reviewed and approved, it then becomes available to educators in
Google Play for Education.</p>

<h3 id="review">4. Track your review and approval</h3>

<p>Google Play for Education provides content to educators in a way that's
properly organized by subject, grade level, and common core standards (where
applicable). To ensure high educational value and proper classification, we work
with a third-party educator network to review and approve apps before making
them discoverable through the Google Play for Education browsing tools. </p>

<p>Our third-party educator network will evaluate apps according to educational
value and alignment with K-12 core standards, then assign the metadata for
subject, grade level, and core curriculum that makes them easily browsable for
educators. To understand how your apps will be evaluated, please see the <a
href="{@docRoot}distribute/googleplay/edu/guidelines.html">Guidelines for
Apps</a> document.</p>

<p>As soon as you opt-in to Google Play for Education and publish, your app is
queued for review by our third-party educator network. The review and approval
process can take four weeks or more</strong>. You'll receive notification
by email (to your developer account address) when the review is complete, with a
summary of the review results. </p>

<p>At any time, you can check the review and approval status of your app in the
<a href="https://play.google.com/apps/publish/">Developer Console</a>, under
"Google Play for Education" in the app's Pricing and
Distribution page. There are three approval states:</p>

<ul>
<li><em>Pending</em> &mdash; Your app was sent for review and the review
is not yet complete.</li>
<li><em>Approved</em> &mdash; Your app was reviewed and approved. The app
will be made available directly to educators through Google Play for Education.
Once your app is approved, you can update it at your convenience without needing
another full review. </li>
<li><em>Not approved</em> &mdash; 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 again for another review. </li>
</ul>

<p>If you have questions about the review status of your app, follow the process
discussed in the next section. </p>

<h3 id="appeal">5. Get support or appeal your review results</h3>

<p>After your app is reviewed you'll receive an email giving you the
results, including information on whether the app was approved and
what issues may need to be addressed. You'll receive the email at the address
you specified for your developer account. </p>

<p>If your app has issues that need to be addressed, make the necessary
adjustments, upload your app, and then resubmit the app to Google Play for
Education through the Developer Console using process described above. Your app
will be queued for review and you'll receive the review results by email just
as before.</p>