Question

This is my first attempt to publish an app to Android Market and I’ve been working off the “Preparing to Publish Checklist” at http://developer.android.com/guide/publishing/preparing.html

But when I tried to upload an app I discovered it wanted stuff that isn’t even mentioned in the checklist. (why aren’t they on the checklist?!) It wants at least two screenshots in specified dimensions along with a large icon. I don’t have anything like that prepared because they’re not on the checklist nor on the link on that page to “Publishing on Android Market” – http://developer.android.com/guide/publishing/publishing.html#market

1. How do we get screenshots off our phones? Or do people make screenshots from the Emulator? I have screenshots on the app’s website that I made from the emulator but they illustrate specific examples in the app’s tutorial. (this is an app for collecting data mostly in a medical or scientific context and it’s user-configurable so the appearance of a screen is very specific to the user’s configuration)

2. My icons are deliberately designed for standard Android icon resolutions (up to 72×72) – it would look ridiculous at 512×512 – Should I just make a 512×512 piece of art that’s thematically related to the app’s icon?

Is there some Google/Android document where they discuss these considerations?

Thanks in advance!

Answer 1

The requirements that you mention that aren’t on the list, such as the 512px icon, are recent changes. It seems somebody forgot to update the document.

The 512px icon is for the web market, although it is actually scaled down to 256x256px currently. It is supposed to be the same image that you use for the app icon.

You can take screenshots from a device using the DDMS tool in the SDK. Or you can just take a screenshot of the emulator. The two will look slightly different depending on which device you are using. You might choose the one you think looks better or just use whichever is easier.