Delete an unpublished app from Google Play

Question

I create a new app in my Google play account. I did not publish it yet. It is just ready to publish.

Is there any way to delete it permanently from my account si

Answer 1

You can delete an app anytime before it is published. Note this answer was given before the OP specified that his app had not yet been published.

After it has been published, it "owns" its unique packagename forever in the Google PlayStore app naming hierarchy like com.yourdomain.yourapp.

There is no "deleting" this packagename after publication. That would cause mayhem.

Google Analytics, for example needs this permanent unique id. Hostile developers could take over your packagename by forcing you to delete it with bad review attacks.

The package name itself is not really a public-facing asset. If all you want to do is "reboot" your app (ie start again with zero downloads and reviews) then just unpublish (retire) the old packagename and republish the apk under a new packagename.

The right way to publish your app is using the alpha and beta streams in the dev console which do not retain reviews.

The only problem with this is the rule about once an app (package) is priced as free, it remains forever free, meaning you have to republish under a new package name to price a free beta.

Paid betas are only possible if you already have successful apps.

PlayStore publication policies are in constant flux (there is now a manual review policy). You may wish to take your concerns to them directly - they do respond.

I am sure every developer wants to delete and republish an app after finding out that it won't run on device X, because device X manufacturer has tweaked Android, causing device X owners to give the app unfair reviews.

This is also a way to avoid giving people free upgrades to your apps forever, which is not realistic, esp. given piracy stats. Owners often reboot to start fresh after a major upgrade.

You may want to adopt a packagename with a major version codename baked in, like the big boys do it (mountainlion, xenial, marshmallow, etc) like com.yourdomain.yourapp.codename.

X is usually Samsung