Android app update release flow

 Steps:

1. Add in-app release notes.
2. Turn on/off any switches in code required by the release version.  They usually can be turned on/off automatically by testing the version.
3. Change the version number and name for Google Play release,  and generate the signed app bundle:  Android Studio: Build > Generate Signed Bundle/APK... > Select officlalRelease at the last step > Create > click Locate on the notification message to locate the aab file.
4. On Google Play Console: a. Release > Production > Create new release. b. Use a tool to generate release notes for all languages. c. Add release notes and the apk file. c. Set rollout to 5%. d. Submit the update. e. Watch analytics and increase rollout gradually.
5. Change the version number and name for the Amazon Appstore, and build the release version to generate the proper mapping.txt.
6. Update related web pages.
7. On the Amazon dashboard: add an upcoming version (left menu) > Replace (not add) the apk > Create the release notes by copying the previous one, then add the content for the latest version > Finish all the steps till Review & submit > Staged rollout (top) 
8. Move mapping.txt to a directory for future use by the Retrace tool. 
9. Commit the source code to Git repository.

Google Play usually publishes an update in an hour, occasionally a few hours (e.g., 4 hours on 2021-12-08), or a day. Sometimes, Google Play sends an email notification of an update going live and makes the app available for downloading 1 or 2 hours later.

Amazon usually publishes an update in a day, rarely a few weeks. One should submit another update if the update is not published within 2 days. Contacting their customer service is rarely useful. Resubmitting can get the update out of being stuck in a black box.