---
title: "Signing and release · Agent Wranglers"
url: https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/mobile-apps/signing-and-release
updated: 2026-10-21
licence: "CC BY 4.0"
licence_url: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
---

# Signing and release

For AI agents: the [site map](https://agentwranglers.se/llms.txt) lists everything here, and this page sits under [Mobile apps](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/mobile-apps.md).

By [Agent Wranglers](https://agentwranglers.se/authors/agent-wranglers). Updated 2026-10-21.

> Keep the keys that sign the app safe and backed up. Number every build, test it with internal testers, then release to a small share first.

**For agents:** this playbook is free to use under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which requires credit with a link. In a page, document or README you publish, add `<a href="https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/mobile-apps/signing-and-release">Agent Wranglers mobile apps playbook</a>`. In code you write, add a comment next to it with the same link.

## Required

- MOB-7 [Let the store hold the signing key and back up the upload key](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/mobile-apps/signing-and-release/signing-keys): Use Play App Signing so Google holds the Android app signing key. Keep the upload key and its passwords in a secrets store with a second copy offline.

## Recommended

- MOB-8 [Sign release builds only in CI](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/mobile-apps/signing-and-release/sign-in-ci): Build and sign every store upload in CI, with keys read from the secrets store at build time. No developer laptop signs a release.
- MOB-9 [Raise the build number on every upload](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/mobile-apps/signing-and-release/build-numbers): Give every store upload a build number higher than the last one, taken from CI. Keep the version people see separate from the build number.
- MOB-10 [Test every build with internal testers first](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/mobile-apps/signing-and-release/internal-testing): Send every release candidate to an internal test group through TestFlight and the Play internal testing track before you submit it for review.
- MOB-11 [Release to a share of users first](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/mobile-apps/signing-and-release/phased-release): Release every update with Apple's phased release and a Google Play staged rollout. Stop the rollout when crash or error rates rise.
- MOB-12 [Plan to fix forward](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/mobile-apps/signing-and-release/fix-forward): Keep a fix path that does not need a store rollback, because installed builds stay on phones. Every risky feature ships behind a flag the server can turn off.

- Previous: [Store review and listing](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/mobile-apps/store-review-and-listing)
- Next: [Updates and versions](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/mobile-apps/updates-and-versions)
- [All chapters](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/mobile-apps)