To get the most from Appbot, it’s a good idea to link your Google Play Console account and authorize view access. Linking your Google Play Console to Appbot allows you to:
- get app version data for each app review
- get device data for each app review
- fetch the complete review history for your Google Play apps.
- fetch the complete rating history and get ratings breakdowns.
- reply from within Appbot.
In this guide, we’ll cover the procedure to link your Google Play Console account to Appbot and how to authorize access to your reviews.
Setting Up A New Google Play Console Connection
1. Log in
Open the Google Play Console and log in as the account owner.
2. Select Setup and then API access from the side menu.
3. Creating the project
If you see the ‘Linked Google Cloud project’ section as below, click on Create new Google Cloud project and then Save.
If you have previously linked the project you will jump straight to step 4 below.
4. View project
Click on View in Google Cloud Platform.
It will open a new page:
5. Enable the APIs
First, select the hamburger menu and then APIs & Services.
Then click on Enable APIs and Services:
6. Search for APIs
Search for the following API’s and make sure they are all ENABLED:
- Google Cloud APIs (lets us authenticate you)
- Google Cloud Storage (allows us to access historical review data)
- Google Cloud Storage JSON API (also allows us to access historical review data)
- Google Play Android Developer (allows us to access current review data)
Once all the above services are enabled close this tab.
7. Service Account
Back in your developer console, press Learn how to create service accounts.
8. Google API Console
Click on Google Cloud Platform from the popup that appears.
9. Create Service Account
When your API console loads, click Create Service Account at the top.
10. Account Name
Give the service account a name (this can be anything you want, but it’s a good idea to name it something to do with Appbot so you know what it is in future), and then click Create.
11. Roles
Under the Select a role dropdown, choose Basic and select Browser, then click Continue.
Then select Done:
Please note, if you see the following error it means you are not logged in as the Google Play Developer Console owner.
12. Create Key
Click the three dots and then Manage keys.
From Add Key select Create new key.
Select JSON and then Create.
13. Save Key
You should then get a message telling you Private key saved to your computer and the private key should begin downloading. Click Close on the dialog.
Close the tab and then press Done on the previous tab. This will return you to the Developer Console and API Access.
14. Granting access
Back in your Developer Console under API access you should now see the Appbot service account you created under the list of service accounts. If it doesn’t appear, please refresh the page. Click the Manage Pay Console Permissions button next to the Appbot service account you just created.
15. Account Permissions
Uncheck all except:
- View app information and download bulk reports (read-only) – so you’re only giving the Visibility permission to Appbot. This allows us to access the data in the Reports section of your Console account, which is where we obtain the historical review data.
- Reply to reviews – so you can reply from within Appbot.
Then press Invite User.
16. Open Appbot
Login to your Appbot account, in the header, click the Cog icon, then click Link App Stores from the menu. On the page that loads, press Link Google Account.
17. Choose File
Click Choose File.
Select the private key that was downloaded earlier.
Click on the Upload Service Account Key button.
18. Cloud Storage URI
Head back to your Play Developer Console and navigate to Download reports from the left menu. Click into Reviews and select your app from the right.
Click on Copy Cloud Storage URI.
19. Paste URI
Back in Appbot, paste the URIs you just copied in and press Start Fetching.
Once it’s loaded you’ll see a message saying “Our bots are completing the account link” and you should see the Authenticated badge on each authenticated app on the Manage Sources page soon.
20. Enable replies
Back on the Linked Accounts list press on ‘Enable Replies’ next to the Google Service you just added.
21. Testing replies
Check your connection to the Google Play Store by heading to the Reviews page. If you have configured the connection to the store correctly you will see the option to “Reply to Review” as shown below: 
If you do not see the “Reply to Review” option go back and carefully review each step in this document from Step 1, to ensure you have connected to the store correctly.
When you click on “Reply to Review” the review thread will open with the input field shown below at the bottom of the page. Input the reply that you want to leave to the review in question, and then click the Reply button, bottom right corner. 
22. Done!
Once the new data is fetched you can navigate to the Reviews Page. You will now see extra metadata on reviews for App Version, Device and OS Version.
If you enabled replies then you will see a new option to reply from within Appbot:
Adding Replies To An Existing Linked Account
1. Log in to your Google Developer Console account, choose API access and then Manage Play Console Permissions on your service account.
2. Select Account permissions.
3. Enable Reply to reviews and click Save changes.
4. Go to step 19 above to enable replies in Appbot
If you need any further assistance on linking the Google Play developer console, don’t hesitate to contact us with any questions or check out our FAQ section here.
Who Can Access This Data?
The data collected under the authenticated Google Play app (the version with the green padlock) can only be accessed by users associated with teams that have a linked Google Play Developer Console account associated with that app connected to their team.