Play Console: "Released to production" may not be released

Symptom

Submission activity shows Released to production; the store is 404 in every region.

Cause

Play runs *country/region and listing changes* and *version (aab) releases* as separate trains. It was an empty production track with only countries opened; the aab was only on a test track.

How to tell: don't trust the console, measure

curl -s -o /dev/null -w "%{http_code}" -A "Mozilla/5.0" \
  "https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=<pkg>&gl=KR"

404 means not released. Production showing "Inactive" on the dashboard is the same signal.

Fix

Production > Create new release > (Add from library) > Review release → press "Start rollout to Production." Without that button it never ships. Then Send for review from the publishing overview.

Side notes

• Never click the pre-registration card. It queues *delete all production countries + enable pre-registration* for review, turning your live release into a "coming soon" page. Happened twice → withdraw via "Discard changes" in the publishing overview.
• Managed publishing ON means even after approval you wait for a manual "Publish" click
• Two bundles (versionCode 1 and 2) in one release errors out. Drop the lower one.
• The four recommended actions (edge-to-edge, deprecated APIs, orientation restrictions, R8) are not blockers

Where managed publishing is switched off, and what the "recommended actions" really are

Managed publishing is turned off in the dropdown at the top of the publishing overview. If you want an immediate release, turn it off before approval.

The recommended-actions warnings (edge-to-edge, deprecated APIs, orientation restrictions, R8) are usually caused by an outdated helper library. They clear on their own on the next build after bumping it, so don't chase them one by one.

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