Automating Google Play AAB builds without Keystore mistakes

Lock build requirements into code

Google Play requires 64-bit support (IL2CPP ARM64) and current Target API levels. Instead of relying on manual Editor UI checkboxes, enforce these requirements directly in your C# build entrypoint.

#if UNITY_EDITOR
using UnityEditor;
using UnityEditor.Build.Reporting;
using UnityEngine;

public static class AndroidReleaseBuilder
{
    public static void BuildAAB()
    {
        EditorUserBuildSettings.buildAppBundle = true;
        EditorUserBuildSettings.androidBuildSubtarget = MobileTextureSubtarget.Generic;
        PlayerSettings.SetScriptingBackend(BuildTargetGroup.Android, ScriptingImplementation.IL2CPP);
        PlayerSettings.Android.targetArchitectures = AndroidArchitecture.ARMv7 | AndroidArchitecture.ARM64;
        PlayerSettings.Android.targetSdkVersion = (AndroidSdkVersions)34;

        BuildPlayerOptions options = new BuildPlayerOptions
        {
            scenes = new[] { "Assets/Scenes/SampleScene.unity" },
            locationPathName = "Builds/IceBreaker-Release.aab",
            target = BuildTarget.Android,
            options = BuildOptions.None
        };

        BuildReport report = BuildPipeline.BuildPlayer(options);
        if (report.summary.result != BuildResult.Succeeded)
            throw new System.Exception("AAB Build Failed: " + report.summary.totalErrors);
    }
}
#endif

Inject signing keys via environment variables

Never commit Keystore passwords into source control. Inject passwords from environment variables into PlayerSettings immediately before building.

#if UNITY_EDITOR
using UnityEditor;
using System;

public static class KeystoreConfigurator
{
    public static void ApplyFromEnv()
    {
        string pass = Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("UNITY_KEYSTORE_PASS");
        if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(pass))
            throw new Exception("UNITY_KEYSTORE_PASS is not set.");

        PlayerSettings.Android.useCustomKeystore = true;
        PlayerSettings.Android.keystoreName = "keys/user.keystore";
        PlayerSettings.Android.keystorePass = pass;
        PlayerSettings.Android.keyaliasName = "icebreaker_release";
        PlayerSettings.Android.keyaliasPass = pass;
    }
}
#endif

Validate with bundletool

Test the output .aab bundle using Google bundletool to verify universal APK generation and asset splitting before store submission.