docs/html/distribute/googleplay/edu/faq.jd

page.title=Google Play for Education FAQ
page.metaDescription=Questions and answers about Google Play for Education.
excludeFromSuggestions=true
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<div id="qv-wrapper">
<ol id="qv">
<h2>In this document</h2>
<ol>
  <li><a href="#business">Business Model</a></li>
  <li><a href="#free_trials">Free Trials</a></li>
  <li><a href="#discovery">Discovery</a></li>
  <li><a href="#reviews">App Review Process</a></li>
  <li><a href="#features">App Features</a></li>
  <li><a href="#marketing">Marketing and ROI</a></li>
  <li><a href="#devices">Devices</a></li>
  <li><a href="#accounts">Accounts</a></li>
</ol>
</div>

<p>
  The sections below provide more information about Google Play for Education
  and answer common questions that you might have about it.
</p>


<h2 id="business">Business Model and Monetization</h2>

<dl>
  <dt>
    What is Google Play for Education?
  </dt>

  <dd>
    Google Play for Education is a new online destination designed for schools.
    Teachers can discover educational apps, books, and videos to meet the needs
    of a single student, a classroom, or a whole district. Educators can browse
    apps by grade, subject, keyword, or standard including common core.
    Purchasing is done via PO with no credit card required. Apps are
    distributed to tablets instantly via the cloud.
  </dd>

  <dt>
    Is Google Play for Education primarily for students or educators?
  </dt>

  <dd>
    The store on Google Play for Education is for educators, but its content is
    for both educators and students. Teachers and administrators have the
    ability to make purchases and control who within their school has access to
    the purchase flows.
  </dd>

  <dt>
    Will Google Play for Education support subscription purchases?
  </dt>

  <dd>
    Currently, Google Play for Education supports one-time purchases. We are
    investigating additional purchase mechanisms to enable more flexible
    pricing models for developers and schools.
  </dd>

  <dt>
    Why is it recommended to disable in-app purchases?
  </dt>

  <dd>
    In-app purchase is currently not supported with Google Play for Education,
    and a student device will block the Play transaction if a student attempts
    to make an in-app purchase. To avoid student confusion in the classroom,
    also recommend not including any in-app purchase buttons and other UI in
    your application. We are investigating additional purchase mechanisms to
    enable more flexible pricing models for developers and schools.
  </dd>

  <dt>
    Is Google Play for Education restricted so only its users can purchase from
    the Google Play for Education? Or will anyone be able to purchase from it?
  </dt>

  <dd>
    Currently, only schools that are signed up for Google Play for Education
    can make purchases on it.
  </dd>

  <dt>
    Is there a way to differentiate an app's pricing between Google Play for
    Education and Google Play?
  </dt>

  <dd>
    For each app that you publish, you can set a single price that applies to
    both Google Play and Google Play for Education &mdash. You can’t set a
    different price for a given app (based on a single package name) in Google
    Play for Education.
  </dd>
</dl>


<h2 id="free_trials">Free Trials</h2>

<dl>
  <dt>
    Can I offer free trials through Google Play for Education?
  </dt>

  <dd>
    Google Play for Education doesn't currently support free trials. If you
    want, you can offer a free version of your app with limited functionality
    in Google Play for Education, but that app would need to be separate from
    your paid app and be reviewed separately for educational content.
  </dd>

  <dt>
    Can I offer a free trial through Google Play's "In-app Subscriptions with
    Free Trials" feature?
  </dt>

  <dd>
    Google Play for Education does not currently support In-app Billing or
    In-app Subscriptions with free trials.
  </dd>
</dl>


<h2 id="discovery">Discovery</h2>

<dl>
  <dt>
    What are the categories in Google Play for Education?
  </dt>

  <dd>
    Google Play for Education includes categories for all grade levels from
    Kindergarten to 12 and the following subjects: English Language Arts, World
    Languages, Mathematics, Science, Social Science, Elective, OER (Open
    Education Resources), and Tools.
  </dd>

  <dt>
    I created an app specifically for Google Play for Education and do not want
    it to show up in Google Play. Is this possible?
  </dt>

  <dd>
    Currently, it is not possible to publish an app Google Play for Education
    and make it unavailable on Google Play.
  </dd>

  <dt>
    If my app offers content for every level of education, how will it fit the
    common-core standard filters?
  </dt>

  <dd>
    If your app applies to multiple levels of education, then the app will show
    up filtered results for in multiple levels.
  </dd>
</dl>


<h2 id="reviews">App Review Process</h2>

<dl>
  <dt>
    How are apps being reviewed? By whom and with what criteria?
  </dt>

  <dd>
    Apps are being reviewed by a third party network of educators. These
    educators assign the appropriate subject, grade, and common core standards
    metadata, as well as evaluating whether the app meets the Google Play for
    Education <a href=
    "{@docRoot}distribute/googleplay/edu/guidelines.html">criteria for
    classroom use</a>. You can learn more about the submission process and
    criteria at <a href=
    "http://developer.android.com/edu">developer.android.com/edu</a>.
  </dd>

  <dt>
    How do I update my apps in Google Play for Education?
  </dt>

  <dd>
    Developers can update their apps on Google Play for Education in the same
    manner that they do for Google Play. App updates will not be reviewed prior
    to being made available through Play for Education. However, we will
    periodically review updated apps for quality.
  </dd>

  <dt>
    Does the app maturity rating reflect solely what a user can do within my
    Android app, or does the web version of my app influence the rating as
    well?
  </dt>

  <dd>
    The maturity rating that you set for your Android app refers only to the
    content displayed in that application.
  </dd>
</dl>


<h2 id="features">App Features</h2>

<dl>
  <dt>
    Do I need separate builds of my phone and tablet apps for Google Play for
    Education, or is it the exact same app that lives on Google Play?
  </dt>

  <dd>
    We recommend you create one app and use it in both Google Play and Google
    Play for Education.
  </dd>

  <dt>
    What is the best way to get students’ work within apps sent back to their
    teachers?
  </dt>

  <dd>
    Many teachers have mentioned that the way apps treat this now is via an
    email from a third party, which is not optimal for schools. As many schools
    use Google Apps for Education, consider integrating your app with Google
    Drive using the SDK which can be found here: <a class="external-link" href=
    "https://developers.google.com/drive/about-sdk">developers.google.com/drive/about-sdk</a>.
  </dd>

  <dt>
    How can developers test the teacher experience in Google Play for
    Education? Is there a way to get an account to test it?
  </dt>

  <dd>
    Currently, we are unable to provide developers with a test account to test
    the Google Play for Education user experience. We are investigating ways to
    allow developers to simulate the environment.
  </dd>

  <dt>
    If I already have an app in the Chrome Apps Pack will I get some help
    migrating this to Android?
  </dt>

  <dd>
    If you’d like to reach tablet users in schools we encourage you
    to build a native app for the optimal user experience. Considerations for
    building your app and instructions for registering it can be found at
    <a href="http://developer.android.com/edu">developer.android.com/edu</a>.
  </dd>
</dl>


<h2 id="marketing">Marketing and ROI</h2>

<dl>
  <dt>
    What are you doing to promote these apps to educators?
  </dt>

  <dd>
    Google Play for Education is an extension of Google Play targeting schools
    and making discovery easier for educational apps. It helps your apps gain
    visibility with the right audiences, without having to knock on school
    doors. We are constantly referring to the highest quality apps in our
    educator outreach. We have also developed a series of collections to help
    educators quickly browse apps for the most common use cases.
  </dd>

  <dt>
    How many installs have similar apps had on Play? How much can I expect to
    make if I do an ROI analysis?
  </dt>

  <dd>
    While we cannot disclose specific numbers, Google Play app listings provide
    app download ranges for all apps.
  </dd>

  <dt>
    What is the seasonality like for the education market? What are the key
    timing considerations for app developers?
  </dt>

  <dd>
    In the United States, school districts’ budget decisions go through a
    planning phase in the Spring with budgets being released on July 1. We have
    observed high purchase-volumes in the second quarter of the calendar year,
    using up end-of-year budgets. New budget purchases begin in the third
    quarter of the calendar year.
  </dd>

  <dt>
    Is there a way to offer a special deal, such as a discount, only on Google
    Play for Education and not on Google Play?
  </dt>

  <dd>
    No, this is not possible. Pricing, including special offers, must be the
    same between Google Play for Education and Google Play.
  </dd>
</dl>


<h2 id="devices">Devices</h2>

<dl>
  <dt>
    Which devices are available in the program? Will more be available?
  </dt>

  <dd>
    Nexus 7 is available for shipment now, and the Asus Transformer and HP
    Slate 8 Pro will be available in early 2014. We look forward to welcoming
    more Android devices into the Google in Education family soon.
  </dd>

  <dt>
    Can the devices be shared among many students?
  </dt>

  <dd>
    No. Currently, this program is for one-to-one usage. Each student can login
    to one specific tablet that is allocated to them.
  </dd>
</dl>


<h2 id="accounts">
  Accounts
</h2>

<dl>
  <dt>
    Will an app know whether a user is a teacher or student?
  </dt>

  <dd>
    No, the app has no mechanism for knowing if it is running on a teacher’s
    device or a student’s device. We recommend developers use their own user
    database to enable this feature, where logins can be based on Google
    Account information.
  </dd>

  <dt>
    What log-in method do you recommend for an app on Google Play for
    Education?
  </dt>

  <dd>
    One of the key pieces of feedback we have heard multiple times from various
    schools is that they prefer apps that offer Google Single Sign-on, so that
    teachers and students do not need to remember multiple log-in credentials.
    As schools in the program use Google Accounts and Google Apps for
    Education, offering Google Single Sign-on is ideal.
  </dd>
</dl>