# Build the installer

Building turns your configuration into the files the player downloads. Each build counts toward your plan's
monthly limit.

![The builds screen, with Google Play and the generated files](shots/launcher-builds.webp)

## Build

1. Check the [Identity](/en/launcher/) and the [Modpacks](/en/launcher/accounts/).
2. In **Launcher > Builds**, click **Build installer**.
3. Follow the progress on the same screen. It takes a few minutes.
4. When it finishes, the files show with the **Download** button.

If nothing changed since the last installer, the screen says so and does not spend a build.

> [!WARNING]
> Each new build replaces the previous one: when it is published, the old version's files go offline. Players
> who already have the launcher get the new version through auto-update.

## How the player downloads it

Your store's `/download` page offers the installer for each system and highlights the right one for whoever is
opening it.

> [!NOTE]
> Installers are not digitally signed yet. On Windows, SmartScreen shows "unrecognized app": the player clicks
> **More info > Run anyway**. The download page already explains this. On macOS, they must open it with the right
> button and **Open**.

## Android app

With Android available on your store, the buttons change to **Build installer and app** and **Build Android
app**. First, save the [phone controls](/en/launcher/extras/#phone-controls): without them, the app does not
build.

The result brings the APK, with **Show QR code** to open directly on the phone, and the **Certificate
fingerprint**, which is for checking that the file is the one Hystore generated.

## Publish on Google Play

The **Publish on Google Play** card shows whether everything is ready, and **How to publish** opens the step by
step.

1. Create your developer account at Google. It costs US$ 25, once, and verification takes a few days. A personal
   account requires a closed test before production; a company account does not.
2. Publish the **Privacy Policy** and the **Data Collection** summary. Play refuses the app without these two
   pages. The card shows when they are published. See [Settings](/en/store/settings/).
3. Build the Android app. With the pages ready, the **Play bundle (.aab)** also comes out.
4. Download the `.aab` and upload it through the Play Console.

> [!TIP]
> Play only takes a bundle with a version number higher than the last one. **New version for Play** builds only the
> `.aab` with the next number, without changing the APK or the players' auto-update. It counts as a build.

## Got an error?

| Message | What to do |
| --- | --- |
| Nothing changed since the last installer | There is nothing to build. Change something or use the current installer |
| A build is already running | Wait for it to finish |
| Waiting for a macOS machine | The macOS version needs a Mac. It joins the queue as soon as one is free, and it is not an error |
| The build stopped here | The screen shows the step where it stopped. Check that step's data and build again |