title: Manage multiple .apks on Google Play
body: <p>We create apps and distribute the on Google Play and have gone years being able to create one .apk and distribute to all devices.</p>
  
  <p>Recently we found one device (Samsung Galaxy Core Prime SM-G360V
  Android version:  5.1.1) that we will need to make a special build.</p>
  
  <p>It is probably possible to find something that will work on all devices, but I just don't want to force my thousands of users to update their app just because of one phone.</p>
  
  <p>I have read this:
  <a href="https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/7353455?hl=en" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/7353455?hl=en</a></p>
  
  <p>and I have read this:
  <a href="https://developer.android.com/google/play/publishing/multiple-apks" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://developer.android.com/google/play/publishing/multiple-apks</a></p>
  
  <p>They don't really go over a strategy for doing what we want to do:</p>
  
  <ol>
  <li>Leave our existing .apk in the store and keep the 5.1.1 device from downloading it.</li>
  <li>Add a new .apk that only the 5.1.1 device will download.</li>
  </ol>
  
  <p>One element of my concern is that the instructions talk about a list of excluded phones but they don't talk about a list of supported phones.</p>
  
  <p>I would like to exclude a phone on our existing .apk; and set a supported phone on the new .apk (implying that all other devices are excluded).</p>
  
  <p>This is also making changes to a production app without really being able to test so we have to have clear instructions of the side effects of anything we are changing on Google Play.</p>