How to set up a Google Play Store inbox in Front

Front integrates with Google Play Store to bring your app reviews directly into Front, where you can read and reply to each review. 

For every review, you’ll see:

• Star rating

• Message content

• App version

• Device type

You can add multiple Google Play Store inboxes for multiple apps. Follow the instructions below for each app separately, since you’ll need a unique app id from Google Play Store for each inbox.

You'll need the following to set up a Google Play Store inbox in Front:

• A Google Play Developer account. For information on developer accounts, read on here.

• An app you created and published in the Google Play Store. For more information on publishing on the Google Play Store, read on here.

Step 1

Click the gear icon and select workspace or personal settings in the left sidebar, depending on the space you’re working with.

Step 2

Click Inboxes in the left menu and create a new shared inbox or individual inbox.

Step 3

Click Channels in the left menu, then click the Connect channel button.

Step 4

Select Google Play from the channels menu. Now, you’ll need to get some information from your Google Play Developer Console. Keep this Front screen open, as you'll come back to it after the next part.

Step 5

In the Service Accounts section of your Google Cloud IAM & Admin account, create a new project or select an existing project.

See Google's documentation for more information.

Step 6

Follow the steps in Google's documentation to create and configure a service account to use for the Front integration.

Step 7

Name your service account, then click Create and continue.

Step 8

In the Permissions section, select Owner. Your service account must be an Owner in order for the inbox to work properly in Front.

Step 9

Click Done.

Step 10

Under the Actions column, click the three-dot menu, then select Manage keys.

Step 11

Click Add key, then Create new key. Choose a JSON key type, then click Create. A JSON key will be automatically downloaded during this step – be sure to save this file.

Step 12

Navigate to your Users and Permissions page on the Google Play Console, then select Invite new users.

Step 13

Enter the email address associated with the service account you created.

Step 14

In the Permissions section, select the Account permissions tab and check the boxes for the following permissions:

• View app information and download bulk reports (read-only)

• Reply to reviews

Step 15

Click Invite user.

Step 16

Now that you’ve configured your Google Play Service account, go back to Front and enter these details in the Google Play Store set up page where you left off:

• Your Google Play Store App ID in the Package Name field

• Upload the JSON key file you downloaded when you created your Service Account

Step 17

Choose the inbox that conversations will route to and click Save.

Step 18

Once done, return to your inbox view. You'll begin to see Google Play Store reviews arrive in Front. Front will automatically import reviews that have been posted to Google Play Store within the last 7 days.

You can click on reply to draft and send a response, which will post as a reply to the review in Google Play Store.

You can only respond once to each app review and can only update your reply if the same user submits a second app review.

Yes. Each message has a 3,000 character limit. 

This feature is available on the latest Professional plan or above. Some legacy plans may have access.