[Release] Element Android v1.6.18

Release checklist

Before the release

[ ] Weblate sync, fix lint issue if any (in a dedicated PR)
[ ] Check the update of the store descriptions (using Google Translate if necessary) to ensure that the changes are acceptable to be published to the stores.
[ ] While Weblate is locked, and after the PR from Weblate has been merged, handle all the TODOs in the main strings.xml file
[ ] Run the script ./tools/release/pushPlayStoreMetaData.sh. You can check in the GooglePlay console the Activity log to check the effect.
[x] Ensure all the required PRs have been merged

Do the release

[x] Run the script ./tools/release/releaseScript.sh and follow the steps.

Once tested and validated internally

[x] Create a new open testing release on the GooglePlay console and upload the 4 signed Apks.
[x] Check that the version codes are correct
[x] Copy the fastlane change to the GooglePlay console in the section en-GB.
[x] Push the open testing release to 100% of the users
[ ] Notify the F-Droid team here so that they can schedule the publication on F-Droid
[x] The application is available to the PlayStore testers (live). Google can take between 1 hour and up to 7 days to approve the release.
[ ] The application is available to the F-Droid users.

Once open testing is live on PlayStore

[ ] Ping the Android public room and update its topic

Once Live on F-Droid

[ ] Update the Android public room topic

After at least 2 days (generally next Monday)

[ ] Check the rageshakes
[ ] Check the crash reports on the GooglePlay console
[ ] Check the Android Element room for any reported issues on the new version
[ ] If all is OK, promote the open testing release to production. Generally using a 100% roll out, but can be a smaller value depending on the release content.
[x] The application is available to the PlayStore users (live). Google can take (again!) between 1 hour and up to 7 days to approve the release.

Once production is live on PlayStore

[ ] Ping the Android public room and update its topic
[ ] Add an entry in the internal diary

Android SDK2

The SDK2 and the sample app are released only when Element has been pushed to production.

[ ] On the SDK2 project, run the script ./tools/releaseScript.sh and follow the instructions.

Note: if the step ./gradlew closeAndReleaseRepository fails (for instance, several repositories are waiting to be handled), you have to close and release the repository manually. Do the following steps:

[ ] Connect to https://s01.oss.sonatype.org
[ ] Click on Staging Repositories and check the the files have been uploaded
[ ] Click on close
[ ] Wait (check Activity tab until step "Repository closed" is displayed)
[ ] Click on release. The staging repository will disappear

Android SDK2 sample

https://github.com/matrix-org/matrix-android-sdk2-sample

[ ] Update the dependency to the new version of the SDK2. It can take a few minutes for MavenCentral to make the library available. You can check status on https://repo1.maven.org/maven2/org/matrix/android/matrix-android-sdk2/
[ ] Build and run the sample, you may have to fix some API break
[ ] Commit and push directly on main

element-hq / element-android

[Release] Element Android v1.6.18 #8852