You have an app idea, and you want to get it in front of millions of Samsung users. The Samsung Developer Program is your gateway to the Galaxy Store, Samsung’s official app marketplace. But the registration process can feel confusing if you have never done it before.
This guide walks through every step you need. No fluff, just direct answers.
What You Get With A Samsung Developer Account
Registering as a Samsung developer gives you access to development tools, SDKs, APIs, and technical documentation for creating apps across Samsung devices.
You can build apps for Galaxy phones and tablets using Android or take advantage of the Tizen platform to develop for Samsung Smart TVs.
The Galaxy Store also offers a revenue share model where you keep 80% of net sales while Samsung takes 20%. For subscription services, you receive an even higher 85% share.
Membership is free. There is no upfront fee to join.
Before You Start: Know Your Account Type
Samsung offers two main registration paths depending on your situation.
An individual developer works for solo creators or small teams building apps as a side project. You will need to provide personal identification and verify your identity.
Business Developer is for companies, agencies, or anyone publishing apps on behalf of a brand. This requires business registration documents and additional verification steps.
Pick the right one from the start. Switching later is difficult and can delay your app launches.
1. Create Your Samsung Account
Go to developer.samsung.com. Look for the Sign Up or Join button. If you already have a Samsung Account from using a Galaxy device, you can use those same credentials.
Do not use a personal email address for this. Create a dedicated email specifically for your development work. Something like apps@yourbusiness.com works well. This protects you if team members change over time.
Fill out the form with your name, email, password, date of birth, and postal code. Check your inbox for a verification email and click the activation link inside.
2. Register as a Developer
After activating your Samsung Account, sign back in and begin the developer registration process. Agree to the terms and conditions and privacy policy.
Complete your profile. This includes contact information, business type if applicable, location, and company size. The more complete your profile, the faster Samsung approves your account.
For individual developers in certain regions, Samsung requires additional identity verification. You may need to upload a photo of yourself holding your identification card. The photo must show your face clearly, your ID must be readable, both arms should be visible, and no image editing software can be used.
For business developers, prepare your business license and registration certificate. Have your legal representative’s identification ready as well.
3. Register For The Seller Portal
This step is critical for anyone planning to sell apps. The Seller Portal is where you manage app listings, pricing, and revenue.
Go to seller.samsungapps.com and sign in with your Samsung Account. Follow the on-screen instructions to complete your Seller Portal registration. You may need to provide additional tax and banking information for payment processing.
4. Set Up Your Development Environment
Once your accounts are active, install the necessary tools for your target platform.
For Galaxy phone and tablet apps, use Android Studio with Samsung extensions. Samsung provides starter apps that can be cloned from GitHub, which saves time compared to building everything from scratch.
For Samsung Smart TV apps, download Tizen Studio with the TV extension. The TV extension supports Tizen 10.0 as of 2026, so make sure you download the latest version.
Enable Developer Mode on your TV by opening Apps and entering 12345 on your remote control, then enter your computer’s IP address and restart the TV.
For enterprise apps utilizing Samsung Knox security features, sign up for the Knox Partner Program. This provides SDKs, REST APIs, and development documentation.
5. Build And Test Your App
Developing the actual application is where most of your time goes. Test thoroughly on real devices whenever possible. Emulators are helpful for initial testing, but hardware testing catches issues emulators miss.
For TV apps specifically, remote control navigation is mandatory. Your app must work entirely with arrow keys and the enter button. Apps that require mouse or touch input get rejected.
6. Submit Your App For Review
When your app is ready, return to the Seller Portal to submit it for distribution.
Create a new application entry and upload your app package. The review process includes verification testing. If issues are found, Samsung notifies you, and you can fix and resubmit.
Prepare the following before submitting:
- App icons in required dimensions
- Screenshots taken from real devices
- App description and title
- Privacy policy
- Age rating information
Be aware of two important 2026 requirements. First, from July 2026 onward, all Android app packages uploaded to Galaxy Store must support 16KB page size.
Samsung added a verification tool in the Seller Portal to check this before you submit. Second, from September 2026, developers publishing apps in Brazil, Singapore, Indonesia, or Thailand must complete Google developer verification. This requirement expands worldwide after 2027.
7. Distribute and Manage Your App
Once approved, your app appears in the Galaxy Store across selected device models and countries. You can track performance metrics, user data, and payment details through the Seller Portal dashboard.
Revenue Share and Payments Explained
The revenue split for paid apps and in-app items is 80% for developers and 20% for Samsung. If you already have an app published and accepted the Seller Portal terms, Samsung applies this automatically starting May 15, 2025. Subscription services operate on an 85% developer, 15% Samsung split.
Payments are processed after deducting customary fees like sales tax and bank charges.
Common Mistakes To Avoid
New developers often make a few predictable errors.
Using a personal email address instead of a business email creates problems if team members leave. Submitting apps without testing on real hardware leads to rejections.
Uploading incomplete or low-quality screenshots hurts your conversion rates. Ignoring platform-specific requirements like TV remote navigation guarantees a rejected submission.
And failing to stay current with technical requirements like the 16KB page size rule can prevent your app from being accepted at all.
FAQs
How long does developer account approval take?
Approval times vary. Individual developer accounts often process within a few days. Business accounts requiring document verification may take one to two weeks.
Do I need to pay anything to join?
No. Registration is completely free.
Can I publish the same app on both Galaxy Store and Google Play Store?
Yes. You are not locked into any exclusive agreement. Many developers publish on both stores to maximize reach. Just use the same signing key across both platforms to avoid installation conflicts for users.
What programming languages do I need to know?
For Android apps, Java and Kotlin are standard. For Tizen TV apps, HTML5, CSS, and JavaScript are most common since web apps work best for 90% of commercial TV applications.
Final Thoughts
The Samsung Developer Program puts your app in front of millions of Galaxy device owners around the world. The registration process is straightforward once you understand the steps, but the real work begins after approval. Build something useful, test it thoroughly, and respect the platform requirements.
What type of app are you planning to build for the Samsung ecosystem? Drop your answer in the comments below.
