When I went through the policy status pages in Play Console in August, I read the word "extension" more loosely than I should have. The deadline moved, so the update could move with it — or so I assumed.
Today is October 24, and November 1 is eight days away. Eight days sounds like enough. It isn't always, and the reason is that the date you need to watch is not the deadline. It's the day you submit.
What November 1 actually decides
Google Play's help page says new apps and updates must target Android 16 (API level 36) by August 31, and that you can request an extension to November 1 if you need more time.
What the extension buys you is easy to misread. It lets the app you already have keep reaching all users. When you do ship an update after that, it has to target API 36 or higher.
Apps you don't update are a separate case. As long as they target API 35 or higher, they stay available to new users. Below that, they stop showing up for new users on newer Android devices — while people who already installed the app can keep using it.
The deadline is one date, but the date to count from is the day you submit.
Your submit-by day sits about nine days before the deadline
Between pressing submit and the update reaching people's phones, three things take time: review, staged rollout, and slack for one rejection.
| Step | My placeholder | How to replace it |
|---|---|---|
| Review | 3 days | How long your last few updates took from submit to approval |
| Staged rollout | 4 days | How many days you give yourself before 100% |
| Buffer | 2 days | One rejection's worth of slack |
With those numbers the total is nine days. Nine days before November 1 is October 23 — which means that today, I'm already one day late. I ran the script below with Python 3 to check the output.
#!/usr/bin/env python3
"""Count back from the extension deadline to your last submit day."""
import sys
from datetime import date, timedelta
DEADLINE = date(2026, 11, 1) # extension deadline per the Play help page
REVIEW_DAYS = 3 # replace with your own past numbers
ROLLOUT_DAYS = 4 # days until the staged rollout reaches 100%
BUFFER_DAYS = 2 # slack for one rejection
def back_calc(today: date) -> None:
left = (DEADLINE - today).days
submit_by = DEADLINE - timedelta(days=REVIEW_DAYS + ROLLOUT_DAYS + BUFFER_DAYS)
print(f"{left} days until the deadline")
print(f"review {REVIEW_DAYS} + rollout {ROLLOUT_DAYS} + buffer {BUFFER_DAYS} -> submit by {submit_by}")
if today > submit_by:
print(f"You are {(today - submit_by).days} day(s) past the submit-by date. Decide first whether to shorten the rollout or trim the update.")
else:
print(f"{(submit_by - today).days} day(s) left to submit.")
if __name__ == "__main__":
back_calc(date.fromisoformat(sys.argv[1]) if len(sys.argv) > 1 else date.today())Running it with 2026-10-24 prints "8 days until the deadline" and "submit by 2026-10-23", then tells you that you're one day past it. With 2026-10-20 it says three days are left.
I'd think about the rollout length before cutting it. A staged rollout exists so you can stop if crashes appear — so decide what you want to protect first, then trim days.
Three checks when you only have eight days
If the math says you won't make it, check these in order before rushing a submission.
- Is this app eligible for the extension at all? The help page reads as though the extension is for apps that received a warning or notification. Look at the policy status page in Play Console. Apps that are permanently private and internal to an organization are exempt.
- Do you need to ship an update? If nothing is planned, you can leave the app at API 35 and not update. What you lose is new users on newer devices; existing users are unaffected, according to the help page.
- What breaks when you raise the target to 36? I wrote up what I fixed on a real device in the three places I fixed to get targetSdkVersion 36 through.
My own rule is not to treat every app the same. A wallpaper app that rarely changes and an app that touches ads and billing get different orders.
What I couldn't confirm
The help page says the extension request form will arrive in Play Console "later this year." At the time I read it, I couldn't confirm the form itself, so please check names and locations in your own console.
Review time isn't a number Google guarantees either. The "3 days" above is my placeholder, meant to be replaced with your own history.
One thing to do today
Run the script and turn your own submit-by day into a date. If it's later than today, carry on as planned. If it's already behind you, walk through the three checks above in order.
I write the submit-by day on my calendar before the deadline itself — every time.