I have been using GCM without problem while debugging my app. Whenever I generate a signed .apk for release, the GCM stops working. It seems as if no data is sent or received by the GCM. I am completely lost because whenever I run the app to debug it to see the problem, it works fine since the GCM works for the debug version of my .apk. I am completely lost at what to do to get this to work. I have searched various Stack Overflow answers but none seem to fit what I am going through.
Also I have checked all the areas (that I know of) where the problem could exists (Google Developer's Console apis and persmissions, code, Google Docs) and everything seems to line up. What is going on?