Run your closed test with at least 12 testers for 14 more days starting from the review date

https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/14151465

App testing requirements for new personal developer accounts

In November 2023, we changed the requirements for publishing new apps on Google Play to help developers to test their app, identify issues, get feedback and ensure that everything is ready before they launch. These changes require developers with personal accounts created after 13 November 2023 to meet specific testing requirements before they can make their app available on Google Play.

This article provides an overview of the new requirements, a summary of the different testing tracks in Play Console and the steps that developers with personal accounts will need to take to make their apps available to users on Google Play.

Introducing testing requirements for newly created personal accounts

Testing is an integral part of the app development process. By running tests against your app consistently, you can verify your app's correctness, functional behaviour and usability before you release it publicly. This minimises the impact of any technical or user experience issues and helps you to release the best version of your app. Developers that regularly use Play Console's testing tools prior to publishing their apps are able to provide higher quality experiences that can lead to higher ratings and more success on Google Play.

To help all developers to deliver high-quality apps, we're introducing new testing requirements. Developers with personal accounts created after 13 November 2023 will need to test their apps before those apps are eligible to be published for distribution on Google Play. Certain features in Play Console, such as Production (Test and release > Production) and Pre-registration (Test and release > Testing > Pre-registration), will be disabled until developers meet these requirements.

Overview of testing requirements

If you have a newly created personal developer account, you must run a closed test for your app with a minimum of 12 testers who have been opted in for at least the last 14 days continuously. When you meet these criteria, you can apply for production access on the Dashboard in Play Console so that you can ultimately distribute your app on Google Play. When you apply, you must answer some questions to help us understand your app, its testing process and its production readiness.

You can read about the different types of testing tracks and requirements for each in more detail below, and find more details about applying for production access.

Understanding different testing tracks and their requirements

Play Console provides different types of testing tracks so that you can gradually ramp up testing and improve your app to the point that it's ready to reach billions of users on Google Play.

Internal testing: Before you've finished setting up your app, you can quickly distribute builds to a small group of your own trusted testers. This can help you to identify issues and get early feedback. Builds are normally available to testers within seconds of being added in Play Console. Internal testing is optional, but we recommend that you start here.
Closed testing: With closed testing, you can share your app with a wide group of users that you control. This allows you to fix issues and ensure that your app complies with Google Play policy before you launch. You must run a closed test before you can apply to publish your app to production. At least 12 testers must be opted in to your closed test when you apply for production access. They must have been opted in for the last 14 days continuously. You can start a closed test once you're finished setting up your app.
Open testing: Allows you to surface your app's test version on Google Play. If you run an open test, anyone can join your testing programme and submit private feedback to you. Before choosing this option, make sure that your app and store listing is ready to be visible on Google Play. Open testing is available when you have production access.
Production: Where you make your app available to billions of users on Google Play. Before you can apply to publish your app to production, you need to run a closed test which meets our criteria. When you apply, you'll also need to answer some questions about your closed test. When you apply for production access, at least 12 testers must be opted in to your closed test. They must have been opted in for the last 14 days continuously.

Summary of testing requirements per track

Guidance and best practices for closed testing

You can learn how to design, develop and distribute your Android apps on Google through the helpful links below:

Recruiting testers

The most common way to recruit testers is to use personal and professional networks. You can reach out to your friends, family, colleagues or classmates, for example, and ask them to be beta testers for your app. You can reach out to communities where users are likely to exist and actively recruit them to test your app. For example, if you're building an app for CrossFit enthusiasts, then consider approaching a local club or connecting with your target users in online groups. You can also post about your app on social media and ask your followers to sign up for testing.

If possible, you should recruit a diverse group of testers to identify bugs and usability issues that may be specific to certain types of users or devices. For the same reason, you should also recruit testers who you believe to be representative of your app's future users. For example, if you're developing a productivity app for businesses, you should recruit testers who are business professionals from different industries in which you believe your app may be popular. The closer your test users are to your target users, the more useful feedback you'll receive.

Engaging with testers

Once you have recruited a group of beta testers, it's important to provide them with clear instructions on how to test your app and report bugs. Let your testers know what type of feedback you are looking for. Try to encourage testers to use as many of your app's features as possible in order to receive holistic feedback.

Include a feedback channel or let your users know how they can provide you with feedback (for example, by email, website or message forum). Your testers can also provide you with private feedback through Google Play.

Important: Emphasise to your testers that they need to remain opted in to your closed test for at least 14 days continuously.

Gathering and viewing user feedback

If you have an app in testing, you can access and reply to user feedback in Play Console. Feedback from users is only visible to you and can't be seen on Google Play.

Open Play Console and go to the Testing feedback page (Ratings and reviews > Testing feedback).
Decide how you want to browse your feedback.
- Filter: To see beta feedback based on certain criteria (such as date, language, reply state, app version, device and more), select from the available filters.
- Search: To look for specific words in your feedback, use the search box.

Tip: Keep a record of feedback you receive. Rereading this later may make it easier for you to identify common feedback themes or issues that you want to address in the short or long term to improve your app. We'll also ask you to summarise your testing feedback for us later when you apply for production access.

Acting on user feedback

Throughout your app's testing period, you should be responsive to your testers' feedback and make sure to fix any bugs that they find. This will:

Help to improve your app's user experience;
increase the likelihood of a successful application for production access; and
make it more likely to avoid negative reviews when you begin to distribute your app on Google Play.

Advanced testing

The guidance in this article is just a starting point to help you understand testing basics as you prepare to distribute your first app. You can explore far more advanced testing resources and techniques to optimise your app's quality as you become more experienced as a developer. For example, you may want to learn about testing apps on Android and the fundamentals of testing on the Android Developers site.

Play Console also provides a range of features that can help you identify issues with your app. You can set up and run a pre-launch report to proactively identify issues before your app reaches users via a detailed report listing issues, warnings and errors that you may want to investigate and resolve.

Running closed tests

You can learn how to set up and run a closed test using this Help Centre page.

Apply for access to production

Once you've met the closed testing requirements, you can apply for production access. To begin:

Go to the Dashboard.
Click Apply for production.

You must then answer the following questions about your closed test, your app and its production readiness. These questions are divided into three sections:

About your closed test
About your app/game
Production readiness

You can find guidance for providing information for each section by expanding the sections below.

Part 1: Tell us about your closed test

Part 2: Tell us about your app/game

Part 3: Tell us about your production readiness

After you apply for access to production

After you've completed your request for access to production, we'll review your submission When the review is complete, we'll email the account owner with an update. This usually takes seven days or less, but may occasionally take longer.

If your app isn't ready to be published, you may be required to continue testing your app. Examples include not having 12 testers opted in to your closed test or your testers not being engaged with your app during your closed test.

If your application is successful, you can access Production (Test and release > Production) and can make your app available to billions of users on Google Play when you think that it's ready. You can also use Open testing (Test and release > Testing > Open testing). We recommend testing your app extensively before publishing it to production and routinely testing any future updates that you make.S

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