Your closed testing guide

If your personal Play Console account was created after November 13, 2023, you need to run a closed test before you can publish to production. It needs at least 12 testers who stay opted in continuously for at least 14 days.

• The 14 days must be consecutive.
• Testers who leave early don't count.
• A tester who opts out and back in starts their count again.
• Until you meet the rule, production is turned off in Play Console.

In Play Console, create a closed test, upload a build, and publish the release. Make it available in the countries your testers are in, and allow for Google's review of your release.

Fourteen asks you to confirm a short checklist before your test starts, because one missed step can cost days.

In a Fourteen group, you add the Fourteen testers group to your closed test. If your track already uses email lists, create a new closed testing track that uses Google Groups. With friends and family, you can use that group or a list of their Google account emails, then share your invite link. Being in the group isn't enough on its own. Each tester also has to join your test through its link, which is the Join on Android link under How testers join your test in Play Console. Fourteen gives group members this link for you, so they tap it and install your app.

Start with more than 12. People drop out, and spare testers only help if they've opted in from the start.

Check Play Console during the test, since its tester count is the one Google uses. Fourteen can't see inside Play Console.

Staying opted in is the rule, but real use is what makes your application believable. Testers follow a short task in your app each day and send a note. In a group, you do the same for their apps, about 2 minutes per app.

Fix problems, ship new builds to the closed test, and keep a record. Google asks what you changed because of the test, so this is both useful and needed for your application.

Once you qualify, go to the Dashboard in Play Console and choose Apply for production. The form asks about three things:

• Your closed test: how easy testers were to recruit, how engaged they were, and what feedback you got
• Your app: who it's for, the value it offers, and how many installs you expect in the first year
• Your readiness: what you changed after testing, and how you decided the app was ready

Answer honestly, using what really happened. Fourteen's notes collect this as you go, for you to review and edit.

Google says review usually takes seven days or less, though it can take longer, and you'll get an email. If you have too few testers or too little engagement, you may be asked to keep testing. Nobody can guarantee approval, including us.