How to set up closed testing in Google Play Console

What do you need before setting up a closed test?

• A verified developer account. New personal accounts must also verify access to a real Android device with the Play Console mobile app before they can make an app available on Google Play (Verify your developer identity information).
• A release build as an Android App Bundle. Since August 2021, new apps must publish with the Android App Bundle (Android App Bundle overview).
• The required target API level. From 31 August 2026, new apps and app updates must target Android 16 (API level 36) or higher, with lower levels for Wear OS, Android Automotive OS, Android TV and Android XR, and an extension to 1 November 2026 available on request (Target API level requirements).
• A privacy policy and the App content answers: ads, sign-in details for reviewers, target audience, content rating, data safety (Prepare your app for review).
• Testers with a Google Account or a Google Workspace account; Google says one is needed to join a test (Set up an open, closed, or internal test).
• A final package name. Once you upload an artifact, the package name is fixed, and Google says package names cannot be deleted or reused.

If your account is a personal account created after 13 November 2023, this closed test is also the one that has to carry 12 testers for 14 days before you can apply for production.

Step 1: How do you create the app in Play Console?

From Google's Create and set up your app:

1. Open Play Console and select Home > Create app.
2. Select a default language and enter the app name as it should appear on Google Play. You can change it later.
3. Say whether it is an app or a game. You can change this later too.
4. Say whether it is free or paid.
5. Add a contact email address that Google Play users can use to reach you about the app.
6. In Declarations, acknowledge the Developer Program Policies and US export laws declarations, and accept the Play App Signing Terms of Service.
7. Select Create app.

Think twice before making the app paid. Google says testers must purchase paid apps when they take part in open or closed tests; only internal testers install them for free. Pricing changes also apply to every track at once.

Step 2: Which setup tasks come before closed testing?

Google's track table in App testing requirements for new personal developer accounts lists one requirement to access closed testing: "Complete app setup." The app's Dashboard lists the tasks, and each one gets a green tick when done (Set up your app on the app dashboard). They cover:

• App content: privacy policy, ads declaration, instructions and credentials for any part of the app behind a sign-in, target audience and content, content ratings, data safety, and permission declarations where your app needs them.
• Store listing: app name (30 characters), short description (80), full description (4,000) and graphics. Google notes the store listing is shared across tracks, testing tracks included.
• Category and contact details.

Internal testing does not wait for any of this. Google says you can start an internal test before completing app setup, with up to 100 testers, and that first uploads are available to internal testers immediately. It is a good way to check the build on real phones while you fill in the forms. Just keep your closed testers out of it: a user opted in to your internal test is not eligible for your closed test until they opt out of the internal one.

Step 3: How do you open the closed testing track?

1. Sign in to Play Console, select your app, and go to Test and release > Testing > Closed testing.
2. A closed testing track is already there as your initial closed test. Click Manage track on it.
3. To create another track instead, click Create track near the top right, enter a name, and click Create track.

Google allows several closed tests and one open test at the same time. Additional closed tracks have constraints, such as no country targeting (test setup article). If you are running the test for the 12 testers requirement, keeping every tester on one track keeps the count simple to follow.

Step 4: Should you add testers by email list or Google Group?

The Testers tab of a closed track accepts either. Here is how they compare, from the test setup article:

Add testers with an email list

1. On the Closed testing page, click Manage track, then select the Testers tab.
2. Under Testers, click Create email list and enter a list name.
3. Add email addresses separated by commas, or click Upload CSV file with one address per line. Uploading a CSV overwrites the addresses already on the list, and Play Console rejects CSV files saved as UTF-8 with BOM.
4. Click Save changes, then Create.
5. Back in the Testers section, keep Email selected and select the lists that should test this release.
6. Enter a feedback URL or email address. It appears on your tester opt-in page.
7. Click Save changes.

Add testers with a Google Group

1. On the Testers tab, select Google Groups.
2. Enter the group's address, in the format yourgroupname@googlegroups.com.
3. Enter a feedback URL or email address.
4. Click Save changes.

Set the list or group once, then add people to it. Google's managed publishing article says changes to how testers are configured for a track (a new list or group) are held back with your other changes, while changes to the membership of a list or group already used by a track are not.

Step 5: How do you upload the app bundle and roll out the release?

From Google's Prepare and roll out a release:

1. Go to Test and release > Testing > Closed testing, click Manage track on your track, then Create new release near the top right. If the button is disabled, finish the outstanding tasks on your Dashboard.
2. On a first release, follow the instructions to configure Play App Signing.
3. Upload your app bundle, or click Add from library to reuse one you uploaded before.
4. Name the release. The name is only visible in Play Console; Google suggests something like the build version.
5. Enter release notes, up to 500 characters per language, between language tags such as <en-US> and </en-US>.
6. Click Save as draft, then Next.
7. If an Errors summary appears, open it and fix every error. Warnings do not block publishing, though Google recommends addressing them.
8. Click Start rollout. A first release has no rollout percentage.

Depending on whether your changes need review, Play Console offers Save or Publish. Saved changes wait on the Publishing overview page until you click Send for review; Google says items are not sent for review until you do. Remember to increase versionCode for every upload: Google's ceiling for Play Console is 2100000000.

How long does a closed testing release take to review?

Google gives no separate figure for closed tests, only general ones:

• Processing "can take a few hours or up to seven days (or longer in exceptional cases)", depending on the review time your app is subject to (managed publishing article).
• For certain developer accounts, Google takes more time to review, "up to seven days or longer in exceptional cases" (Publish your app). The managed publishing article mentions apps submitted by new developer accounts as an example of extended review times.
• After a test is first published, the test link "can take several hours to become available to testers", and later changes can also take several hours (test setup article).

Plan for a week. While you wait, internal testing keeps you moving: Google says new bundles on that track reach testers within minutes.

How do testers join a closed test and install the app?

Once the app's status is Published, go back to the Testers tab and copy the shareable link. Google says the opt-in link is not shown while the app is in Draft or Pending publication. Before your app reaches production or open testing, testers cannot find it by searching Google Play, so send them the opt-in link.

On the tester's side:

1. If you use a Google Group, they join the group first, with the Google Account they will use on their phone.
2. They open your opt-in link. Google shows them an explanation of tester responsibilities and a link to opt in; each tester must opt in this way.
3. They install the app from its Google Play page.
4. They send feedback through your channel, or privately through Google Play. Google's user help describes it: Play Store profile icon, Manage apps & devices > Beta, the app, then Write feedback, with a star rating (Try new Android apps before their official release).

Once installed, the app updates to the test version automatically within a few minutes. Testers cannot leave public reviews on a test version, and their feedback does not affect your public rating.

How do you manage testers during a closed test?

• Remind them to stay opted in. For the requirement, Google tells you to inform testers that they need to remain opted in continuously for at least 14 days. An opt-out ends that tester's run.
• Add testers through the list or group, not by changing which list the track uses.
• Read feedback under Monitor and improve > Ratings and reviews > Testing feedback, where you can filter by date, language, app version or device. You can also turn on email notifications for new testing feedback in your notification preferences (ratings and reviews article).
• Ship updates to the closed track. Testers receive the highest version code published to a track they are eligible for.
• Do not pause the track mid-test. Google describes Pause track as the way to remove users from a test and end it; the app stays installed, but testers stop receiving updates.

How do you connect a closed test to TestBuddy?

If your testers come from a TestBuddy wave, everything above stays the same. You describe your app, add one SDK line and a tester group, in the order TestBuddy's setup shows:

1. Describe your app in TestBuddy: app name, package name, what testers should try, and the Closed test opt-in link field, where you paste the link from your track's Testers tab. TestBuddy checks that the link names your package.
2. Add TestBuddy's tester group to the track's Testers tab, under Google Groups.
3. Add the SDK. It is a Kotlin library with one dependency (the Play Install Referrer client), no AndroidX and minSdk 24. TestBuddy shows the steps for your framework (Kotlin, Flutter, React Native, Expo, Unity, Capacitor) with your app's key; no code, the key goes in the manifest:

   <meta-data android:name="com.jointestbuddy.KEY" android:value="pk_..." />

4. Upload that build to your closed testing track, and open it once on any phone. The SDK says hello and the setup step completes.
5. Join the next wave. First join TestBuddy's tester group yourself, with the Google account of your phone, so you can opt in to the other tests. The wave starts once 16 developers are in: your app gets 15 testers who each open it for at least 2 minutes a day for 14 days, and you test their 15 apps.

The SDK links each install to a tester through the Play install referrer and counts the time your app spends in the foreground. It has no user interface, and you can remove it before your production release.