Get your app through Google Play closed testing

Need Google Play testers? Join a group of indie developers who test each other’s apps properly: 12+ testers, 14 days, a small task every day and real feedback at the end.

Group 1: 4 of 16 developers readyLive

12 more developers needed. The group starts automatically when it's full.

Group 2: 1 of 16 developers readyLive

15 more developers needed. The group starts automatically when it's full.

Group 3: 1 of 16 developers readyLive

15 more developers needed. The group starts automatically when it's full.

Join the Discord

Why closed testing is hard

New personal Google Play developer accounts must run a closed test with at least 12 testers who stay opted in for 14 days in a row before they can publish. Google also asks how testers used your app and what feedback they gave, so testers who install and forget are not enough.

Swap threads get installs, but most people stop opening the apps after a day or two. Tester Groups keeps everyone playing, every day, and holds each other to it.

New to all this? Read our Google Play closed testing checklist for every step from setting up your test to applying for production.

1. Join on Discord

Run /join with the Google account you use on Play, then /myapp to add your app, its opt-in link and a few daily tasks.

2. Get your group

When a group is ready you get a private channel with around 15 developers and every app’s opt-in link.

3. Install every app

Opt in and install each app in your group, then confirm with /installed and a screenshot.

4. Daily tasks for 14 days

Each morning the bot posts one small task per app. Do them and log each with /checkin and a line of honest feedback.

5. Keep up or drop out

Miss a day and you get a strike. Three strikes and you leave the group, so everyone who stays is really testing.

6. Get your feedback report

After day 14 every developer gets a report of all the feedback on their app, ready for Google’s production access form. Then add your app to our Wall of launched apps.

The rules

  • Real testing only. Do the task, then write honest, useful feedback.
  • Stay opted in to every app in your group for the whole test, and until each developer has applied for production.
  • No rating or review swaps. Never ask for, offer or trade Google Play ratings or reviews.
  • Be kind. Feedback is about the app, not the developer.

FAQ

Yes. Tester Groups is free and run by TheDogBowl, a small indie studio that needed testers too.

Only if you want to! Tester Groups is completely free and always will be, and donating doesn’t change your place in the queue or anything about your group. If the groups have helped you and you’d like to say thanks, you can buy me some dog biscuits 🦴. It helps cover hosting and keeps the bot running.

Can’t chip in? Inviting other developers with /invite, or helping someone in the Discord, helps just as much.

An Android phone, a Discord account, and an app with a closed testing track in Google Play Console. You will need its tester opt-in link (Play Console > Testing > Closed testing > Testers > “Join on the web”).

About a minute or two per app each day. In a full group of around 15 developers that is roughly 15 to 30 minutes a day for 14 days.

You get a strike. After 3 strikes you are removed from the group and your app comes off the task list, so the others stop testing it.

No. Google makes that decision. What you get is 12+ real testers who actually use your app every day, and a feedback report to help you answer the production access form honestly.

No. That breaks Google Play policy and could put your developer account at risk. Tester Groups is for testing and feedback only.

Google counts a tester only while they stay opted in. Please stay opted in to every app in your group until each developer has applied for production.

Ready to get your app tested?

Join the Discord, run /join, and you’ll be in the next group.

Join the Discord