Where do alpha testers download Google Play Android apps?

Google play store provides closed testing track to test your application with a limited set of testers pre-defined ... Home Public Questions Tags Users Companies Collectives ExploreCollectives Teams StackOverflowforTeams –Startcollaboratingandsharingorganizationalknowledge. CreateafreeTeam WhyTeams? Teams CreatefreeTeam CollectivesonStackOverflow Findcentralized,trustedcontentandcollaboratearoundthetechnologiesyouusemost. Learnmore Teams Q&Aforwork Connectandshareknowledgewithinasinglelocationthatisstructuredandeasytosearch. Learnmore WheredoalphatestersdownloadGooglePlayAndroidapps? AskQuestion Asked 8years,9monthsago Modified 1year,9monthsago Viewed 196ktimes 234 35 IhavedevelopedmyappandhavepublisheditthroughGooglePlayforalphatesting.AsoneofthetestersIgetanopt-inlink,whereIsignedinasatester.AfterthatIwashopingtodownloadtheappdirectlywithmyphonebygoingtothePlayStoreonmyphone.Butasitseemstoturnout,Ihavetogottotheapp'swebprofileandthenfromthereclickdownload;onlythendoesthePlayStoredownloadtheapptomyphone. IwanttogetotheralphatestersinvolvedandIwashopingtomaketheprocesseasierforthem.Isthereaneasierway?Asin,oncetheyopt-in,IwouldlikethemtojustusetheirAndroidphonetodownloadtheappthewaytheywouldanyotherapp.Isthereaway? Clarifications: IamnotlookingforanalternativetoGooglePlay IhavealreadygonethroughtheGoogleGroupcreationprocess.Myquestionisconcerningwhathappensafteragroupmemberopts-in.Cantheyusetheirphonedirectly(play-apponphone)ormusttheydownloadfromthewebsite?SofarIhavenotbeensuccessfulusingtheplay-app. androidgoogle-playgoogle-play-services Share Improvethisquestion Follow editedMar15,2016at7:07 PeterO. 30.6k1414goldbadges7676silverbadges9090bronzebadges askedJul15,2013at16:33 CoteMounyoCoteMounyo 13.3k2121goldbadges6363silverbadges8585bronzebadges 14 1 CouldyouposttheAPKanddistributethattothem? – apollosoftware.org Jul15,2013at16:34 Idon'tunderstandthequestion. – CoteMounyo Jul15,2013at16:35 YourapphasanAPKoncecompiled.Ifyousignitproperlyandbeforeyoupublishityoucouldtheoreticallydistributeittoanyoneyouwant,andtheycanmanuallyinstallit. – apollosoftware.org Jul15,2013at16:36 @AmitApolloIwanttousegoogleplayformytesting.Sowithinthatconstraint,what'stheeasiestway. – CoteMounyo Jul15,2013at16:44 9 "Afterpublishinganalpha/betaAPK,itmaytakeupto24hoursforyourtestlinktobeavailabletotesters." – TWiStErRob Sep22,2014at10:12  |  Show9morecomments 9Answers 9 Sortedby: Resettodefault Highestscore(default) Trending(recentvotescountmore) Datemodified(newestfirst) Datecreated(oldestfirst) Helpusimproveouranswers.Aretheanswersbelowsortedinawaythatputsthebestansweratornearthetop? Takeashortsurvey I’mnotinterested 113 Youneedtopublishtheappbeforeitbecomesavailablefortesting. ifyoupublishtheappandtheapkisonlyin"alphatesting"section thenitisNOTavailabletogeneralpublic,onlyforactivatedtestersinthealphasection. EDIT: Oneadditionalnote:"normal"userswillnotfindyourapponGooglePlay,butalsotheactivatedtestercannotfindtheapplicationbyusingthesearchbox. Onlythedirectlinktotheapplicationpackagewillwork.(onlyfortheactivatedtesters). Share Improvethisanswer Follow editedNov12,2019at17:28 DanielBenedykt 6,3601212goldbadges4949silverbadges7070bronzebadges answeredMay27,2013at14:41 HolgerHolger 1,20411goldbadge99silverbadges1010bronzebadges 12 10 Holgeriscorrect,youcanpublishjustanalphaapk(I'vedonethismyselfinthepasttwoweeks).YourtesterswillgetaURLtodownloadtheappfromthePlayStore.Ifyoupublishanotherversionoftheappforyouralphatesters,keepinmindthatitcantakeafewhoursforthenewversiontoshowupatthePlayStoreaswell.Goodluck. – iandouglas May28,2013at9:15 14 Igetthepagesayinguareatester,buttheonlylinkiseefordownloadingisthe"Downloadformplaystore"whenipressthislink,theappcantbefound.p.s.Ihaveremovedtheotherversionfrommydevice – FuZZbaLL Jan18,2014at11:14 10 UPDATE:Publishingtookabitlongerthenexpected.Nowitdoeswork – FuZZbaLL Jan18,2014at13:56 16 Alsonote:Itsometimestakes24-48hoursforyourAPKtoappear.Annoyingly,itjustappearsasavagueerroruntilitisavailable.It'dbeniceifitmentionedthat. – Anthony Nov12,2014at3:52 7 Youalmostansweredthequestion,nowifyoucouldpleaseadvisewherethis'directlink'canbefoundIcangettomyapp:) – ekerner Mar13,2018at20:02  |  Show7morecomments 25 Itshouldbenotedthatreleasinganalphaappforthefirsttimemaytakeuptoafewhoursbeforeanopt-inlinkisavailableandinvitationsaresentouttotheemailaddressesinyourtesterslist. FromGooglesupport: Afterpublishinganalpha/betaappforthefirsttime,itmaytakea fewhoursforyourtestlinktobeavailabletotesters.Ifyou publishadditionalchanges,theymaytakeseveralhourstobe availablefortesters.[source] Youmaywanttowaituntilyouhaveaninitialopt-inlinkbeforepublishingmorechangestotheappbecausedoingsoislikelytoincreaseyourwaittimeforreceivingyourtesterlink;or,mayleadtoyourtesterstestingwiththeincorrectversion. Hopethatclearsthingsupforanyoneconfusedaboutwhytheydon'thaveanopt-inlinkasdepictedinscreenshotsinthisSOthread! Share Improvethisanswer Follow editedMar20,2018at5:09 answeredFeb14,2018at21:15 DrewTDrewT 4,79122goldbadges3636silverbadges5353bronzebadges 1 Toaddtothis,ifyougotothepagethatlistsyourapps,youcanseeiftheapphasbeenpublished(Inoticedthere'snoindicatorinthereleasepageitself). – JVE999 Feb14,2020at23:23 Addacomment  |  81 Hereisachecklistforyou: 1)Isyourapppublished?(ProductionAPKisnotrequiredforpublishing) 2)Didyouralpha/betatesters"Acceptinvitation"toGoogle+communityorGooglegroup? 3)Areyouralpha/betatestersloggedintheirGoogle+account? 4)Areyouralpha/betatestersusingyourlinkfromGooglePlaydeveloperconsole?Ithasformatlikethis:https://play.google.com/apps/testing/com.yourdomain.package Share Improvethisanswer Follow editedNov25,2013at21:30 AkshatAgarwal 2,76955goldbadges2828silverbadges4949bronzebadges answeredJun18,2013at9:32 gingogingo 3,06911goldbadge2121silverbadges3232bronzebadges 14 5 4solveproblemforme.Whereyouarefindthislinkformat?Icannotseeitndeveloperconsole. – George Oct30,2013at8:21 8 APK->ALPHATESTING->Alphatesters->Managelistoftesters->Sharethefollowinglinkwithyourtesters. – gingo Nov2,2013at13:16 4 Usingthelinkfrom4.ithasanotherlinkthatsays'Downloadappfromtheplaystore'WhenIclickthatIgetthe404 – NathanSchwermann Feb19,2014at23:24 3 Thanksforthis.IhadmyAPKuploaded,butnotpublished.Duh.NowPlayis404ing,butI'mhopingitwillworkinafewhours... – MattGrande May23,2014at14:37 2 IaddedmyselfasAlphatesterandrolled-outtheAlphaRelease,itsbeen17hoursihavenotreceivedanyemail.Shalliwaitformorehourstogettheemail. – GiggleGirl Oct23,2019at6:04  |  Show9morecomments 14 Googleplaystoreprovidesclosedtestingtracktotestyourapplicationwithalimitedsetoftesterspre-definedinthetester'slistknownasAlphaTesting.Herearesomeimportantthingstobeconsideredtousealphatesting. Important Afterpublishinganalpha/betaappforthefirsttime,itmaytakeafewhoursforyourtestlinktobeavailabletotesters.Ifyoupublishadditionalchanges,theymaytakeseveralhourstobeavailablefortesters ManagingTestersforAlphaTesting TheScreenshotismostrecentasofansweringthisquestion.Youcanseethemanagetestersforclosedalphatesting,YoucanaddandremovetesteronebyoneoryoucanuseCSVfiletobulkaddandremove.Thelistofdefinedemailaddresseswillbeeligiblefortestingtheapp,hereyoucanacontrolwhomtoprovidetheappfortesting.Hence,thisisknownasClosedTesting. Youcanseethelink(washedoutbyredline),onceyourappavailabletotest,yourtesterscandownloadandtesttheappbygoingtothebelow-givenlink.ForthatGooglewillaskoncetothetesterforjoiningthetestingprogram.Oncetheyhavejoinedtheprogram,theywillreceiveanappupdate.Asstatedbystore,itmaytake24hourstomakeanappavailablefortesting. Onceyourappavailable,Yourinvitedtesterscanjointhetestbygoingthelinkhttps://play.google.com/apps/testing/YOURPACKAGENAME ManagingAppReleases AftertheManagetesterscard,thereisacardformanagerelease,fromhereyoucanmanageyouralphareleasesandroll-outthemtoproductionbyclickingthebuttonatthetopofthecardoncetheywelltested.Thisprocessofrollingoutfromtestingtoproduction/publicisknownasstaggedroll-out.Instaggedroll-out,thepublisherpublishesbythepercentageofusers,tobetteranalyzetheuserresponse. Youcanalsomanagemultiplealphareleaseappversionsfromhere,atthebottomofthescreenshotyoucanseethatIhaveoncemoreapkbuildversionbeingservedasalphatestapp. ManagingClosedTrackTestingAvailability Apartfromtheuserbasedcontrol,youhaveonemorecontrolovertheavailabilityoftheappforatestinthecountry.Youcanaddlimitedcountriestestertotheapp.supposeyourlistofthetestersarefrommultiplecountriesandyouwanttheapplicationtobetestedinyourcountryonly,ratherremovingtestersfromthetestinglist,youcangothroughAlphaCountryAvailability.Itgivesmoreprecisecontrolovertesters. Here,InScreenshot,myappisavailableworldwidestatesthatmytesters(fromtesterslist)cantesttheappinallcountries. Share Improvethisanswer Follow editedAug28,2019at8:34 answeredAug28,2019at8:25 KiranManiyaKiranManiya 7,02488goldbadges4646silverbadges7070bronzebadges 7 1 Yourscreenshotlabeled"ManagingTestersforAlphaTesting"showsalinktoanopt-inURL.Insteadofthatlink,Ihaveagreyboxthatsays"Anopt-inlinkwillbeavailableherewhenyoupublishyourapp.".Ithasbeenmorethan24hourssinceIuploadedmy.APKfileandtherestillisn'tanylinkthere. – Mort Aug29,2019at12:32 1 Youneedtopublishtheappasalpharelease.Onceyourappispublished,youwillgettheOpt-InURLavailablethere. – KiranManiya Aug29,2019at12:40 doespublishingmyappmeanclickingonthe"Releasetoproduction"button?Ithought"Releasetoproduction"meantreleasingtheapptotheappstore. – Mort Aug30,2019at6:19 1 No,donotreleasetoproduction,itmeansthatyouarerolling-outtheapktoproduction.Toreleaseasalpha,Uploadtheapkfileononalphatestpageandjustclickreview.Onceitisreviewedbyplaystoreteam,youwillgettheopt-inurl. – KiranManiya Aug30,2019at6:31 5 Thankyou,itappearsthatmyappjusttook4daystogetvalidated,beforethelinkappeared.Googlereallycouldhavemadethismoreobvious,byreplacingthegreytextwith"WaitingforapptobeapprovedbyGoogle..." – Mort Sep2,2019at5:46  |  Show2morecomments 28 Publishyouralphaapkbypressingthesubmitbutton. Waituntilit'spublished. (e.g.:CURRENTAPKpublishedonApr28,2015,2:20:13AM) SelectAlphatesters-clickManagelistoftesters. Sharethelinkwithyourtesters(byemail). (e.g.:https://play.google.com/apps/testing/uk.co.xxxxx.xxxxx) Share Improvethisanswer Follow editedJun17,2015at7:44 Pang 9,021146146goldbadges8282silverbadges117117bronzebadges answeredApr28,2015at13:22 sansalksansalk 4,09811goldbadge3333silverbadges3333bronzebadges 5 19 Theusermustaccepttheinvite,andthenthereisalittlebitofawaitbeforethelinkworks.Somewhatannoying-shouldbelargelyimmediate. – AnthonyHorne May3,2015at19:44 4 @AnthonyHorneHowlongisthewait?I'vebeenwaitingforalmost7-8hoursforthenewalphaversionupdate.Ialreadyhaveaprodversiononplaystore. – ShobhitPuri Feb12,2016at17:41 2 @ShobhitPuriWithinaday.Makesurethelinkisnotcached.Tryadifferentbrowseronthephone,ifnecessary. – AnthonyHorne Feb14,2016at12:49 1 HowdoIgetthatlink,itisnotshowingforme?stackoverflow.com/questions/38648707/… – RuchirBaronia Jul29,2016at19:13 @sansalkisthatcompulsorytopublishapplicationonproductionbeforepublishonBeta? – NirmalsinhRathod Sep19,2018at8:48 Addacomment  |  18 UnderAPK/ALPHATESTING/MANAGETESTERSyoufind: Choosethemethodyouwant. ThenyouneedtofirstuploadyourApk.Beforeitcanbepublishedyouneedtogototheusualstepsinpublishingwhichmeans:youneedicons,theFSKratings,screenshotsetc. Afteryouaddedityouclickonpublish. Youfindthelinkforyourtestersat: Share Improvethisanswer Follow answeredJan27,2017at11:42 ChristianChristian 23.7k3535goldbadges122122silverbadges210210bronzebadges 5 3 Idon'tseethislinkanywhere.ItwastherebackwhenIcreatedthetesterlist,butI'veneverbeenabletogetbacktoit.Ipublishedmyalphaapk,andit'slistedaspublished.But"ManageTesters"isnotclickable,noris"Closedalphatesting".ThereisnowhereIcanmanagemytesterlist.Ihaven'treceivedanyemailsaboutitontheaccountIaddedtothealpha.DoIjusthavetowaitsomemore?Thisisprettyridiculous. – Stevey Apr30,2017at5:47 What?DoIhavetomanuallysendthelinktotheiremail?Ialreadysavetheform(withtestersemaillist)buttheydon'treceivedanyemailfromgoogle. – ralphgabb Jun22,2017at0:45 @user3562927Seemyrecentanswer.Itcouldexplainwhat'shappeninginyourspecificcases. – DrewT Feb14,2018at21:22 @ralphgabbSeemyrecentanswer,itcouldexplainwhathappenedforyou. – DrewT Feb14,2018at21:22 2 @DrewT--myproblemturnedouttobeSafari.IswitchedtoChromeanditmagicallyappeared. – Stevey Feb15,2018at22:31 Addacomment  |  5 Inmyexperiencetheflowis: youpublishtheappasbetainGooglePlayandcreatetheGoogle+community invitethetestertothecommunity oncehehasjoined,sendhimthelinkofthetestappinGooglePlay thetesteropensthelinkinthebrowser(notgoogleplayapp) registersastester inthebrowser,installtheappstothedevice(theappwillbemagicallypushedtothedevice) Share Improvethisanswer Follow answeredJul24,2013at10:21 GaRRaPeTaGaRRaPeTa 5,16944goldbadges3434silverbadges5757bronzebadges 2 ThisiswhatIexpect,butnothappening...theonlythingisIamnotusingtheG+communitybasedtestingandthatmaybetheissue...Iusingclosedalphatestingoption.Iwilltry... – Murray Jan8,2016at21:31 Imunabletopublishittoalphatesting,Ijustwanttogettheopt-inlink...Iget"Anopt-inlinkwillbeavailableherewhenyoupublishyourapp."Hereismyquestion:stackoverflow.com/questions/38648707/… – RuchirBaronia Jul29,2016at19:23 Addacomment  |  4 Anotherissueofthatpageifyouusemultipleplaystoreaccounts: Insomecasesyoustillgeta404,evenifyouarecurrentlyloggedinwiththerightaccount,theoneyoujoinedthebetacommunitywith. Asaworkaround,youcanclearthebrowsercache,useanotherbrowserforthebetasignup,orjustusetheincognitomodeofyourbrowser. Share Improvethisanswer Follow answeredJan8,2014at12:20 tknelltknell 8,91933goldbadges2323silverbadges2828bronzebadges Addacomment  |  1 YoucanuseaGoogleGroupandhaveyouralphatestersjustjointhegroup.EverythingelseshouldjustbehandledthroughtheGooglePlayStoreApp. Share Improvethisanswer Follow answeredJul15,2013at16:40 user2584140user2584140 2 Actually,IampasttheGoogleGroupstage.Whenagroupmemberopt-in:that'swhatmyquestionisabout.WhathappenstheniswhatIhavedescribed.Iamlookingforaneasierprocessifanyoneknowsofone. – CoteMounyo Jul15,2013at16:43 WhentheygotoyourappinGooglePlay,itshouldallowthemtooptintothealphaversionandalsoallowthemtooptouteasily.Idon'tbelievethereisaneasierwaythanthat.Itjustcomesdowntoreadableinstructionsatthatpoint. – user2584140 Jul15,2013at17:47 Addacomment  |  YourAnswer ThanksforcontributingananswertoStackOverflow!Pleasebesuretoanswerthequestion.Providedetailsandshareyourresearch!Butavoid…Askingforhelp,clarification,orrespondingtootheranswers.Makingstatementsbasedonopinion;backthemupwithreferencesorpersonalexperience.Tolearnmore,seeourtipsonwritinggreatanswers. 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