Sixteen apps test each other for 16 days. This is every step, what is checked and how, what it costs to leave, and the report you get at the end.
Four steps from a package name to a finished closed test. Every number below is what the product does today.
Paste the package name and invite our service account in Play Console with one read-only permission. TestersGuild reads your closed testing track through the Play Developer API and cannot change your listing.
read-only access
We confirm our Google Group is on your track, a release is out of draft, and every country on Google’s list is covered (about 177 today). If one is missing we say which, so no tester hits “app not found”.
group · release · 177 countries
A full cohort has an install phase (8 hours). Each member installs the other apps from the Play Store, and everyone sees a count like “11 of 16 ready”, never names. The cohort starts the moment every member has installed at least 13 of the 15 others. Anyone who does not is removed and a reserve is offered the seat.
installer · version code · 2 devices per app
Every day, open at least 70% of your list for 30 seconds each. Every week, rate and write about 3 apps. The cohort runs 16 days, two more than Google asks, because people install on different days. Everyone locks a $15.00 stake, so leaving costs something.
16 apps · 16 days · $15.00 stake
Catch common Google Play closed-testing setup problems before your cohort begins. We check what Google’s API lets us read and tell you what to fix, in plain words.
Built
Coming
Not every mistake can be detected. The API shows saved settings, including changes still in review, so a pass means configured, not yet visible to testers. The app counts as verified after a first confirmed install. Access is read-only and limited to the app you add.
Everything below is built and has run against the real Play API in testing. Nothing has run in a public cohort yet.
15 real testers for your app
The other 15 members of your cohort, 3 more than the 12 Google needs.
16 days of testing
Two more than Google’s 14, so late installers still finish theirs.
A setup check before anyone installs
Group on your track, release out of draft, every country covered, with the exact fix when something is off.
Installs checked against Google Play
Play Store installer, a version code from your own track, two devices per app.
A daily check-in for every tester
Usage read from the phone: 70% of their list, 30 seconds each.
Weekly written feedback
A rating and a note of at least 20 characters, read by you without names.
Forced updates for testers
New releases must be installed within 24 hours, capped so it stays fair.
A closing report
Who tested, how often, what they wrote and what you shipped, ready to paste into Play Console.
A stake that is kept
$15.00 of credit locked while you test, returned when the cohort finishes.
What happens, in order. The extra two days are slack, not a guarantee: a tester who opts in on day 4 still finishes after the cohort ends.
Lock your $15.00 stake and join a forming cohort. When it is full, the install phase opens (8 hours). You install the others, and you can see how many members are ready.
The cohort starts the moment every member has installed at least 13 of the 15 others, or at the deadline if at least 13 apps are verified. Day 1 is not counted for the check-in.
Open 11 of your 15 apps for 30 seconds each, about 5.5 minutes. A missed day costs $1.00; 3 and you are out.
A 1 to 5 rating and a note of at least 20 characters on 3 apps. Owners read them, anonymously, and can ship fixes while testing runs.
A new release must be installed within 24 hours, at most once per app every 3 days. Updates you ship go into your report.
If your testers have stayed opted in, the 14 continuous days are done. The report is ready to read at any time and always says which day it was written.
Stakes are returned to everyone still in. Generate your report, add what you changed because of the feedback, and apply for production in Play Console.
The cost rises as other people start depending on you. Credit has no cash value: you cannot withdraw it or send it to anyone, it only pays stakes.
Live today: each tester rates 3 apps a week with a note of at least 20 characters, and you read them in your closing report. Coming: you pick the features to test, so the notes answer your questions. Activity tracking shows an app was in use, not that a given action was done.
Sample, invented data. Feature requests are not built yet.
A report is only worth pasting into Play Console if it states what the system recorded. These are the checks behind each line.
Every cohort ends with one document per app, built from what was recorded: no tester names, no invented numbers. You add what you changed because of the feedback.
The example has the same structure as the real report. The app, the numbers and the quotes are made up for this example.
Sample, invented data
Testers joined through TestersGuild, a community where groups of apps test each other. Each tester committed credit that is lost if they stop testing, and had to use their assigned apps every day.
12 testers wrote feedback. Average rating 4.5 out of 5.
Selected feedback:
Importing a CSV from my bank dropped the last row each time. The totals only matched after I added a blank line at the end.
The budget screen is clear, but I could not tell how to change the month. The arrows are very small on my phone.
2 new versions were released during testing:
This report lists what the system recorded. Add what you changed because of the feedback in your own words.
Android usage data and Play Console access need trust. Here is what is true today, and what is still to be written down.
From your phone: which assigned apps are installed, how long each was in the foreground each day, how many separate stretches made it up and the longest one. From you: your Google sign-in, your app’s package name and your feedback notes.
To count a day of use, to refuse installs that are not from the Play Store, and to flag patterns real use does not produce. Flags go to a person to review.
Android’s usage access reports time per app. It does not give us what is on your screen, and we do not use it that way.
Optional connection. One read-only permission (“View app information”) on one app, for our service account. We cannot edit or publish. Remove it any time in Play Console, under Users and permissions.
Owners read feedback anonymously. Exactly what else members can see of each other will be stated in the privacy policy.
Read the full privacy policy and terms. Both are drafts until they are reviewed before launch.