Indie devs must be comfortable about Play Retailer app testing change

Earlier than releasing an Android app on the Google Play Retailer, builders are required to check their app with a variety of totally different customers. This turned a requirement late final 12 months when Google carried out a rule that pressured builders to check their apps with a minimal of 20 individuals over a 14 day interval. Loads of indie app builders complained about this rule as they felt that it was an excessive amount of of a burden. Fortuitously, Google has heard these complaints and has quietly relaxed the rule a bit.

In an replace to the help web page outlining Google Play’s app testing necessities, Google says that builders who’ve a private account created after November 13, 2023 should run a closed take a look at of their app with a minimal of 12 testers over a 14 day interval. Beforehand, the web page stated that builders with private accounts needed to run a closed take a look at with a minimal of 20 testers over the identical interval.

Previous:

When you’ve got a newly created private developer account, it’s essential to run a closed take a look at to your app with a minimal of 20 testers who’ve been opted-in for no less than the final 14 days repeatedly.

New:

When you’ve got a newly created private developer account, it’s essential to run a closed take a look at to your app with a minimal of 12 testers who’ve been opted-in for no less than the final 14 days repeatedly.

Whereas this coverage change won’t seem to be an enormous deal at first look, it might lead to extra indie app builders getting their apps revealed on Google Play. Many indie app builders work solo and will solely have a couple of mates or relations they will ask to check their app. Beforehand, this restricted pool of testers might be a major hurdle attributable to Google’s app testing necessities.

Indie app builders who don’t personally know sufficient individuals to check their app must flip to social media platforms like X or Reddit to search out extra testers. This further step — recruiting testers via social media — at finest delays the launch of an app and at worst discourages the developer from publishing on Google Play, probably main them to decide on a unique platform or abandon the venture altogether.

To be truthful, the concept behind this coverage is sound, because it forces builders to check their app with actual customers and probably discover points earlier than they launch it to the general public. This, in flip, improves the general high quality of the apps accessible on Google Play, as builders usually tend to ship nice Android apps when their apps have been subjected to real-world testing by precise customers over a two-week interval. Nevertheless, forcing builders with private accounts to search out 20 actual testers was a bit an excessive amount of of an ask, and evidently Google now agrees, because it’s lowered the variety of testers wanted to 12.

Builders with enterprise accounts aren’t impacted by this coverage change, as enterprise accounts aren’t topic to the identical app testing requirement in any respect. Signing up for a enterprise account on Google Play requires formally establishing a enterprise, which includes offering Google a D-U-N-S quantity. Google seemingly waived the app testing requirement for enterprise accounts because the barrier to entry to make them is a bit increased, lowering the possibilities that an app revealed will likely be malware.

At Google Play’s scale, it’s onerous to fulfill everybody, so coverage modifications like this can undoubtedly proceed to occur as Google receives suggestions and tries to adapt to new threats. Some indie app builders really feel that Google Play is changing into increasingly more hostile to them, so this transformation ought to little question be welcomed by them. When you’re an indie app developer who felt the previous coverage was an excessive amount of of a burden, tell us what you consider this transformation within the feedback beneath!