It's always valuable to get real-world feedback from users, especially before we release the app. Google Play allows us to distribute preview versions of our app test groups.
To add testers to the Alpha or Beta channels, we have to create a Google group, to which we are going to add all the developers and testers:
- First, we log into Google Groups (https://groups.google.com) with the publisher account credentials, and create a new group using the Create Group button.
- Then, in the create group page, we fill in the fields, ensuring that we make note of the group e-mail address (
[email protected]):
The Create Group page
- A captcha dialog will appear, where we just enter the characters and click on Continue to create the group.
- Now that we have the group created, we can start adding the testers to it. To do this, we click on the Manage link next to the group name.
- When the page opens, we select the Invite members section, enter the testers' and developers' e-mail addresses, and then click on the Send invites button:
The Invite Members page
Now that we have our group of testers, we must assign this group to either the Alpha or the Beta channels by following these steps:
- On either the Alpha Testing or Beta Testing tabs of the APK section, depending on where the app was released to, select the Manage list of testers link:
The link to add the testers group
- In the dialog that appears, enter the e-mail address of the group, click on Add, and then click on Close. We can copy the link at the bottom of the dialog and send it to the testers:
The dialog for adding testers
- All users in the testers group will be able to navigate to the testing URL and download our app.
Being able to release apps to the Alpha and Beta channels is a great way to test our app before we release it to production. However, these channels are not publicly accessible, and if we are working in a team, the testers will not be able to access the app. By default, only the publisher can view the app when it is in Alpha or Beta stage. This is especially limiting if we were adding in-app billing to our app, as the publisher cannot buy any products.
Google Play provides a way to add groups of testers to a specific channel, so that all members of those groups can access the app. There are two types of groups, Google Groups and Google+ Communities.
If we are using Google Groups to organize the testers, we have to create a new Google Group and invite the testers. We can manage Google Groups on the website (https://groups.google.com) using the publisher account credentials.
We assign the new group to either the Alpha or the Beta channel, using the Google Group e-mail address that was created when we created the group. Both the Alpha and Beta channels have a Manage list of testers link that allows us to add the various groups of testers to a specific channel.
In the dialog that we are using to add the groups to the channel, there is a URL that we can send to the testers. This URL will take the tester to a page where they are provided with a download URL, which will install the app on their device.
We can also make use of Google+ Communities (https://plus.google.com/communities) to organize the groups of testers. In a similar manner to creating Google Groups, we can create a community and add the URL to the testers list.