If you’ve recently created a personal Google Play developer account and are ready to publish your app, you might have encountered the term “12 testers for 14 days policy”. This requirement is introduced by Google Play in November 2023 and aims to improve the quality of apps in the Google Play Store. Here’s a detailed breakdown of what the policy entails and how to navigate it efficiently.
What is Google Play’s 12 Testers for 14 Days Policy
To publish an app on play store, developers must run a closed test with at least 12 testers continuously over 14 days. These testers must opt-in and actively engage with your app. You need to fulfill the below points.
- Have at least 12 testers install your app
- Keep these testers opted-in for 14 continuous days
- This policy will only apply to personal google play console accounts created after 13th November 2023.
You might have got this doubt on how to find 12 testers right ?
Don’t worry, we built a free community of 20,000+ developers where anyone can post their app links and get 12 testers within 24 hours. More than 10,000+ apps were posted and got production access through our community. Just download our app Testers Community and post your app links. You can read more about our community here.
FAQ’s on 12 Testers Policy
You might have got multiple doubts while reading through this article. You are not alone on those questions and you can find answers to most of those questions below.
1. What if any of the testers uninstall the app before 14 days ☹️?
Google states that once a tester opts in, they count toward your 14-day requirement—even if they uninstall the app. You don’t need to worry about uninstalls breaking your closed test.
2. How to opt out of the app testing program?
Testers can only opt out via the testing web link. Visiting the app’s testing page will show an “Opt out” button. Simply uninstalling the app does not opt them out.
3. How many testers are needed to get production access?
The requirement is 12 active testers for 14 consecutive days. Note that having more than 95 testers won’t guarantee approval—Google evaluates many factors beyond tester count. Once you have 12 testers, the 14-day clock starts and you must follow Google’s guidance to request production access.
Read more here: https://testerscommunity.medium.com/google-closed-testing-is-getting-rejected-how-to-solve-it-f0ec3841dc3b
4. How to publish an app on the Play Store without 20 testers 😤?
If you have an organizational Play Console account, or your personal account was created before November 13, 2023, you don’t need any testers. Otherwise, the 12-tester requirement applies.
5. Do we need 12 testers every time we publish a new app?
Yes. The 12-tester-for-14-days policy applies separately to each new app you publish under a personal account.
6. How to get 20 testers for free?
Download the Testers Community app from Google Play (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.testerscommunity) and post your closed-test link—our community will help you find 20 testers at no cost.
7. Do we need to test our app for 14 days continuously?
Testers don’t have to open the app every single day. What matters is that you collect meaningful feedback over the 14-day window and improve the app accordingly.
8. Google Play “12 Testers” vs. “20 Testers” policy?
It’s the same closed-testing policy, but new personal accounts now only require 12 testers instead of 20 to qualify for production access.
9. What is Google Play’s “12 testers for 14 days” policy?
This policy mandates that at least 12 testers must test your app for a minimum of 14 consecutive days before you can apply for production access. It applies only to personal Google Play Console accounts created after November 13, 2023.
10. What are the different testing tracks in Play Console?
- Internal Testing: Quick distribution to a small group (up to 100 testers) for early feedback.
- Closed Testing: Required for production access; needs 12 testers opted in for 14 days.
- Open Testing: Public beta before production; available after closed-testing requirements are met.
- Production: Full app availability on Google Play;
Conclusion
We really feel this is an very important and useful move for individual developers. But this doesn’t mean we will be getting production access very easily. During the previous policy of “20 testers for 14 days”, we have seen apps with more than 80+ testers got production access rejected. So for Google is not about “number of testers”, there are lot of factor google takes into account before giving access to production. You can read this blog to avoid production access rejection.
You can see more discussion about Google Play Console at r/TestersCommunity
