Android requires you to upload an APK with billing permissions through developer console to start testing real in app billing. This was straingtforward in the old developer console but in the new one, as soon as you upload an APK, it activates automatically and there is no way to de-activate.
I've seen a related question where they suggest using the old developer console but developer console does not let me use the old console because our app listing has localized content.
Update To be more clear, it lets me switch back to the old console but there is a message near my app saying
This app has localized images and/or videos, please edit in the new Developer Console.
instead of an edit button.
I've seen other people having the same issue without a solution.
Any workaround to be able to upload draft apk through the new developer console ?
In short, you can't. It seems the 'one click publish' is being advertised as a feature. They might eventually add some sort of draft support, but who knows.
Right now, it's available the option to deactivate a current published APK. At least, I was able to do it with the new Google Developer Console, one week ago.
The old developer console is accessible by either going to the top right or navigating to play.google.com/apps/publish?switch_back=1
I contacted Google. Looks like at this state there is nothing to do. Even if I delete localized store content, it wont let me use old console.
They said draft apk support is coming very soon.
Related
I've successfully completed the publishing process for an APK to the Internal Test Track.
But when I try to view the App for download on the Google Play Store using the "VIEW ON GOOGLE PLAY" link in the screenshot below...
...it opens a new window with the following error:
I've also tried using the testers link "download it on Google Play." below...
...but it results in the same message stating the App can't be found.
This is the first time the App has been published and it's being done on the Internal Test Track.
The automated testing picked up a few warning and minor issues but no errors:
Has anyone experienced this issue before? I've contacted Google support for advice but I thought it would be worth trying here too and seeing if anyone had any suggestions on what to try next.
Thanks.
If this is the first time your app is being published on a track, it will take a couple of hours to be processed. This is only a one-time thing though, for future updates, the availability will be immediate on the internal test track.
Once the app is available, you'll also need to follow the opt-in link to be eligible for the download of the app.
Please delete cache and data of google play app on your device, then new updated version will be available
For Android App Bundles (AAB)
On the left menu, select Release > Devices and versions > App bundle
explorer.
Select the artifact filter near the top right of the page.
On the “Choose an artifact” table, select the right arrow on the
artifact you want to view.
Select the Downloads tab.
To share a link to install a specific APK: In the “Internal app
sharing link” section, select Copy shareable link.
As of today, the format of the shareable link:
https://play.google.com/apps/test/<package.name>/<version.number>
For Both APKs and AABs
You can use Internal app sharing instead.
Upload an APK or app bundle on the internal app sharing upload page
Then you can make your app available to anyone by sharing a download link.
Before anyone can download, they need to turn on internal app sharing on their Google Play Store app.
Open the Google Play Store app Google Play.
Tap Menu Menu > Settings.
In the “About” section, tap the Play Store version 7 times.
After the Internal app sharing setting appears, tap the switch to turn on
internal app sharing.
More information can be found here.
Answer for latest play console 2021
I was having same problem but since play console is lot different I didnt found any suitable solution but after trying a bit, this was solution that worked for me.
Play Console > Setup > Internal App Sharing > Email Lists > Make sure your email list is checked and saved.
In uploader and tester section make sure 'Anyone you shared link with can download' is selected.
Thats it.
I also created video on how this problem can be solved:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAiu76l4-7s
I just went through this completely unintuitive process, so let me clear up some myths:
Internal testing does NOT require the app be publicly released
The review process for your app apparently needs to complete before the app is available, as others pointed out, but the Play Console gives no indication this is a prerequisite, and happily states in several places that the App is available to internal testers when it is not. In my case the review took about a month to complete, which is why the "We are experiencing longer than normal review times" message was appearing in the console. This was the initial creation of my app, so I don't know which items-under-review were actually required, as the whole backlog completed at the same time (also with no notice to me).
Even at this point, if I follow the 'join' link on my phone, I still have the same issues the OP had. Clearing Play Store cache and other tricks did nothing. Instead, I had to click it from a PC, follow the prompts, and choose to install to a specific device (which requires the 7-tap developer mode on the device mentioned by others)
My case, hope it help. (Internal testing)
Make sure:
Change your version code for new release.
Add tester emails.
After upload and share link, must do these steps to download:
Open the Google Play Store app Google Play.
Click the Menu icon Menu > Settings.
In the "About" section, tap the Play Store version 7 times.
Once the Internal App Sharing setting appears, tap the switch to enable internal app sharing.
Click Enable.
Hours on this.
In my case the missing step was to enable Managed Google Play, which "Manage your private app and make it available to specific organisations". You don't need to apply an organisation filter, and simply use the internal test tracks.
The setting is found in Setup > Advanced Settings > Managed Google Play
#pierre was right. But that was some time ago, and now that link is not called Opt-in URL, but Join on the web. Just ask your testers to open it before they download the application.
We just had a related issue in this completely horrible process - documenting here because it burned a week for us.
Problem: We got approved on closed and production 2x but no one could see our app in internal, closed, public test tracks or on the public store.
How it happens: As far as I can tell when you start a Closed Test Track an organization gets auto-selected on Setup > Advanced Settings > Managed By Google and/or you can (irreparably!) set one yourself on the Closed Testing page. This means that only people in your org will be able to access it.
Solution: If Internal/Closed/Production is not showing up the solution may be: In Setup > Advanced Settings > Managed By Google you UN-check your org for it to be publicly available, as in the helpful alert in the screenshot below.
Duh. Worst default ever? :)
For me, i clicked the link play console gave me on phone
https://play.google.com/apps/internaltest/***********
But it didn't work, i clicked the link with pc, got the play store link, and clicked link on phone, and it worked !
For me, the issue was that of the version X.Y.Z, Google Play Console uses Z to determine the newest version of the app. So if, for example, the previous version of your app was 1.70.170, then 2.1.171 would work, but 2.1.1 would not show up for you as it would be considered older than 1.70.170.
Once you got the application from google play store link will be available on internal testing page inside.
Click on Internal testing
Step 1: Click copy link and use any browser
Step 2: after that it will show Accept Invitation already you are opened your added mail id from the google play developer console for internal tester on this application.
Step 3:
finally click on download it on google play
thats all. enjoy your coding...
Go to settings --> then internal app testing and add your testers there. Follow the instructions in this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAiu76l4-7s
I was running an app in the Google Play in Beta and then just recently "released to production" using a higher version APK.
However when I go to Google Play listing my app still says AppName (Beta)? I thought it just needed some time to propagate but I made the change 2 days ago and its still showing like that.
Anyone know how to correct this?
It actually looks like its some kind of caching issue or user specific issue.
I decided to open Google Play store from a different browser (where I was not logged in) and the app was no longer showing as Beta.
Only when viewing Play store from my logged in account and from my phone is it showing (BETA).
So for any non-beta testers viewing it for the first time on their phone or via browser I assume its going to show up correctly, which is good enough for me.
It seems that this is from the user's account side. If one specific account subscribed to a beta program it will show as (BETA) on the Google Play Store.
So to remove the beta the user just has to do the following:
Open the Google Play Store on the device.
Find the app he wants to leave.
Tap the app to open the detail page for the app.
Scroll down to find the section on beta testing.
Tap Leave.
Note: I Didn't find out a way to remove this on the Play Console but google i think they should have an option to do it.
I face the same issues . I have published my app two days before but it still showing that App Name(Beta). This happens due to only if you are the beta tester of that app .When you see it from another browser or other google play store ,It won't show beta.But keep in mind that you aren't a member of tester for this app.
To resolve this problem do these things:-
Please remove your account as beta tester from that app.
Or, Log out from device.Again login google account in your device .
3) Clear cache of Google Play Store.
Perhaps ,this will help you. Thanks..
It is due to Play Store caching , clear data of the Play Store , you will no longer see it as beta, plus make sure you are trying to see app on play store from a non-beta account.
It's simple l, just delete the tester list from testers in internal testing console, then clear cache from playstore, your good to go.
I had this problem and it turned out to simply be that I was logged in to google with an account that had signed up as a beta tester. I logged out of google and then the page displayed correctly. So it seems to me the (beta) is related to your account and not the software release which is sub-optimal coding on the part of google.
It showing AppName(Beta) just because of you are a Beta tester for that app.
There are two options:
Logout from browser and then check(different user that should not be a tester)
copy URL and open in in different browser
In my case I had to clear storage of play store application on my device.
Somehow I could not update, my test track was paused, there was no way to opt out so out of desperate I just cleared storage of play store app and done, everything back in normal. PS: Yeah I also deleted app and reinstalled before that maybe this was not necessary, don't know.
Although #Ruben Miquelino's answer is correct, it is not practical to ask every user (users already on beta) to go to a link and remove beta.
I have found a better solution for this problem, If we deactivate the beta track and change target countries(only for beta) then those users will automatically be moved to Production (after Google's review process & Play store cache expiry)
I uploaded a new version of my app of the google play store, now I can't find it there using any of the following methods:
Searching for its name.
Searching by its package.
Seaching on my pc and on my device.
The apps by the same developer its doesn't show in that list.
On the console it says published, and even can click the link to view in google store, and I do see it there. Buts its not in any of the searchs above?
Why is this?
Thanks
UPDATE - I don't have an answer to this. I have the link for the app on the store, but any search doesn't work, not on a device and not on a pc. I have waited over 2 weeks, and its still not there. Also, its not showing with the other apps I made, from the same developer. Thanks!
The answer is that the app was only distributed to one country. Now I selected all countries, its shows up in the search.
The most likely reason is that the update is still in progress. An app listing can sometimes take a few hours to work it's way through the submission process and out to all of the Google servers.
Also, if you changed any of the device requirements (which may be implied by the permissions requested), it could exclude your device(s) from seeing the app. The easiest way to check for this is to do the Google Play search via a web browser. If any/all your devices are excluded, the listing will say so near the top of the page.
I had same issue. I think in my case I didn't choose option "Contains ads: Yes, it has ads" in my play console afrer updating app with added ads.
To change that in Play Console go to your app; then "Store presence"->"Pricing & distribution" and choose "Yes, it has ads" in "Contains ads" section. In my case it helped immidiately, now I can find app by some keywords.
I have released an Android application to about 5-10 people who are close friends of mine to test it out. I just sent them my .apk file. The problem is, when it crashes (happening often, as I'm early in development) I have no way to look at the logs. If I had released the application to Google Play, they would be able to press "Send Error Report" which I could then see in my Google Play developer account. Is there any easy way to get logs from these crashes in this sort of third party application development environment?
The only thing I can think of is to have them install aLogcat and just send me a log. But that's pretty cumbersome, obviously. Especially for a non tech user.
Use Application Crash Report for Android http://acra.ch/
Since the Google Docs legacy forms is completly discontinued http://www.bugsense.com/docs/android#acra seems to be a good option as backend.
You could publish it on the play store, and Unpublish it. This way you could use the same functionality, while no having unwanted people stumble upon it.
When you feel the app is ready, you could simply publish it again.
EDIT:
Note that Unpublish will not remove your app from the store, it will simply make it not visible, but with a URL you can still browse to the play store listing.
EDIT 2:
To view the Unpublished app, append your package id:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=<package_id>
I am working on learning in-app billing but I am having a problem with the google's in-app billing example, the Dungeon one.
I have already set up the application, added my public key, and changed the API_VERSION to 1 in the makeRequestBundle().
I have already exported and signed the application and uploaded it onto Google Play and saved it as a draft with a few pictures and activated the apk. I also added both the sword_001 and potion_001 as published in-app purchases!
Next I installed the signed app onto my phone but when I try to purchase either the sword or the potion I get an Item unavailable error
The item you requested is not available for purchase.
I even tried on a different device to make sure it wasn't because developer's can't purchase their own products, and I get the same message on both devices.
What have I missed?
Check your versionCode. It can't be higher than the last published/unpublished version in any of your distribution channels (prod/beta/alpha).
In app billing seems fraught with pitfalls, but this is what I found that affected availability of items for purchase and also suitability of application:
My code for what it was worth was strongly based on the Google Android demo, but I stripped out a lot of the complexity. I have a feeling that having got it to work a better result would be produced by writing it all again from scratch.
I got the static test product ids going first.
Despite what the documentation says, it seemed to me that the purchase item(s) must be published, even when using a test account. Mine didn't work when they weren't, anyway, and I waited quite a long time to see if they would start to work as others have suggested - they still didn't.
You (I anyway) can't publish a purchase item without publishing the app, so what I did was upload and publish the app, create the purchase items, publish them (big button at the bottom of the page), then unpublish the app again. This seems to leave the items published.
The app must be signed in the usual way (I did this by exporting from Eclipse) before uploading, but what isn't so obvious is that the app you load to the mobile MUST also be signed in the same way - ie a (debug signed) version loaded to the device by Eclipse - run or debug - isn't going to work.
They also both need the same version number, I think. Not 100% sure. If so that would unfortunately kind of imply that customers with old versions installed can't purchase anything without upgrading.
When the app is uploaded to Google, it can take several hours before it becomes available and you get all the right responses for the in-app billing. I find 1-2 hours typically.
I suspect the other comments on this subject about whether you use a gmail or googlemail test account might be red herrings, but for what it is worth, my test account is gmail.
I did come across a useful little note on the internet somewhere about how to change your primary account on the mobile without having to do a hard reset (and consequently losing everything), but unfortunately I haven't managed to find it again.
What I did find though is that one can have several google accounts on the mobile, and then select the one to be used by Google Play.
Hope this helps somebody. I have to say its a pretty complicated system, with not many switten down answers, and I nearly gave up on it.
If your app are on closed alpha testing, you have to sign in with your test account to Opt-in URL; https://play.google.com/apps/testing/{your.app.namespace}
My experience on this error is:
Make sure to upload the signed APK to developer console.
Make sure to install the signed APK on your device not launch the app in the debugger.
Make sure to create a test account in your developer console.
Make sure to sign in your device with your test account.
Make sure to create in app billing in your developer console and finally activate the item from the console!!! (this is the one that got me after fully following google's tutorial)
It's no longer sufficient to just upload an unpublished draft apk to test in-app billing. What you need to do is upload an apk to the alpha or beta apk section on the Developer Console. Then, you need to publish it. If you also have a draft apk in the Production APK section, be sure to delete it before you publish. Otherwise it will be available to everyone.
Publishing an alpha or beta apk makes that apk available to only those testers that you specify/allow.
Here is Google's documentation on this:
https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/6062777?rd=1
Well I found a solution to my problem. I wasn't able to get Google's in app purchasing example to work but I was able to get this InApp Billing Tutorial to work using the steps I mentioned in my original post.
If nothing else this may be helpful to someone to see all of the steps that need to be done to test one of the in-app billing examples.
Also had this problem for a couple of days and searched around a lot. I found this guy who said deleting the app and then reuploading fixed his problem, and that actually worked for me aswell.
Try that, delete your app from the developer console entirely. And reuppload a new signed apk and set it up all over again
Publishing the app did the trick for me(and leaving it published (!)). I had to wait a bit for Google to update their database as well, as mentioned elsewhere, changes on Google Play are not immediate.
Anecdotal Supplement: If you have an existing app in the portal already and you want to test a signed version, but not upload it into the portal for distribution. Do the normal steps to build a signed version BUT use your latest version code that is uploaded into the portal. You will will be able to do a quick and dirty test of purchasing (you can't upload this version on the Google Play portal, but it's a means to an end for a localized test (or even as a way to allow side loaded distributed versions/flavors that use Google Play for billing legitimately.)
3:)
Check if your device have more than one account then remove other accounts and keep the account you have entered in play console then it will be solved.