How to answer Google Play's production access questions

Once 12 testers have been opted in to your closed test for 14 days, you can apply for production access: in Play Console, open the Dashboard and choose Apply for production. The application has three parts. Google says the answers about your app aren't shown publicly, and review usually takes seven days or less.

The questions below are the ones on Google's help page. Answer them honestly and specifically: vague answers are the easiest way to be asked for more testing.

1. About your closed test

• How easy was it to recruit testers? Say how you found them, for example through a tester community, your network or your users, and how you added them to your closed test.
• Did testers use all the features? Name the main features and say which ones were used. If some weren't, say why.
• Did their usage match how you expect the app to be used in production? Describe the differences too, for example that testers used it for a shorter time than real users will.
• A summary of the feedback, and how you collected it. This is where written reports pay off: list the main problems and the main praise, and say how you collected it (reports, a form, email).

2. About your app or game

• Who is it for? Your target audience, in a sentence or two.
• What value does it give? For an app, how it helps its users; for a game, what makes it different.
• How many installs do you expect in the first year? Pick a realistic range.

3. About your production readiness

• What did you change because of the closed test? Concrete fixes and improvements, ideally tied to the feedback in part 1.
• How did you decide the app is ready? For example: the reported crashes are fixed, the main flows work, testers rated the app well.

Tips before you press Apply

• Keep the closed test running and your testers in it until Google has answered.
• Write your answers in a document first. Each part has a Next button, and leaving the form without saving loses your answers.
• Fix what testers reported before you apply, and say so. "We fixed the login crash three testers found" is much stronger than "we made improvements".
• Run a pre-launch report in Play Console to catch problems testers didn't.

Still need testers, or a record of what they found? Start with the 12 testers rule.

Need the testers? Beta Family's testers write reports during the 14 days, so you have real feedback to summarize when you apply. See the Google Play Production Pass.