Frequently asked questions

Personal (individual) Play Console developer accounts created after November 13, 2023 must run a closed test before they can publish to production. Google's stated requirement is at least 12 testers opted in to the closed test, continuously, for the last 14 days before you apply for production access. Testers must be opted in — merely being invited doesn't count. Organization accounts are not subject to this requirement.

No, and be suspicious of anyone who says otherwise. After the closed test, you apply for production access and answer questions about your testing; Google evaluates the quality of your test — including whether testers were engaged and whether you iterated on the app. TestersWiz ensures the testing genuinely happened with real humans and gives you evidence of it. The decision remains Google's.

Opted-in testers appear in your Play Console (or your Google Group). Each TestersWiz tester registers the exact Google account they'll opt in with; you check those emails off against your own console before the 14-day clock starts. This closes the classic fraud loop where a 'tester' claims participation you can't verify.

Their missing evidence is visible to you in real time on the campaign's day rail. Every tester owes a screenshot on day 3 and a short written report from day 12; anyone missing either is automatically flagged at confirmation and held for admin review — trade partners included, on exactly the same terms as solo testers. Trades carry extra teeth on top: if one side drops out, ghosts a verification, or cancels their app mid-trade, the trade fails, the other side is released, and the flaky trader takes a strike. 3 strikes in 30 days pauses their trading.

The testing exchange is free and always will be. Listing your app is free and instant, and tester seats are earned by testing back — you propose a trade with another developer, you test their app and they test yours, or you volunteer to test an app with nothing expected in return. That is the whole model, and no part of it is for sale. There is one optional paid membership, which buys tooling around the work — today that is security & policy prompts and readiness export, and the pricing page lists what is planned but not built rather than counting it as included. It buys no seat, no priority, no faster matching and no badge. You never need it, and choosing not to pay changes nothing about how your app gets tested.

No — it's a record of participation, not money. You earn one Credit by completing a test for another developer, and you spend one to admit a volunteer to your own campaign. Credits cannot be bought, sold, transferred, or cashed out; there is no mechanism for any of that and there never will be. Crucially, reciprocal trades cost no Credit at all, so a developer with none can still fill all 12 seats through trades alone. Credit only governs the one path where someone works for nothing in return — volunteering — so that asking for volunteers means having volunteered.

You find another developer's app on the marketplace and propose a swap: you'll test theirs, they test yours. The request lands in their mailbox; when they accept, both of you are enrolled as testers of each other's app at the same moment. Each of you then verifies the other's opt-in in your own Play Console. Because it's a barter, honesty is self-enforcing — there's nothing to gain by faking it, and bailing costs you a strike while releasing the other side.

Both. Trading gets you a guaranteed tester back and is the core of TestersWiz. But if you'd rather just help — or you don't have an app of your own yet — you can volunteer to test any app on the marketplace with nothing expected in return. Either way, completed tests build your public reputation.

Yes — in fact that's the point. Roles are contextual, not exclusive: the same account lists apps and tests other people's. You can't test or trade with your own campaigns, and self-dealing patterns are surfaced on our fraud dashboard.

The clock starts as soon as the developer admits their first verified tester — it doesn't wait for all 12. Each new tester who joins restarts it, so everyone tests the full window together. There is no cap on how many testers a campaign may take: 12 is what Google asks the developer for, and accepting more is simply margin against a drop-out. A campaign stops taking testers when its 14-day window ends, not when it hits a number. A daily job advances the day counter; testers submit a screenshot check-in on day 3 and a short written report from day 12. On day 14 the campaign moves to confirmation. Note that Google's own 14-day window is measured by Google — keep your testers opted in until Google grants production access, not just until our clock ends.

Google requires real testing by real people — that is exactly what TestersWiz provides and verifies. What violates policy is fake engagement: bots, incentivized installs that misrepresent usage, or review manipulation. Our testers are fellow developers testing each other's closed tests; we never touch ratings or reviews, and we require testers to genuinely use the app. That said, compliance with Play policies is ultimately the developer's responsibility — read Google's current guidance before you apply for production access.

While your campaign is still recruiting you can cancel it yourself from the campaign page — applicants and trade partners are released. If a live trade was relying on your app, cancelling counts as backing out and costs you a strike. Once the 14-day clock starts, contact us. Individual tester disputes never auto-resolve — they go to human review.