CODEWITHSUNDEEP
androidtestinggoogle-play-console
fan Hsu
fan Hsu

Reputation: 31

How to upgrade Android app from official version to test version

I currently use the inner sharing of the play console to release new versions to testers. (They have exactly the same package name and signing key.)

However, the testers responded that they could not upgrade from the official version to the test version, so the app update process could not be tested.

If I install the app first and open the inner sharing link, the play store displays

"A public version of this app is already installed on this device. Uninstall it and try again"

Is there a way to upgrade directly from the official version to the test version in the play store like installing an apk? (not uninstall app)

For example, the internal test of the play console may be possible?

Thanks for your help.

Upvotes: 0

Views: 494

Answers (1)

Shivam Pokhriyal
Shivam Pokhriyal

Reputation: 1104

If you're using internal app sharing https://play.google.com/console/u/0/internal-app-sharing/ to share your app, then it won't work. Internal app sharing is used to quickly share an app with your internal team and testers, it doesn't undergo google play review process. So you can't update your public version using this.

You can however, use different play console tracks for uploading your apps and they will support updates. Here https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/9845334?hl=en is the link for setting up open closed or internal track. When you upload your app to any of these tracks, they'll go through the google review process and once the app is available on playstore, testers can easily update it.

In case you don't want to wait for review, and want to use internal-app-sharing only, then, you can create 2 different versions of your app(different version numbers) and upload both of them to internal-app-sharing. You can then share the 2 links to your testers, and your testers should first install the lower version app and then open up the link of higher version number apk. It'll show the update button.

Edited(Thanks to @pierre): Although it looks like you're uploading artifacts signed with the same key, the Play Console actually re-signs the artifacts in the internal-app-sharing to avoid distributing an app signed with the production key that hasn't gone through their review process.

Upvotes: 2

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