App not updating for alpha testers on google play

Question

My app is being tested using Google Play. I am one of my alpha testers, naturally. I released a new alpha version of the app. I was expecting it to update automatically on my device. But it's not updating. Am I missing a step? According to Google

Once they install the app and opt in, they'll automatically be updated to the new test version.

"Automatic" is not automatic. How long have you waited? Give it 12 hours, at the very minimum, before you start worrying. — Geobits, Jul 19 '13 at 17:14
Wow! 12 hours! I published yesterday some time before 6pm (maybe 4pm). So for sure it has been 12hours. Still I was expecting immediate. — Cote Mounyo, Jul 19 '13 at 17:16
It used to be quite a bit quicker, but the Play Store has grown a lot in the last few years. Also, make sure you have the Play Store version of the app on your device, not the signed-with-debug-key-by-eclipse version. — Geobits, Jul 19 '13 at 17:19
Thanks! since you posted no "response" I had to give each of your comments an upvote and accept the one response. — Cote Mounyo, Jul 19 '13 at 17:21
I had it work like once or twice, but this time I waited well beyond 24 hours and still no update... something must be broken? I had to go manually to the app page on Google Play, with the device, and tap the Update button manually. I'd just like to also point out that using stuff like Crashlytics Beta for alpha/beta distribution will update apps instantaneously. I guess IAP and stuff won't work however unless the app goes through Google Play (?) — Jonny, Aug 13 '15 at 01:30
Open Play Store app > main menu > My apps & games -> every time you open this page it checks for updates. No need to clear cache or anything else. Cheers — Kirill Karmazin, May 27 '20 at 19:04

score 91 · Accepted Answer · edited Jun 17 '14 at 20:36

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Nothing with Google Play is automatic. They have a caching system much like Apple App Store among others. From my experience, once or twice a day the cache system gets flushed and the market gets updated.

At some point after that, the updates get pushed. This can be a multi-day process unfortunately.

edited Jun 17 '14 at 20:36

respectTheCode

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answered Jul 19 '13 at 17:16

Mike Baglio Jr.

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This is disheartening news. I am on a tight schedule with my testers and this wait is not good. – Cote Mounyo Jul 19 '13 at 17:19
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On a tight schedule it might be easier to set up a host and just give them a link where an updated version is kept. – Geobits Jul 19 '13 at 17:20
So eventually my phone got an update. But some of my testers didn't get updated. Do you know why that might be? tagging @Geobits – Cote Mounyo Jul 22 '13 at 20:53
that's due to mainly two factors. 1) Google Play scans each .apk individually looking for malicious apps, and that scans need computational power that is queued 2) server replication ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Replication_(computing) ). It will be great if stuff was instant, by digital-life still not so perfect. – Budius Jul 24 '13 at 14:14
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Force quit *AND* clear the play store cache/data and it will update instantly. – Aeramor Mar 28 '16 at 08:45
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if you need immediate updates to testers, you can use the "Internal Test" track now – pstanton Jun 21 '18 at 01:54
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@pstanton looks like "internal Test" is not immediate. Still takes couple hours to update for me. Shame on you, Google – IliaEremin Nov 28 '19 at 13:33
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"instantly" is a big word for Google.. Force quit -> clear cache -> clear data is not working for me.. still need to wait a couple hours - horrible dev experience, ended up resending apk's via emails.. – Blue Bot Jan 11 '20 at 12:02
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Force quite + Clear data used to do the trick. Not anymore. It takes *hours* for the internal track version to be available on certain phones. This is not acceptable at all. – Jyaif Oct 09 '20 at 17:03
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Clear cache/data didn't work for me nor did waiting 3 days. I used link, that worked. See my other comment to Ricardo's answer for more details, or even better this answer below: https://stackoverflow.com/a/17752339/197141 – arberg Jun 08 '21 at 09:25
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The instruction by @Aeramor really helped a lot. It works! :) – Nagaraj Alagusundaram Jul 21 '21 at 08:09
Right now (for internal testers), I get the update in 30 minutes. But when I open the link of invitation I have to update the page before click on "download it on Google Play". – Oscar Gonzalez Mar 07 '22 at 18:55
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Suggestion from @Aeramor still working today. Just been waiting 45m for my internal test build to hit my device, but as soon as I force closed it, and then cleared the app cache data, the new build is available instantly. – Andrew West Oct 28 '22 at 13:55
@AndrewWest *highfive* – Aeramor Nov 16 '22 at 01:41

score 79 · Answer 2 · answered Jan 17 '16 at 18:48

79

Just had the same problem. My update wasn't available after 48 hours. Tried closing the app store and restarting the phone, which didn't work. Then I went into the phones settings and cleared the play stores cache, which worked immediately, and I could download the latest alpha version.

answered Jan 17 '16 at 18:48

asprotte

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Could you please tell us where is this setting: I didn’t fin it. – DenisGL May 08 '16 at 05:40
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Go Device Settings -> Apps -> All and click on the Play Store App entry. Scroll down and click on Clear Cache. Maybe this might help. However in my case the Update to my Alpha Test version was still not available. – Andrei Herford May 18 '16 at 08:15
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On my Sony Xperia look for "Google Play Store" ie. not together with apps starting with P and the "clear cache" is an option under "Storage". – Benedicte Raae Jul 04 '17 at 10:54
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Worked for me immediately, too! Thanks for this tip! – Lucy Jul 08 '18 at 01:57
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Worked for me! Another way to get into the app settings is holding down on the Play Store app icon, and then tapping "App info", then tapping Storage, then tapping "Clear data". – Uniphonic Feb 19 '21 at 20:21

score 48 · Answer 3 · answered Dec 25 '16 at 05:17

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In addition to the time it takes for app updates to fully process, the Google Play app itself also caches app information, so your users (and you) may be seeing a cached version of your Google Play list.

Here's a trick to force Google Play to fetch the latest version of your app. This works every time for me.

How to reset the Google Play app's cache:

Force close the Google Play app
Open the Settings app
Go to Applications > Application Manager > Google Play Store > Storage
Click Clear Cache

The Google Play app's cache should now be reset. Try finding your app again and see if it shows the latest version.

answered Dec 25 '16 at 05:17

Dan Leveille

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In my version of Android step 3 is "Apps & notifications > See All [57] Apps > Google Play Store > Storage & cache > Clear cache" – Julian K Jul 21 '20 at 17:55
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This is the only thing that worked for me in March 2022! – Graciela Carrillo Mar 04 '22 at 22:19

score 7 · Answer 4 · answered Apr 26 '18 at 18:36

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Google announced on March 2018 the availability of an internal test track.

According to documentation:

You should create an internal test if you want to quickly distribute your app for internal testing and quality assurance checks.

[…]

An internal test can have up to 100 testers per app.

answered Apr 26 '18 at 18:36

Ricardo Stuven

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This is what I tried but the update won't show up on some phones no matter what I do. – Mike Becatti May 03 '18 at 13:54
Same things happens on my side as well, Bloodhound. – Mike May 23 '18 at 09:07
I can't make my release update on the Internal Test track at all. – glenatron Oct 08 '18 at 12:11
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In my case it still need hours for the internal test track user to receive update. I don't what's wrong or maybe it is the way it is. – Arie Agung Oct 26 '18 at 14:12
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Make sure you uninstall the app installed from the non-internal track and reinstall it using the opt-in URL to install the app from the internal track, which has the form `https://play.google.com/apps/internaltest/INTERNAL_APP_ID`. In the docs, read about: "Step 3: Share your opt-in URL with users". – Ricardo Stuven Mar 14 '19 at 14:45
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**up to 100 testers per app** means 100 emails added or 100 devices in total. As I know you can have unlimited devices connected to one email and that is potentially limitless – solaza Jul 23 '19 at 08:28
No amount of clearing cache or waiting (3) days helped me. I had added myself as Internal Track tester. I know Google Play on device recognized it, because it warned I should add different account as I have multiple accounts and app was owned by other account (which I did, didn't help). What worked was using the link Ricardo mentions above. The invite link isn't listed as required but an optional method for inviting, but apparently its sometimes required. App then was shown in play store with title 'Xxx (Internal Beta)'. Ahh, also see https://stackoverflow.com/a/17752339/197141 – arberg Jun 08 '21 at 09:24

score 6 · Answer 5 · answered Jan 12 '19 at 12:33

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reposting @Aeramor comment as an answer as this solved the issue for me.

Force quit AND clear the play store cache/data and it will update instantly

answered Jan 12 '19 at 12:33

Blue Bot

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grazia!!!!!!!!! – aleksandarbos May 17 '23 at 23:32

score 5 · Answer 6 · answered Nov 15 '13 at 11:58

I had a similar issue where my tester was able to see the production version of my app in Play Store but not the new Beta version update even though it was uploaded many hours before and available to other Beta testers as an update.

I had added him as a Beta tester to my Google Group, also added as a test user in my Google Play Store account. The solution was to force stop Play Store then restart it again.

The Beta Update was available as soon as he went back into the play store and searched for the app.

Thanks. That's really useful for forcing Google Play to update its cache (or whatever it is doing). — darrenp, Jan 24 '14 at 11:52

score 5 · Answer 7 · edited Dec 16 '18 at 08:59

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This might work for you:

On your Android phone or tablet, open your Settings (possibly represented by a cog icon), then click on Apps.
At the top of the screen, click the 3 dots in the top right corner to open more options and click show system apps.
Scroll down and tap Download Manager.
Tap Storage Clear Cache and clear data.
Open the Google Play Store and the updated version will be there to download.

edited Dec 16 '18 at 08:59

סטנלי גרונן

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answered Dec 16 '18 at 07:14

josh marsden

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Thanks @josh marsden. That was fun, but didn't solve it for me :) – Jake Stoeffler Dec 19 '18 at 21:52
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This worked for me but I had to go to `App Storage > Google Play Store > Clear Storage & Clear Cache` – Lamour Oct 01 '19 at 17:19

score 4 · Answer 8 · answered May 04 '20 at 03:42

It may take some time to get the update from the android device. For me for "Internal testing", after uploading an update, I was getting it from my device for a while. Once I cleared the cache for "Google playstore" app of my android phone, I got the update immediately.

score 3 · Answer 9 · answered Oct 05 '19 at 16:47

While clearing the Google Play cache resolved one issue for me, I noticed something else strange that may help someone out. When I clicked "About this app" on the app page in the Play Store, the version shown for my app was the previous version number. This made me think that the new version was still unavailable and I just needed to wait. However, after waiting several hours for the new version to appear on the Play Store, I decided to try downloading it anyway, and lo and behold, the latest version had been installed.

I have added new tester to internal test track and he could not see "You are internal tester.." message and option to download test version. Clearning Google Play Store data and cache solved the issue. — Brlja, Jan 07 '20 at 10:23

score 2 · Answer 10 · answered Jul 19 '13 at 17:43

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1 - Upload APK in alpha test
2 - Add your email in one google group or google plus community
3 - copy the link test provided by google play and press accept button

Now just wait until your application became updated.

answered Jul 19 '13 at 17:43

Marcos Vinicius

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So eventually my phone got an update. But some of my testers didn't get updated. Do you know why that might be? – Cote Mounyo Jul 22 '13 at 20:54
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@CoteMounyo maybe some tester doesn't have the google play configured to update yours apps automatic, in this case the tester has to access manually the google play and update your apps. – Marcos Vinicius Jan 08 '14 at 11:28
If you forget to copy that link, it looks like you can never get an alpha link again. EVER. What the hell? – Stevey Apr 30 '17 at 18:31
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@user3562927 Yes you can, it's under the list of allowed participants in the internal test. – Ethan Arnold Sep 11 '19 at 08:52

score 2 · Answer 11 · answered Nov 23 '20 at 08:42

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It tooks 72h for me to update close testers app. Without removing caché or anything, just...waiting 3 long days :(

answered Nov 23 '20 at 08:42

Lotan

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score 2 · Answer 12 · answered May 11 '21 at 14:58

I found that the link I provided to testers was almost immediately going to the newest version. No need to clear cache or any other steps required.

Just check to see the link goes to the new version, then inform testers to click the app link for the update and install it.

fyi, this was for an internal test release with an email list of testers created in play console. Also, the first release had a delay before a link was available, but subsequent releases were available through the link provided to testers very shortly after rollout.

score 1 · Answer 13 · answered Jun 05 '23 at 17:54

In my case of the “Digital Diary” app, I was trying to release new app version with version code of 36 (2.0) while my current version code is 157 (3.0), leading the system to interpret it as a downgrade rather than an update.Consequently, the “Update” option is not shown to existing users.

It is really unfortunate that the play store console doesn't warn the developer about it.

More info: https://medium.com/@boobalaninfo/google-play-doesnt-shows-update-option-to-internal-tester-after-new-internal-5a4e1d43e96a

score 0 · Answer 14 · answered Aug 20 '19 at 16:47

I did all of the above (cleared cache in Google Play and Download Manager), restarted my phone, and then checked for updates in the "My apps & games" located in the settings drop down (3 bars on the left of the search bar when opening Google Play) and there it was, voila.. waiting to be updated. About 5 minutes after I updated my app, I got my email saying my update was live.

score 0 · Answer 15 · answered Feb 11 '20 at 10:43

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Don't forget to pass in WIFI mode to get the update (depending of your settings).

answered Feb 11 '20 at 10:43

Simon

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score 0 · Answer 16 · answered Feb 01 '23 at 11:24

Recently faced this issue and contacted Google Play Developer Support. Here are the instructions. Maybe it could help someone...

Please make sure that the tester email you used must not be opted into multiple testing tracks. Please ensure that your testing group is only enabled in only one testing track.

I recommend you to opt out of all the testing tracks and clear the cache and data for the Play Store app and your device’s download manager. This will clear any settings and temporary information saved to your device. You can still access purchases you’ve made from Google Play, like apps, music, movies, and books. Here's how:

Open your device's main Settings app.

Tap Apps or Application manager (depending on your device, this may be different).

Tap Google Play Store

Tap Storage.

Tap CLEAR CACHE > OK.

Tap CLEAR DATA > OK.

Tap the back arrow to go back to the main menu.

Select Downloads or Download Manager.

Tap CLEAR CACHE > OK.

Tap CLEAR DATA > OK.

Relaunch the app.

IMHO, the most crucial point here is the following:

Please make sure that the tester email you used must not be opted into multiple testing tracks. Please ensure that your testing group is only enabled in only one testing track.

score 0 · Answer 17 · answered Feb 16 '23 at 18:27

Accessing Google Play test app updates

TLDR:

add users to tester list with email matching their device account; internal testing track is fastest; they must opt in using app-specific link on the web; if testers don't see update, have users Force Stop and clear app storage for Google Play Store, then visit your app's listing page in Google Play Store again.

Notes on getting/giving access to beta test updates from Google Play

Internal Testing is the fastest. Other testing tracks can take time to Review and release. You will get an email when the review process is complete.
Testers will need to opt in from an app-specific link; this is emailed out to each user the first time they're eligible to test a release, but it's also available from Play Console (see screenshot below)
Testers must be signed in to their Android device with an email/account matching an entry in your Testers list (e.g. Internal Testers)
Once the Internal Test is released, or the Review process is complete for Closed/Open testing, apps can be updated from the Google Play Store
Google Play Store caches app data, so it may take time for any particular device to show available updates. To see available updates immediately: Long press on Google Play Store, visit App Info screen, Force Stop, visit App Storage screen and clear storage, reopen Google Play Store, and visit app page; you should see any available updates.

Edit testers from Play Console > select app > menu item Testing > [Internal|Closed|Open] Testing

Example instructions for testers:

Visit this link and click the button to opt-in to testing (Example link: https://play.google.com/apps/internaltest/INTERNAL_ID/join?hl=en-US)

Open Google Play Store and search for App Name. Open the app listing.
If you don’t see an option to “update” the app, install a test/beta please Force Quit and Clear Storage for Google Play Store:
Tap and hold on Google Play Store app icon (you may have to swipe up to find it, or it may be in your “recent” bar at the bottom of the screen)
Tap “App info”
Tap “Force Top” option on App Info screen
Tap “Storage & cache” Tap “Clear storage” option
Now visiting Google Play Store again and search for APP NAME
Install/update the beta and open the app again

App not updating for alpha testers on google play

17 Answers17

Accessing Google Play test app updates

TLDR:

Notes on getting/giving access to beta test updates from Google Play

Example instructions for testers:

Linked