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I recently made an Instant app and uploaded it on Google Play Console as pre-release.

Now, I want to test if it is working or not. As most of the smartphones currently do not have Instant apps facility. How can I test if it is working or not?

Sandeep Chauhan
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  • What country are you in? I'm facing a similar issue and suspect that the reason has to do with my country(Brazil) not being in this list: https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/7381861#production – Mateus Gondim Jun 08 '17 at 14:28
  • also, are you able to open other published instant apps like BuzzFeed, Wish, NY Times Crossword, etc? – Mateus Gondim Jun 08 '17 at 14:29
  • I tried most of the instant apps but they all are taking me to the browser. Again, I tried all this on emulators- Nexus 5,5X,6,6P and Pixel with API 23,24 and 25. – Sandeep Chauhan Jun 08 '17 at 15:04
  • Yeah, I'm getting the same here. Is your country in the list I posted above? – Mateus Gondim Jun 08 '17 at 15:11
  • What is the OS in your simulator? – user4057066 Jun 08 '17 at 15:23
  • @MateusGondim I m from India, which is not in the list you posted above. But I don't think emulator depends on the country. If that's the case then I think I just have to wait. – Sandeep Chauhan Jun 08 '17 at 17:49
  • @MateusGondim Do you know when will they become available in India and countries which are not on the list? And is there any way I can still test it in India? – Sandeep Chauhan Jun 28 '17 at 15:32
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    @SandeepChauhan instant apps are now available to 141 countries, including India. – Mateus Gondim Aug 04 '17 at 13:09

2 Answers2

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First of all you are gonna need to use a device or an emulator with at least MarshMallow(6.0) and enable it (https://support.google.com/googleplay/answer/7240211?hl=en-GB).

Then you need to run the url that you set using the App Links Assistant. For example, using Slack(its like a whatsapp/telegram for the office) I m sending that url as a message and when I click on it in the device/emulator it runs the InstantApp.

In the Google IO 2016 they did a sample using a messaging app (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5GUTXmGUz8)

I hope this helps.

Cheers ;)

Pd: I tried the same using gmail and sending an email just with the url but it didnt work

Carlos Cabello Ruiz
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  • Well, I tried this on an emulator but didn't work. Then I tried the Instant apps already in the market, they didn't work too. The link still opens in the browser. So I am not finding any device where I can test this.....even the ones already in the market. And I think the emulator should have play store installed but the inbuilt AVD of the android studio does not have play store installed. – Sandeep Chauhan Jun 08 '17 at 11:16
  • Did you add an account on emulator? It is required. When you try to run on emulator, any errros in the log? Will need to see logcat to investigate – Anirudh Jun 08 '17 at 13:12
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    If you go to the AVD Manager of Android Studio and click on create Virtual Device, in the list of devices that appear there is a column that says if it has PlayStore installed. Did you try with some of them, for example the Nexus 5X or Nexus 5 – Carlos Cabello Ruiz Jun 08 '17 at 13:15
  • The instant app works fine when I try to run it from the Android Studio. But when I try to click the URL from the message app, the link opens in the browser. I tried most of the emulators - Nexus 5,5X,6,6p and Pixel. – Sandeep Chauhan Jun 08 '17 at 13:37
  • Also, I tried running my instant app on Pixel running android 7.1.2 using Android Studio and It shows a different kind of error - DevMan error: Unable to connect to Google Play Service. – Sandeep Chauhan Jun 08 '17 at 15:06
  • @CarlosCabelloRuiz what country are you in? I suspect location is having an impact. – Mateus Gondim Jun 08 '17 at 17:58
  • Published instant apps cannot be run from emulators at this time. This is a known issue and we're working on it (see https://stackoverflow.com/a/44399770/230779). – Troy Jun 14 '17 at 23:21
  • @Troy the problem is how to test your Instant app after uploading to Google Play. – Sandeep Chauhan Jun 16 '17 at 10:04
  • @SandeepChauhan my comment was in response to this answer, which is misleading. The answer says to try it on an emulator - if you do that you'll be frustrated because it won't work. If you're trying to run a published app, DevMan shouldn't factor into the equation at all. Just visit the app URL in a browser after opting in to Instant Apps. It may take up to a day for your device to get new domain filters and realize that URL maps to an instant app. – Troy Jun 19 '17 at 18:14
  • @Troy I didn't get your last line. "It may take up to a day for your device to get new domain filters and realise that URL maps to an instant app" - Which device emulator or a real device? Do you mean if I try whole day then I can run a published Instant app on an emulator? – Sandeep Chauhan Jun 20 '17 at 06:26
  • Instant Apps currently checks a cache of known Instant App domains when resolving a URL. This cache is stored on your device and refreshed on a schedule. If you have just set up a new *physical device* or just published an app, it might be up to 24 hours before you see that on your physical device. You will probably not be able to run a published instant app on an emulator at all, it's best to stick to using an actual phone. – Troy Jun 26 '17 at 17:51
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You can just configure the deep link through App Link Assistant and afterwards change Edit Configuration at run dialog , filling the URL field with the URL you want to test.

I didn't have any problems to test in real devices above 6 , but I think the problems with DevManager in emulator can be due to lack of Google Play Service in AVD image.

william gouvea
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