Help me get Gander onto the Play Store: I need 12 testers

[mokshablr]

Gander has only ever been a sideload. A few people have asked for it on the Play Store and I'd like to put it there, but Google has a requirement I can't meet on my own.

To publish from a personal developer account, Play needs at least 12 people opted into a closed test, continuously, for 14 days before it'll even accept an application for production access. That's the whole reason for this post.

What I'm asking for

Two minutes to set up, then use it instead of whatever you open PDFs with now.

1. Join the group using the same Google account you use on the Play Store: https://groups.google.com/g/gander-testers
2. Open the opt-in link and accept: https://play.google.com/apps/testing/com.arjun.gander
3. Install it, and set it as your default for PDFs. Then just use it for two weeks.

Step 1 is the one that goes wrong. If you join with a different Google account than the one signed into the Play Store on your phone, the opt-in won't apply to you and neither of us will notice. Worth double-checking.

Step 3 matters more than it looks. Google doesn't just count installs any more, it checks testers actually used the app, and names "insufficient tester engagement" as a reason to refuse. Twelve installs sitting untouched fails. Making it your default is the version of helping that costs you nothing ongoing: you meet it whenever someone sends you an attachment, which is how a real user would.

What you get out of it

The Play build is the same app, same signing key, same 8 MB. Nothing's added and nothing phones home; it still holds no permissions and has no internet access. If you already sideload it or use Obtainium, carry on doing exactly that. This doesn't replace either.

If you'd rather actually put it through its paces, even better. v1.9 replaced the PDF engine completely, so that's the part most likely to have something wrong with it. There's a short list in the group of what I'd find most useful.

Being straight with you

This started as a compliance requirement, not a real beta programme, and I'd rather say that than dress it up as exclusive early access.

What I didn't expect is that the requirement pushed it into being a real test anyway. Google wants evidence the app was genuinely used, so the honest version of this ask is "use it for two weeks and tell me what's wrong with it". That's a bigger favour than I thought I was asking. It's also the accurate one.

The useful version is the lazy version, though. Set it as your default, carry on with your life, and if it's any good you won't think about it again. If it isn't, that's what I most want to hear.

If 12 people do this, Gander gets a Play listing and reaches a lot of people who'll never install an APK by hand. Thanks.

[schodge]

I signed up, but whenever it goes from the web download page to the play store app it's just blank.

[mokshablr]

Thanks for the screenshots, they help.

Are you reaching that blank page by tapping "download it on Google Play" from the tester page, or getting there some other way?

And is the Play Store app itself signed in to the same Google account you accepted the invite with? Chrome and the Play Store app often end up on different accounts on the same phone, and when they do you get exactly this: a tester page saying you're in, and a store page with nothing on it. Worth checking the account avatar in the Play Store app rather than assuming.

If they do match, say so and I'll look from my end.