You ran a closed test, applied for production access, and Google asked you to keep testing. It's frustrating, but it is usually fixable, and Google tells you that a previous attempt doesn't stop you applying again.
According to Google's help page, you may need to continue your closed test if you had fewer than 12 opted-in testers, or if testers didn't engage with your app enough. Those two causes cover most cases.
1. Check your tester count today
Open your closed testing track in Play Console and count testers who are opted in, not just listed. Someone on your email list who never accepted the invitation doesn't count.
You need at least 12 at the moment you apply.
2. Check continuity
Google looks at whether at least 12 testers have been opted in continuously for the preceding 14 days. If a tester opted out and back in, their 14 days start again. If one person left on day 10 and you dropped to 11, your count of qualifying days may be shorter than you think.
The fix is margin: recruit a few more testers than the minimum so one or two drop-outs don't reset your progress.
3. Check engagement
An app that 12 people installed and never opened gives you little to say in the application, which asks what testers did and what feedback they gave. Ask testers to:
- open the app on several different days,
- try the main features, not just the first screen,
- tell you what confused them or broke.
Then act on what they say. The application asks what you changed because of the test.
4. Answer the questions with specifics
When you reapply, use real findings: the bug, the device, the fix, the build number. Our guide to answering the production access questions walks through each section.
Getting testers who stay
You can recruit testers yourself from friends and communities, which costs time rather than money, or use a service. If you use one, check how testers are kept opted in for the full 14 days, and whether you get written feedback you can use in your application.
Bugfed testers stay opted in for the full window and send you what they find. See how it works.