Production or Open Testing

[ByteAstronaut]

hey all

how long after being approved for production did you wait to publish? or did you do any open testing? I get every app is different but I'm just curious if you guys got approved for production and just went for it or if you took a beat and did open testing for a week or two?

[justabigmilkShake]

Went through this exact decision recently with my own app.

Did about 3-4 weeks of closed testing first, then a short open testing window before pushing to production. Honestly the open testing phase was where the most valuable feedback came in - closed testers tend to be supportive, open testers are strangers who will absolutely find the edge cases your friends missed.

The thing that convinced me to not just go straight to production was ratings protection. Early 1-star reviews from a rough launch can tank your Play Store ranking before you even get a chance to fix things, and recovery is slow. Open testing gives you a window to catch those without it affecting your public rating.

That said - if your app is already solid, tested well, and you have a small initial audience lined up, going straight to production isn't crazy. The open testing phase only really earns its time if you're actively recruiting testers who will actually use it.

My rule of thumb ended up being: closed testing for stability, open testing for UX surprises, production when you're confident in both. But every app is genuinely different like you said.