Get Started with Live App Testing

This page provides an introduction on how to use Amazon's Live App Testing (LAT) service. Here you can learn how to add testers, manage your tests, and provide instructions to your testers. For an overview of Live App Testing, see Understanding Live App Testing.

To create a live app test through the standard submission process, you must complete all required metadata for your app if you didn't complete it during the app submission workflow. Like app submission, Live App Testing submission uses a multi-step workflow where you enter information across multiple screens. To get started with Live App Testing in less time, you can use the quick create feature, which you set up on one screen.

• Live App Testing dashboard
• Quick create for Live App Testing
• Standard submission for Live App Testing
• Tester management
  • Account level actions
  • LAT level actions
    • Add testers to the LAT
    • Reset in-app items for all testers in the LAT
    • Manage individual testers
    • Tester invitation status
• Managing your test
• Testing new versions of published apps
• Steps for app testers
  • Enable tester notifications for LAT
    • Tester opt-in for LAT emails
  • Test an app from an email invitation
  • Test an app from a push notification
• Submitting your app directly from Live App Testing

Live App Testing dashboard

The Live App Testing dashboard is where you can manage your active tests and see past tests. See the following image to get familiar with the sections of the LAT dashboard. Click the image for a closer view. To access the dashboard, go to the Developer Console, select Apps & Services > My Apps and find your app. Select the menu icon under Actions, and choose Live App Testing.

To get started with LAT, see Quick create or Standard submission.

Quick create for Live App Testing

When you use quick create for Live App Testing, you can start a live app test without entering all the details about your app. To use the standard submission workflow, which requires all details completed, see Standard submission for Live App Testing.

With fewer fields to complete, quick create differs from the standard workflow. In quick create, some metadata fields use a default value. See the following table for an overview of the quick create differences.

After submission, when the status of your test is Test in Progress, you can edit the metadata as you would through the standard process. To change the values, select Edit in the Actions menu next to your active test. The tabbed workflow appears and you can click Edit on a tab to update the fields.

Follow these instructions to submit your app for Live App Testing using quick create:

1. Go to the Developer Console dashboard and sign in with your developer account. Select App List and choose the app you want to set up a live app test on.
2. Select Live App Testing from the menu under your app's name.
3. The Live App Testing dashboard for your app opens. Select Quick create a live app test and proceed through the confirmation dialog.
4. On the quick create screen, upload your binary file and select the supported devices.
5. Complete the remaining required fields. The required fields include App title, App category, Language Support, Content Rating, App Icon, and Export Compliance. To see a closer view of the quick create screen, click the image.

   

   Note: To use accelerated subscriptions or edit additional metadata fields, convert to the standard submission process by selecting switch to full Live App Test on this screen.
6. Add tester groups. Your existing tester groups appear here and you can choose which to add for this live app test. If you need to add new testers, click Tester Management and follow the instructions in step 4 of Standard submission for Live App Testing.
7. Select Submit.

Next, the Amazon Appstore sends emails to your testers with instructions to download your app. For more details, see Steps for app testers.

Standard submission for Live App Testing

To create a live app test using the standard submission workflow, use the following instructions.

1. Go to the Developer Console dashboard and sign in with your developer account. Select App List and choose the app you want to set up Live App Testing on.

2. Select Live App Testing from the menu under your app's name.
   • If this is the first time you are setting up a test for your app, select Create a new live app test and choose OK on the confirmation dialog. Next, select Go to Dashboard.
   • If you have previously set up a test for your app, when you select Live App Testing you are taken to the Live App Testing dashboard.

3. The Live App Testing dashboard lists active tests for your app. Select Manage testers to add testers.

   

4. On the testers screen, select Add new testers. All testers must be in a group. From this screen, you can choose to add new testers or add existing testers from an existing group.

   • Add New Testers
   • Add Existing Testers
   1. Select the Add new testers radio button.
   2. You can either upload a CSV file or add testers individually. If you use a CSV file, list the testers with the format: E-mail,First name,Last name. If you add testers individually, use the plus button to add more. You can add yourself as a tester to get an invitation email and be notified that the app is available to download and test.
   3. Add the testers to a group by either creating a new group, or adding the testers to an existing group.

      • To create a new group, select Create new tester group. This opens a new field labeled Add new tester group. Click the checkbox for Add new tester group and enter a name for the group in the field.

        

        

      • To add the tester to an existing group, select the groups to which you want the tester added.

        Note: If you chose to add this tester to groups that are associated with other apps, you can choose to add this tester to those apps by selecting "Add testers to all LATs currently associated with the selected group(s)."
   4. You must have the rights to provide the testers' names and email addresses to Amazon and the testers must be at least 18 years old. To confirm this, click the checkbox with this statement and select Add.

   1. Select the Add existing testers radio button.
   2. Under Existing testers, use the radio buttons to choose whether to add entire groups or select specific testers from one or more groups.
   3. After choosing the groups or testers, select Add.

   

5. After adding testers, go to the Live App Testing dashboard to view the active tests.

6. Under Actions, select the menu button with three dots and three lines and then select Submit.

   

You have completed the process. Testers receive two notifications, an email link and, if eligible, a push notification on their device. After submitting your app to Live App Testing, it can take up to several hours before your testers receive their email invitations. See Steps for app testers below for more information.

Tester management

You can handle tester management at the account level or at the LAT level. At the account level, you can manage all testers and tester groups that exist in your account. At the LAT level, you can manage the testers associated within a specific LAT, as well as perform actions for individual testers within that LAT.

Account level actions

To view all tester groups on your account, select Apps & Services > Tester Management from the Developer Console menu. On this screen, you can manage your tester groups at the account level. To view all testers in your account, select View all testers. Actions you can take at the account level include:

• Add testers
• Add groups
• Edit groups (add testers, delete testers, rename group)
• Delete groups (removes the group from it's associated LATs and deletes testers who are not associated with any other group)
• Delete testers from group (if the tester is not associated with any other group, this will delete them from your account)
• Delete testers (when performed from the All testers screen, this will remove them from your account; they will no longer appear in any groups or LATs)

LAT level actions

When you create a live app test, you can manage the testers for that specific LAT. To manage testers at the LAT level, go to your app's Live App Testing dashboard. Actions you can take at the LAT level include:

• Add testers
• Delete testers (removes tester from LAT only, they remain in your account)
• Reset in-app items for all testers in the LAT
• Reset in-app items only for specific testers
• Resend invitation to specific testers

Add testers to the LAT

1. From the Live App Testing dashboard, select Manage testers under the active test. You can also directly select Manage Testers in the sidebar.
2. Select Add new testers and complete the workflow.

Reset in-app items for all testers in the LAT

1. Go to the Live App Testing dashboard for your app to access the active test.
2. Select Reset in-app items, then select which type of in-app item you would like to reset (entitlements or subscriptions).

This action resets in-app items for all testers in the LAT. To reset in-app items for individual testers, see Manage individual testers.

Manage individual testers

You can perform an action for an individual or specific group of testers. Actions include resending the invite, resetting in-app items, or removing the tester from the LAT.

1. Select Manage Testers from your app's sidebar or the Live App Testing dashboard.
2. Select the checkboxes next to the testers you want to manage.

3. Select Choose an action and choose the action you want to perform for the selected testers, as seen in the following image.

   

   Resend invitation. If a tester misplaced or deleted their invite email, you can resend the invitation to them with the Resend Invite option. If you want to resend an invitation to testers that have opted out of Live App Testing emails, they first need to opt back in. Send them the opt-in link found on the Tester Management screen. For details, see Tester opt-in for LAT emails.

   Reset in-app items. The ability to reset in-app purchases can be useful when starting a new test cycle. If you want to reset in-app purchases for only certain testers, select Reset Tester Entitlements or Reset Tester Subscriptions based on the type of item you want to reset for those testers.

   Delete. To remove a specific tester from the live app test, choose Delete. The tester is removed from the tester group only for the live app tests associated with this app. The tester will still be associated with the group in Tester Management.

Tester invitation status

Tester invitation status is displayed on the manage testers screen, as shown in the following image.

The current status of a tester's LAT invitation is indicated by one of the following:

• Delivered - the LAT invitation has been successfully delivered to the tester.
• Failed - the LAT invitation failed to be delivered to the tester.
• Pending - the LAT invitation has not yet been delivered to the tester.
• Expired - the LAT invitation has expired.

Managing your test

After your app is published and live, you can either end your test, or promote your test to an upcoming version.  By promoting your app to an upcoming version, you can make finishing touches such as uploading final screenshots or metadata before going live.

Tests that have ended appear on the Live App Testing dashboard under the Past Tests section.

Testing new versions of published apps

You can test new versions of published apps, by selecting your app in the Amazon Developer Console and clicking Live App Testing, at the top of the screen. The first time you create a test version of a published app, APKs and metadata are copied from the live version to create the test version.

APKs and metadata can then be modified for the test, if necessary. Subsequent test versions are created by copying the APKs and metadata from the most recent test version of the app.

Steps for app testers

App testers can download your test app on their devices and perform user tests.

Participants will receive notifications to perform app testing: an email invitation and a push notification to their device. Follow steps in the sections below to download the test app and perform app testing.

Enable tester notifications for LAT

In order to receive email or push notifications to test apps, you need to enable promotional emails from the Amazon Appstore. Make sure each tester has enabled email notifications. To be eligible for push notifications, testers need to use the same email that is registered to the devices they will use for testing. Have your testers follow these steps:

1. Log in to your Amazon.com account.
2. Go to Your Account > Communication and content > Communication preferences.
3. Go to Email Preferences section and expand Promotional Emails.
4. Make sure Amazon Appstore is selected in this list of promotional emails.
5. Select Update to save changes.

Tester opt-in for LAT emails

When testers first receive their email invitations, they have an option to unsubscribe from LAT communications. Testers who unsubscribe will not receive LAT invites through emails or push notifications. If after unsubscribing, a tester decides they would like to continue receiving LAT invitations, you can share the opt-in link with them. The opt-in link takes them to a web page where they can resubscribe to LAT emails. To get the opt-in link, go to the Tester Management screen, select View all testers, and then click Copy opt-in link.

Test an app from an email invitation

Your testers will receive an email that contains a link to your app's test page with instructions on how to download and install your app on Fire and Android devices.

Testers need to perform the following steps to test your app from an email notification.

1. Click the link for the marketplace that you will be testing:

   

   The link will open the retail page for the app in the specified marketplace.

2. On the app retail page, if the tester has logged into the Amazon Appstore on a supported device, they will see a Get App button with a list of compatible devices.

   

   If the tester hasn't logged into Amazon Appstore on a device yet, or if a particular device is not available in the tester's current marketplace, that device will not appear. If none of the devices that your app targets are available in a given marketplace, the Get App button will be replaced with a Continue button on the app's retail page:

   

3. After selecting Get App, the tester is provided with instructions on how to install the app. Testers can test on as many devices as they have associated with their Amazon account that your app targets.

   Note: If the test app contains any In-App Purchasing (IAP) items, the cost of those items will be reduced to zero cost to the tester at the time of the transaction.

Test an app from a push notification

In addition to the email notification, testers can receive a push notification on their Fire tablets, Fire TVs, and Android devices. Testers are eligible to receive push notifications for LAT if the device is registered to the account used for LAT test email notifications.

When you receive a push notification, tap or select the notification on the device. Testers are directed to the app's test page on the Amazon Appstore, where they can download the app and perform user tests.

Submitting your app directly from Live App Testing

Once you are satisfied with your app testing results, you can directly submit your app to be published to the Amazon Appstore. To directly submit your app:

1. Navigate to your Live App Testing Dashboard page.
2. From the Actions drop-down menu, select Promote to Upcoming.

You will be required to fill out any missing metadata for your app, but you will not need to re-upload your binary file . Amazon will email you when your app is live on the Amazon Appstore.

Last updated: Jan 20, 2023