Is it allowed to run an Android app beta test on the Google Play Store?

Question

I'm planning to start a beta test for a new Android app.
Is it allowed to upload a beta version of an app to Google Play with the purpose to remove it after 3 weeks? The user would be informed that the app is only available for 3 weeks, it would be a free download and marked as Beta .

Answer 1

Google Play Store's Alpha/Beta testing feature allows you to upload APKs whose access is limited to a group of testers. These testers should be a part of a Google Group or a Google+ community.

But what you are trying to do is not for testing purpose, is it? For you, it would be more suitable to upload a free (beta) APK. After 3 weeks, unpublish the app from Play Store and then reupload a premium version. Remember that once you publish an app as Free you cannot make it Paid. So you will have to upload the premium version with a different package name.

Answer 2

You can do this, but are you planning on charging for the app in the final production release?

If so, you won't be able to charge for the app under the same Google Play Store product listing. You'll have to create a new Play Store listing with a new package name for your APK (this is a Google Play Store restriction: you can't go from free to paid with the same APK).

See this or this for info on how alpha/beta works and how price changes apply to alpha/beta. Basically:

Any change you make to your app's Pricing and Distribution page affects Alpha, Beta, Production, and any future versions; this also applies to setting the price of your app (Free or Paid).

If you still want to use the same product listing (and not have a different package from beta to prod), then you'll have to release the beta version with a price, and then just refund all the beta purchases from your Google Wallet account. This could make your beta testers a bit wary though, so just doing different packages might be your best option.