Approved! Launch Safely With a Staged Rollout

Congratulations: production access approved. Before you send your first release to every user at once, consider a staged rollout. Your closed test proved the app works for a few dozen people. A staged rollout lets you confirm it works for thousands, with an easy way to stop if it doesn't.

What a staged rollout is

Per Google's staged rollout help page, a staged rollout sends your release to only a percentage of users, which you can increase over time. Two details matter:

• The percentage does not increase automatically. You raise it yourself in Play Console.
• You can halt a rollout. Halting and later resuming affects the same set of users.

A sensible first-launch plan

There's no official schedule. This is a cautious plan for a small indie app; adjust it to your user numbers:

For your very first public version, few people are waiting for it, so moving through the stages quickly is fine. The habit matters more for later updates, when a bad release reaches existing users.

What to watch at each stage

• Crashes and ANRs in Play Console's Android vitals.
• New reviews and ratings. Reply quickly, and the people who tested your app can help you prioritise.
• Device spread. Bugs that never appeared in testing often come from devices your testers didn't have.

When to halt

Halt if you see a crash affecting many users, data loss, or a broken core flow. Fix it, upload a new release, and roll that out in stages. Google notes you can even halt a release already at 100% to stop new installs and updates to the affected version.

Keep your closed test track alive after launch: it's the fastest way to try future updates with real people. Your TestersZone listing can switch back to recruiting whenever you need testers for a big update. New here? Start with the 12 testers for 14 days guide.