Google Play not updating internal app automatically

Question

I have an app that is released only as an "internal test" on the Google Play store

• When I go to the Google Play store on my phone, the app does not show up at all, under "installed" or "updates" or any other tab

• When I click the 'internal testing' link (the one that Google Play Console says to give to internal testers), it opens Google Play and shows my app's store page. The store page shows the correct latest version, but I'm unable to install it. My only options are "uninstall" and "open" (which opens the currently installed old version of the app)

• I have "enable auto-update" enabled from the Google Play store page

• I've waited two days

• I've made sure the app is closed completely on the phone

As far as I can tell, there's no way to update the app without uninstalling it, which deletes all the app data. How can my testers update the app?

Answer 1

Updating seems to be broken for apps that Google has not reviewed yet, which they don't do for internal apps.

I released the app to closed beta, causing Google to review it, and stopped using "internal releases" altogether. I'm not sure which of the two was the fix, but now auto updates work.

Answer 2

I think I've found a workaround. It's now worked 3 times out of 3, so fingers crossed.

First, uninstall whatever version you have on your device.

Then visit the link provided from Google Play Console on a PC instead, and from there you click the 'If you don’t have the app installed, download it on Google Play.'-link.

Once there, press install, and choose your device.

This way, the latest version of the app is installed on your device, and not some random version; like seems to be the case, using the Play Store on the device.

Not ideal, but it works :)