Remove app from production and keep testing

Question

Someone from my team accidentally promoted app to production. However, we're using that app explicitly for testing purposes, and want it to be visible for internal testers only.

There are several other questions asking the same thing, but none of them has legit answer.

Accepted answer here suggests creating new app Remove app from production and use beta testing instead

Here it says it's not even possible Android deactivate production apk

So, my question is - is it possible to remove app from production while keeping testing channels available?

Answer 1

I've contacted Google support and they confirm that it's currently unsupported. Here's a copy of their response:

Thanks for contacting Google Play Developer Support!

Regarding your concerns, at this time our system does not support the rollback functions for app which was already published to Production track.

As you stated previously, unpublishing options could not solve your issue, and please noted that Google currently does not support the deletion of apps with downloads from current users, past or inactive users, or users that have downloaded apps for testing purposes.

Consequently, the workaround under this circumstance is to upload a new app with new package only to the Open Beta track for the testers again.

I absolutely understand this is a significant inconvenience.

We hope this helps answer your question. Thanks for your understanding and continued support.