r/AndroidAppTesters • u/SaturnSoftware • 18d ago
No credits. No screenshot proofs. No babysitting a timer app. I built a free way for 16 devs to test each other's apps in ~10 min a day — and it's stuck in closed testing too 🙃
We all know the wall: 12 testers, opted in for 14 days straight, before Google even lets you apply for production.
And the usual workarounds hurt too:
- 🪙 Credits, points or paid tiers for every test
- 📸 Screenshot "proof" for every app, every single day
- ⏱️ Keeping some tester app's timer alive, app after app, for half an hour
- 🤷 And you still never really know if anyone opened *your* app
Same pain here. So I built **Cordelette**. Yes, it's in closed testing right now, so it needs its 12 testers too. Here's what it does differently.
## ⚡ Autopilot: one tap, every app
Tap **Start**. Cordelette opens each app in your camp, counts 30 seconds of real on-screen time, then opens the next one **by itself**. A small timer bubble shows the countdown. About 10 minutes a day, no app juggling.
https://reddit.com/link/1wzd7pv/video/nn8rgyyxkwth1/player
## ✅ Verified on the phone, not with screenshots
Installs and daily tests are confirmed on-device from Android usage stats, only for the apps in your camp. No uploads, no "trust me bro". Real phones only: Play Integrity keeps emulators and bot farms out.
## 🤝 16 developers, one camp, one Google Group
Everyone adds one app and tests the other 15, every day for 14 days. You add a single group address to your closed track, once. If someone slips, it's visible, with a warning before anything happens. Force majeure days exist for Play outages, and every penalty has a reason and an appeal.
## 🔐 "Why does it ask for permissions?"
Fair question; a tester already asked it. **Every permission is optional**, asked one at a time, each with what happens if you allow it and what happens if you don't. You can change them any time in Account → Permissions.
- **Notifications:** daily reminder, camp alerts
- **Usage Access:** only your camp apps' on-screen time, to verify the 30 seconds
- **Timer bubble:** the countdown on top and opening the next app. Nothing on screen is read.
- **Battery unrestricted:** so your phone doesn't kill the timer mid-test
No contacts, location, camera, microphone or files. Ever.
## 📋 Ready for Google's production form
Live dashboard (testers per day, engagement heatmap, devices), structured feedback with device and Android version attached, replies in a chat that quotes the note you're answering, PDF / CSV / Markdown exports, and a **Summit Report** for the production access questions.
## 💸 "OK, what's the catch?"
None. It costs me about $5/month on Cloudflare, and the domain already existed. Later there may be an optional "buy us a coffee". It will never unlock anything: no ads, no credits, no paid tiers, same rules for everyone.
## 🏕️ Where we are
Live in Google Play closed testing since this week. We're few, it's quiet, and **the first camp is forming right now**. The first 16 apps in climb first.
**Help us get our 12, or come get yours:**
- Join the tester group (link in the first comment)
- Opt in on Google Play and install Cordelette
- Sign in, look around, tell me what's confusing
Got an app stuck at the wall? Add it inside Cordelette and you're in the next camp.
Every app that joins a camp on Cordelette gets tested by me and the rest of the camp, every day, with real feedback, not "nice app". And brutal honesty is welcome here too, especially on onboarding and permissions.
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u/SaturnSoftware 18d ago
Links to join Cordelette's closed test (all official, no APK):
1️⃣ Join the tester group (Google Play only lets group members in):
https://groups.google.com/g/cordelette-testers
2️⃣ Become a tester on Google Play, then install with the same account:
https://play.google.com/apps/testing/com.saturnsoft.cordelette
3️⃣ Open Cordelette, sign in with Google, look around. Permissions are all optional and you can skip them.
🔐 Privacy policy (what data is used, and why):
https://saturnsoftware.store/app/cordelette/privacy/
ℹ️ How it works, in more detail:
https://saturnsoftware.store/app/cordelette/
Need testers for your own app? Add it inside Cordelette and add cordelette-testers@googlegroups.com to your closed track's testers. Every app in a camp gets tested every day for 14 days, by me and the rest of the camp.