Step 5: check the target API level

Google refuses a new app that targets too old an API: since 31 August 2026, API 36 for phone apps. Check targetSdk in build.gradle and enter it in Peerbeta.

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Written By JordanLast updated 1 hour ago

What this step is for

Google Play refuses a new app that targets too old an Android API. Peerbeta checks it before the test starts, so a refused release doesn't cost you days. Since 31 August 2026:

  • phone or tablet apps: API 36;
  • Wear OS and Android Automotive apps: API 35;
  • Android TV and Android XR apps: API 34.

How to do it

  1. Open the build.gradle of your app module and find targetSdk in the defaultConfig block.
  2. In this Peerbeta step, choose what your app is built for, enter that number and click “Check”.
  3. If it's too low, raise targetSdk, test your app on that Android version, publish a new release with a higher version code, then come back.

Common mistakes

  • Mixing up targetSdk and minSdk. The first is the API your app targets; the second, the oldest Android version it accepts.
  • Checking only your source. If a framework generates your Android build, check the value in the built app.
  • Planning a test for Wear OS, Android TV, Android Automotive or Android XR. Peerbeta's testers use phones and tablets, so these tests can't start for now.

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Step 3: take our testers off internal testingA tester enrolled in your app's internal testing doesn't get the closed test. Remove our group, and any list with our testers, from “Internal testing › Testers”.Step 6: publish the closed testing trackThe opt-in link only exists once the track is published. Upload your AAB, roll the release out to the track, send it for review and wait for “Published”.Step 1: create the closed testing trackThe test runs on a closed testing track of your app in the Play Console. Open “Test and release › Testing › Closed testing” and keep one track for the whole test.Step 7: copy the opt-in link and paste it in PeerbetaIn the published track's “Testers” tab, copy the “Join on the web” link, which starts with https://play.google.com/apps/testing/, and paste it in Peerbeta.