Re: Are Playstore app updates tested before release?

Jeff Layman <Jeff@invalid.invalid> wrote:

I've been playing Solitaire Klondike ad free on my Xiaomi Redmi Note 10
for almost 3 years. It's an old app and there have been no updates until
today, when one came through (for compatibility with Android 13 IIRC).
I've been on 13 for some time, but thought it might be worth updating
the app in case other changes had been made. So against my better
judgement I installed the update.
 
On running, it locked the phone up with a green screen (the app
background colour - baize green), instead of advancing to the card
layout. Even when working with the previous version the app hadn't, by
design, shown the system buttons at the bottom of the screen. In the end
I had to reboot the phone to get back control. I uninstalled and
reinstalled the app and tried again with the same result. I did find
that after several attempts swiping up on the green screen would show
the system buttons for a few seconds, and I could get back to the
phone's main screen. I've uninstalled the app.
 
I can't believe that this update was properly tested before release,
unless for some reason it's only my phone it doesn't like.

"How to publish an Android App on Google Play Store: A step-by-step
guide"
https://orangesoft.co/blog/how-to-publish-an-android-app-on-google-play-store

Google reviews all app submissions, but I doubt a real person is
involved in every review of every app and every version of an app.  They
likely run a battery of automated tests to check for compliance.

https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/14151465?hl=en

14 opted-in alpha testers isn't that many testers, especially consider
the possible range of support Android versions for an app, and the
custom version of each Android version that phone makers put on their
devices.  All phone makers' custom versions would run into hundreds if
not thousands of testing platforms for just 1 Android version.  14, or
several dozen, is a tiny sampling of all platforms on which the app
might run.

A search at the Play Store on "solitaire klondike"

https://play.google.com/store/search?q=solitaire%20klondike&c=apps

finds several apps with those words in the app name.  You didn't give
the URL to the app in Google's Play Store for anyone else to know which
one you are discussing.

When Google gets a submission from a developer to add a [new version of
an] app to their Play Store, I doubt they run the app on every version
of Android that the developer claims with which their app is compatible
nor run through every phone maker's customized version of every Android
version that has ever been available within the base range of Android
versions the app author claims to support.  I've hit many apps that
claim they support the Android version on my phone, but they don't test
against the custom Android version that my phone maker put on their
phone.  Google probably only tests on the latest 2 major versions of
base Android (what you get on their Pixel phones).

If you have a problem with an app, you might want to add a review to the
app's Play Store page while noting which phone (brand and model) and
which Android version you have on that phone.  Sometimes there is a
viable link to the author's support site or an e-mail where you can also
send bug reports.  Since the app just got updated, likely its author
will be responsive to bug reports.  Doesn't sound like and old app that
has been abandoned by its author.

You might also try a clean[er] reinstall of the app.  With the app still
installed, go into Android settings -> Apps, pick the Solitaire app, and
stop it (to remove from backgrounded running), clear cache, clear data
(you get prompted you'll lose data), uninstall, and then reinstall using
the Play Store app which does various checks on compatibility of an app
to ensure you get the app version that is listed as compatible with your
Android version.  If you're getting an app from other than Google's Play
Store then you'll have to get the latest compatible version from
wherever you originally got the app, or use their updater (I think
Fdroid has its own updater app to find new app versions from their own
app repository).

Note that many app authors incorporate advertising libraries (SDKs) into
their apps, like Google's advertising platform.  They don't do any
coding of the libs.  They use as-is, and divulge themself of any
responsibility regarding the advertising platform's behavior.  They have
no clue how the ad code works.  They barely know how their own app's
code is supposed to work, and nothing of how the ad SDK works.  For
example, some ads may display as fullscreened crap oblitering the nav
buttons at the bottom, and effectively rendering your phone unusable
until you exit the ad screen.  I consider any in-app ads that go
fullscreen to be malware apps as they interfere with the use of YOUR
phone.  Clicking on the "X" button could run a script instead of simply
close the ad screen.  Instead, and if the Back button is still
available, that is a better choice to get rid of the ad screen than
using "X".  If ads are blocked to the app, like using an adblocker proxy
or DNS server, the app may misbehave.  The app author often does no
testing of how they app operates when web-centric content is blocked
from the app.  And Google isn't going to curate an app ran under an
environment that deliberately alters the behavior of the app from how it
was delivered to Google.