To publish to production, a new personal developer account has this task on the Play Console dashboard: Run your closed test with at least 12 testers, for at least 14 days .

It looks simple, and the countdown moves forward by itself, so many developers assume they just have to wait 14 days. But what Google means by "continuously" is much stricter than that countdown.

Do all 12 testers have to start on the same day? What if someone opts out halfway? Do testers have to open the app every day? You'll find different answers online, and some of them contradict each other. This post goes through Google's own wording, point by point.

1. What Google actually says

Start with the original wording. Hover over that task on the dashboard and a tooltip spells it out:

When you apply for production access, at least 12 testers must be opted-in to your closed test.…