In this guide
If you test with other developers, the feedback you receive is not a store rating. It goes to you, and only to you.
What the platform says
From Google's In-App Review documentation, retrieved 2026-10-21:
- On a closed test track, what a tester submits through the review flow "is shared privately with the app developer."
- With internal app sharing, reviews "can't be submitted"; the button is disabled.
- In-app reviews require the app to be published in the Play Store; for integration tests Google points to internal test tracks and internal app sharing.
I did not find a Google page I could cite for every test track in one statement. I did not read Apple's TestFlight documentation, so this page makes no claim about TestFlight.
What this means for you
- A tester cannot give your test build a public star rating. Test feedback does not move your store average.
- Bugs found in testing cost you nothing publicly.
- You decide what to do with the feedback.
How AppReviewX uses this
Feedback on AppReviewX is private and structured, and goes to the app owner. One feedback written earns one credit. Testers are not asked to leave store reviews, and nothing is traded for them. If an owner wants to show accepted feedback on their app page, that needs the tester's consent and is anonymous: published developer reviews.
For Google Play there are test groups (12 testers, 14 days in a row, for Android apps). That is testing, not rating.
Why it is a feature
Private feedback lets testers be blunt. Public ratings invite politeness or revenge. Blunt is what you want before launch.
What to do with it
Tag the feedback, fix the repeats, and reply to testers where it helps: where to respond.
Google may change its documentation. Not legal advice.
Related: hub, published developer reviews, where to respond.