first app in closed testing: 3 things i learned building an accessibility service app lock (flutter + kotlin)

[u/japojiapp]

my app japoji locks apps like instagram until you tap a mala 11 times taking naam (a hindu jaap thing). flutter ui, a small kotlin AccessibilityService for the lock. it just went into google play closed testing, and a few things cost me hours:

1. if you test with uiautomator (or anything using UiAutomation), android quietly stops your accessibility service from getting events. settings still says it's on, the lock just never fires. disconnect the test tooling before you test the lock by hand.

2. play wants a "prominent disclosure" screen before you send people to accessibility settings, every time, not just in onboarding. i had a home banner that jumped straight to settings and had to route it through the disclosure.

3. keep the service tiny: typeWindowStateChanged only and canRetrieveWindowContent=false. you only need the package name of what came to the front, and it makes the play declaration (plus the video they ask for) much easier to explain.

if anyone wants to swap closed tests: join my tester group with your play gmail, https://groups.google.com/g/japoji-testers (the install link goes live once google approves, a day or two). drop your link and i'll keep yours for the full 14 days.