I'm releasing my first Android App and I set its version this way:
versionCode = 1
versionName = "1.0"
I uploaded my bundle to the Google Play Console and started a closed testing, but they encountered an error and now I have to increase the versionCode to update the App, but since it hasn't been released to the public yet, I was wondering if there's a way to stop the testing, remove the version, and start again with versionCode 1.
I know that number is internal and the users won't ever see it, but I'm curious since the Android documentation states that "Typically, you release the first version of your app with versionCode set to 1", and encountering errors during testing must be the norm, so if you have to increase that number every time you update it before release, almost no App would release with versionCode = 1, right?
I've read this and this and it seems there's no workaround but before I started the closed testing, I could discard the version, remove it from App bundle explorer and upload another bundle with the same number, but since the testing started I can't find that option anymore. Will it be available after the testing finishes?
To summarize: should I keep increasing versionCode while keeping versionName at "1.0" until release? Is that what people do? or is there a way to stay at versionCode = 1 until release?
Thank you.
There isn't a way to reuse 1. But it doesn't matter what version you start with. It's just an increasing number, 1 is a convention. Your first version could have come from a random number generator and it would be fine, the only requirement is that the next release is bigger. It is absolutely normal for you to have several prerelase versions that never go to the public and the first public version to be in the teens.
The version name can stay at "1.0". That name has no meaning to the store and can be set by you at any time. ANy number of versions may share the same name.