Test the Android App

8-Bit Studio is my retro photo app for Android, and it is in closed testing. If you have an Android phone or tablet, you can join the test and use the finished app for free. This page explains what it does, what you need and the three steps to get it installed.

What you are testing

8-Bit Studio turns a photo into the picture a ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64 or Teletext screen would have shown, keeping each machine's real limits rather than loosely imitating them. Alongside that it:

• Plays a Spectrum screen loading from cassette, with the real tape audio.
• Offers a live camera seen through each machine.
• Includes the same converter as this website.
• Has a sliding-tile puzzle.

This is a real test of a finished app, not an unfinished preview. Nothing is half-built or stubbed out, and you are not being asked to hunt for bugs in something rough. The test exists because Google requires a closed test before an app can be released publicly.

What you need

How to join

Three steps, in this order. The second one will not work until the first has gone through, and the app has no public Google Play page while it is in closed testing, so searching the store for it will not find it.

1. Join the tester group.

   Google needs you in the tester group before it will let you have the app. Open this link and join:

   https://groups.google.com/g/8bit-studio-testers
2. Open the opt-in link and accept.

   This tells Google Play that your account is a tester. Open it on the device you want the app on:

   https://play.google.com/apps/testing/io.rsw.studio8bit
3. Install from Google Play as normal.

   Once you have accepted, the opt-in page gives you a link through to Google Play, and the app installs and updates like any other. It can take a few minutes for Google to recognise a new tester, so if the store says the app is unavailable, wait a little and try again.

What to expect

The test runs for at least fourteen days. That is a Google requirement rather than my choice, and it means staying opted in for a fortnight genuinely matters, even if you only open the app once.

Nothing is required of you after installing. There is no survey, no diary and no set of tasks. Being on the list is the help. If you want to tell me what you think, good or bad, the contact page has an email address and a form, but it is entirely optional.

You can leave at any time from the same opt-in page you used to join, which has a link to stop being a tester. Leaving removes your access to the test build; anything you have already saved on your device stays where it is.

Privacy

Photos are converted on your device and nothing is uploaded. Joining the group does mean Google processes your account and email address, and that I can see tester email addresses in Google Play Console and in the group's member list. I use them only to distribute the test build. The tester recruitment section of the privacy policy sets that out in full, and the mobile app section covers how the app itself handles photos, storage and advertising.