Your app needs sign-in? Give Google Play reviewers a demo mode

One of our apps, a reporting tool for AdMob publishers, was rejected twice in one week. The first rejection said "Login credentials are incorrect", the second "Login credentials are missing". After the second, Google suspended the app for repeated rejections. Nothing was wrong with the app's content. The reviewers simply couldn't get in.

If your app signs users in with their own Google, Microsoft or other OAuth account, this can happen to you too. Here is what we learned.

Why OAuth apps get stuck

Play Console's App access section asks for a username and password the review team can use. That works for apps with their own accounts. It doesn't work when sign-in means "connect your own AdMob account": you can't hand reviewers your personal Google account, and a fresh account has no AdMob data to show.

Google's requirement is clear: reviewers must be able to reach all of the app's functionality. If they can't, the app is rejected, and repeated rejections are treated as repeated policy violations.

The fix: a built-in reviewer demo

We added an Explore review demo button to the sign-in screen. It opens a read-only demo publisher with realistic sample data, without any network sign-in. Our rules for the demo:

• No credentials of any kind: no account, password, one-time code, QR code or purchase.
• Every screen works and shows realistic, non-empty data. An empty demo gets rejected for "limited functionality".
• Clearly labelled as sample data, so it can't be confused with a real account.
• Nothing blocks review: no paywall, no interstitial ad, no biometric prompt.
• Fully isolated from real data, so a later real sign-in starts clean.

Write the App access instructions like a script

In App content > App access, choose "All or some functionality is restricted" and give exact steps, using the button's real label:

No credentials are required.
1. Launch the app.
2. On the sign-in screen, tap "Explore review demo".
3. Use the navigation drawer to open every section.
No account, purchase or code is needed.

Update these instructions with every release that changes the flow. Reviewers follow them literally.

If you're already suspended

A suspended app can't receive updates, so the fix has to reach Google through the appeal. Reply to the appeal email with what caused the rejections, what you changed, and how a reviewer can now test the app. Offer a screen recording. Google may also allow you to publish the fixed app under a new package name and app name. If you take that route, make sure the new listing includes the demo instructions from day one.

The lesson: test your app the way a reviewer will, on a fresh phone with no accounts, before every submission.