Troubleshoot app management issues

Here's how to troubleshoot problems you might have with apps in the managed Google Play store. For complete information on using managed Google Play, see the Managed Google Play Help Center.

I can't find the app I want to make available to users, but it is in play.google.com

If the developer of a paid app has not signed up to distribute their app in bulk, then you will not be able to make the app available to users. You should contact the developer directly and ask them to update the app properties in the Google Play Console to make it available for bulk purchasing.

My users can't see an app that I've setup for them to install

It sometimes takes a few hours for changes to app availability to become visible to the user. However, if the app is still not available after a few hours the issue might be one of the following:

• The app is not available in the user's country.

  You can contact the developer directly and ask them to update the app properties in the Google Play Console to make it available in that user's country. Otherwise, you can choose an alternative app that is already available in that country.

• You haven't given this user access to the app.

  You can use the EMM console to grant access to the app.

  Note: If the user has been granted access but the app has not been added to the store layout, the user will find the app when they search for it.

• You haven’t added the app anywhere in the store layout.

  You can use the EMM console to add the app to the store layout to enable your users to browse for the app.

• A new version of the app has become available requiring new permissions

  To approve the new permissions and make the app available to users:

  1. Sign in to managed Google Play.
  2. From the Apps menu, select Updates.
  3. In the New permissions required section, click Accept next to the app you want to approve.

  After you approve the new permission request, users can download the app.

• Another enterprise administrator has unapproved the app in managed Google Play.

  You can return an unapproved app to the approved list to make it available to users:

  1. Sign in to managed Google Play.
  2. From the Apps menu, select My company apps.
  3. Select the app that you want to approve and click Approve.
  4. Click OK.

My users can't install an app that I've setup for them to install (but they can see it)

The user installation can fail for a number of reasons, including the following:

• The app is a private app, and your user is not connected to the correct network. If your organization hosts the APK for this app themselves and only allows downloads from a server accessible on the organization's network or VPN, then the user must connect to the organization's network to install the private app.
• The app is a paid app and all licenses have been used. In this case you need to purchase more licenses to allow the user to install the app.

An app installed by a user is not behaving correctly, what can I do?

If an app is defective, has performance issues, or is not behaving correctly, you can contact the developer to resolve the issue:

1. Tap managed Google Play store .
2. Search for the app by name.
3. Select the app from your search results.
4. Scroll down to the Developer section to find the developer's contact information.

How can I get a partial refund of an app purchase transaction?

In the current version of managed Google Play, you can request a full refund for all licenses purchased in a single transaction, provided that they’re not assigned to users, but you can’t request a refund for part of a transaction. For example, if you purchase 20 licenses in a single transaction, but you use only 8, you can’t request a refund for the remaining 12 licenses.

If you purchase more licenses than you need, you can do the following:

1. Create a new purchase transaction, and buy only the number of licenses you need.
2. Request a full refund for the original transaction (where you purchased more licenses than needed).