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Launch readiness · executive briefing

alist android
where we stand

A clear read on the Google Play launch: what's ready, what's blocking, and the path to a soft launch this week.

Prepared for
Parham
Date
19 Jun 2026
Target soft launch
Mon–Tue, 22–23 Jun
alist.Confidential · internal

The bottom line

A stakeholder soft launch is achievable this week. The public listing is not, and that's by design, not delay.

  • Internal / closed-test build → Mon–Tue. Real, installable, on the Play internal track.
  • Public production → ~1 week+ after, gated by external approvals we don't control (Google OAuth review, Play Data Safety, legal pages).
  • The engineering work is done and waiting in branches. The job now is review and merge, not new building.

Readiness at a glance

62%
functional parity vs iOS today
92
tickets tracked
54
fixes in branches
5
external gates
alist.02

The numbers

Android is functionally close, but not yet at iOS parity

We audited 204 feature points across 12 product areas against the iOS app, backed by 511 test cases. Here's the spread.

99
At parity
works like iOS
36
Partial
present, incomplete
43
Divergent
behaves differently
25
Missing
not built yet
Present 99 Partial 36 Divergent 43 Missing 25
alist.03

What changed since the audit

The team shipped polish, but the launch blockers are still waiting

What landed on main

  • New icons, fonts and image assets
  • UI polish: skeletons, modals, loading states
  • Feature wiring across history, venues, profile
  • Permissions trimmed (AD_ID / camera / storage removed)

What was NOT touched

  • Production still points at the dev backend
  • Build is an APK; Play needs an app bundle
  • No version code → can't upload to Play
  • OTP codes still logged in plain text

Why this matters: the fixes for every one of these already exist, in review branches that haven't been merged. The blocker isn't building. It's a review-and-merge decision that's been sitting in the queue.

alist.04

Launch blockers today

10 hard blockers: 2 solved, 8 in branches, 5 external gates

BlockerOwnerStatus
Prod points at dev backendeng → mergein branch
APK → app bundle (AAB)eng → mergein branch
Version code / Play uploadeng → mergein branch
Strip OTP / debug logseng → mergein branch
Sign-up screen unreachableeng → mergepartial
Login / OTP keyboard fixeng → mergepartial
Crash reporting (Sentry)eng → mergein branch
Permissions trimmed—done in main

External gates · need you

  • Play Data Safety form + content rating
  • Public privacy & account-deletion URLs (legal/web)
  • Real account-deletion endpoint (backend)
  • Prod API URL confirmation (backend)
  • YouTube OAuth verification · Google review, days to weeks

These don't get faster with more engineers; they're approvals and content. Starting them now is the single biggest lever on the public-launch date.

alist.05

The critical path

Four moves to a credible launch

  1. 1
    Merge the ready fixes into one release branch. We've reviewed every branch and flagged what's clean to merge: one PR, one review session with the dev. (detailed in the engineering review)
  2. 2
    Fix the build config and cut a signed app bundle. Prod API, AAB, version code, log stripping, crash reporting, all in the merge.
  3. 3
    Start the external gates in parallel today. Data Safety, privacy and deletion pages, and YouTube OAuth verification carry long lead times, owned by business, legal and backend.
  4. 4
    Ship to the internal track → QA closed test → promote to production.
alist.06

Two launches, not one

Separate the stakeholder build from the public listing

This week

Internal / closed test

A real, signed build on Google Play's internal track, installable by stakeholders and QA.

  • Needs: merge + build config + signed AAB
  • Does not need: OAuth verification, public legal pages
  • Target: Mon–Tue, 22–23 Jun
~1 week+

Public production listing

The open Play Store listing anyone can download.

  • Gated by Google OAuth review (days–weeks)
  • Needs Data Safety + public legal URLs live
  • Target: ~29 Jun → early Jul, tracks the slowest approval

Decision that moves the public date: does YouTube connect ship in v1? If yes, OAuth verification is on the critical path. If it can wait, the public listing can come sooner.

alist.07

Timeline

From here to the store

19 Jun
Revalidation + branch review complete
20–21 Jun
Merge session with dev · build config · signed AAB
22–23 Jun
Soft launch → Play internal track
24–27 Jun
QA closed test · external gates clearing
~29 Jun+
Public production listing

The one risk to call out: the public listing date is owned by approvals, not code. Every external gate we start today is a day saved later.

alist.08

What we need from you

Three decisions unblock the whole timeline

1 · Green-light the merge

Approve the single merge PR so the dev and I can land the fixes this weekend.

2 · Start the external gates

Assign owners now for Data Safety, the privacy/deletion pages, and the prod backend URL.

3 · Decide on YouTube v1

In or out for launch? It's the difference between a public listing this month or next.

Everything else (the audit, the fixes, the testing, the review) is already done or running automatically.

alist.09