Alpha testing of an unpublished version?

Question

Android

Hello,
I wanted to send the apk file to a group of testers even before the publication of the working apk file.
Google group of testers in the dev console has been added, but the system does not provide a link for testing,
instead of it, an indistinct explanation:

Registration for participation in testing
Testers can only access applications published on Google Play. If there is no working version of the APK file yet, only alpha and beta testers can use the application. After you publish the application, a link will appear here, through which you can take part in testing.

Those. first they write that only those published in Google Play can be tested (then it makes sense in tests?), And then they write that it is possible without a working version, but they don’t write how.
How do you test to the first working version?

Answer 1

It hasn't "sucked in" yet... wait 3-4 hours.

Answer 2

usually a link like this https://play.google.com/apps/testing/com.deen812.h...

Answer 3

It's not very comfortable there. I personally scored and use try.crashlytics.com/beta to distribute software to testers.

Answer 4

Google made it annoying, some kind of extra authorization, etc.