LakiInstalling Laki
Five steps, about three minutes. Do it on the Android phone you'll actually use in the shop, signed in with the Google account you gave me — the test is tied to that account and no other.
Either one works — the first opens the Play Store on your phone, the second opens in a browser. You're already on the tester list, so there's nothing to sign up for.
If you ever see your own bank card or GCash about to be charged, stop and message me. That would mean I've set something up wrong on my side, and I'd rather fix it than have you out ₱299.
Step by step
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Check which Google account you're on
Open the Play Store, tap your photo in the top-right, and make sure it shows the same email you sent me. If it doesn't, switch accounts there first — the invite will simply not appear on any other account.
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Open the link
Join on Android takes you straight to Laki in the Play Store. Join on Web does the same from a browser, if you'd rather start on a computer — it hands you back to your phone at the end.
If it says the app isn't available, give it a few minutes and reopen the Play Store. A newly added tester takes a little while to reach the phone.
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Install it — and keep going past ₱299
You'll see the price rather than an Install button. Tap it. On the payment screen pick the test card, then confirm. The download starts and you'll never be billed.
It's a fair-sized download, so use wifi if you have it.
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Open Laki and set up your shop
Five short questions: where you sell, what you sell, your shop's name, currency and tax, and whether to start with example items. Under a minute.
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Have a look around with sample data first
Settings → Fill with sample data invents three weeks of trading — customers, utang, a delivery, a full drawer — so you can poke at every screen without typing anything in.
When you're ready for real selling, Settings → Erase everything clears it out completely. Do that before your first real sale, or the demo numbers will sit in your books forever.
Updates come to you
I'll be pushing new builds often. When one lands, Laki shows a small banner on the Sell screen — tap Get it and it downloads in the background while you keep selling. It only installs when you tap Restart now, so it will never interrupt you mid-sale.
This only works for the copy installed from Play. If you sideload an APK I sent you directly, the check quietly finds nothing.
While you're testing
- Back up. Profile → Backup & restore writes an encrypted file you can save to Drive or Messenger. Early software; don't make Laki your only record yet.
- Tell me what broke. Blunt is useful, polite is optional. What you were doing, what you expected, what happened.
- Your data stays on your phone. I never see your sales, your customers or your prices. The privacy policy says so and the app is built that way.
If something goes wrong
Play says the app isn't available, or “item not found”
Nearly always the wrong Google account — the test is open to the exact address you gave me and invisible to every other one. Check the account first.
If it's right, wait ten minutes and reopen the Play Store; a newly added tester takes a while to reach the phone. Still hiding after that, send me the exact address you're using and I'll check my list for a typo — I add testers by hand, so a typo is entirely possible.
Play wants to charge my real card
Don't pay. Message me. It means you're not on the tester list yet, or the list hasn't propagated — Google can take a few hours after I add someone.
I can't find the app after installing
It's called Laki, with the dog icon. If it's not on your home screen, look in the app drawer, or search “Laki” in your phone's search.
The app won't install — “not compatible”
Laki needs Android 6 or newer. Tell me your phone model and I'll check. There's no iPhone build yet.
Can I put it on a second phone?
Yes — same Google account, same steps. Your data does not sync between them yet, so treat each phone as its own shop for now.
Anything else, message me: aadan.dev@gmail.com.