Your tester joined your Google Group, opened the opt-in link for your closed test, and got "App not available" instead of the Become a tester button.
First, ask the tester one thing: is the Google account that joined the group the same one signed in to Play Store on their phone? On a phone with two accounts this is the most common cause, and the page looks the same either way.
If the account is right, open Play Console, go to Test and release → Testing → Closed testing, open the track, then the Testers tab.
1. Is the track still on an email list?
Only one of Email lists and Google Groups can be on. If you made an email list first and added the group later, the choice is probably still on the list, and joining the group does nothing.
2. Switch to Google Groups
Type the full group address, ending in googlegroups.com. The address has to turn into a chip before Save lights up. If Save stays grey, press Tab.
3. If you use email lists, check the box
A list only counts while its row is ticked. It can hold the right people and show the right count and still do nothing.
4. Read every address back, letter by letter
Nothing warns you while you type. When Play does reject an address, you get one error on Save that doesn't say which row. And if the typo happens to be someone else's real account, it passes every check, so your tester just sees "App not available". With a Google Group, testers type their own address, so this can't happen.
5. Send the change for review
Saving tester settings doesn't apply them. They wait in Publishing overview until you send them for review. This is the most common reason a correct fix seems to change nothing.
6. Send the web link
At the bottom of the Testers tab, under How testers join your test, press Copy link next to Join on the web. That link, starting with play.google.com/apps/testing/, is the opt-in link. Send that one. Your store link is not an opt-in link.
What it looks like when it works
No screen ever says "success", so people keep pressing things again. This is what normal looks like:
The download link can take a few minutes to work. Tell the tester to wait instead of trying again.
Then keep them opted in for 14 days in a row
Play only counts testers who have been
"opted in continuously for the preceding 14 days"
If someone opts out and back in, their count starts over. When you swap tests with someone, agree on the end date up front. Day 15 is the first day they can leave.
Source: Play Console Help — App testing requirements for new personal developer accounts
The full version, including "no build on the track yet": actparty.app/guides/app-not-available.html
ACT Party is a free app where developers test each other's apps to reach the 12 closed-test testers.
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