I'm working on an Ionic/Cordova cross-platform application and I'm struggling a little bit with the debugging.
Debug can of course be done directly from the browser by running ionic serve and then using the browser developer tools, but some behaviors happen only on real devices.
Adding a detailed guide to do this..
Make sure your android device has Developer mode on, and USB debugging is enabled in the developer settings on your device. You can google to activate this.
Device connected via USB, both system and mobile device connected to same wifi network..Use command
ionic cordova run android -l --external
After app has installed and started up on device, open this link in your chrome browser
chrome://inspect/#devices
If all was done correctly, you will see your device name and app name there with an option to inspect. This will open the chrome developer console exactly similar to the web one.
Now you can debug the app right on the device. Add breakpoints, edit html and see the logs as well.
Reference
Yes, you can use Chrome and Safari DevTools to connect to your device and debug the HTML/JS/CSS, as long as you don't build a release version (cordova build android ---release). It does take some initial setup since it's disabled by default.
Or you can use Android Studio or XCode to debug the plugins etc.
Note that you can only debug iOS apps with a Mac (or using Google's iOS WebKit Debug Proxy). Android apps can be debugged from any OS with Chrome (for HTML/JS/CSS) or Android Studio installed.
Official Cordova debugging guide
A simple way could be using logcat, take a look to this answer Debugging a WebView (Ionic) app on Android via logcat.
I am desperately looking, with my friend Google, for the best practical tool to debug on Android - I mean, for real, not with Chrome.
For iOS, Apple came with their Simulator in XCode, which is great because it's replicating the exact behavior of a real device, and you have multiple choices, very handy.
What about Android? Is there something equivalent? Android Studio has been a mess for me, is there something better to advice?
Depends on which environment you're coding in. If you're coding an native app you use Android Studio and it's debugger. If you're coding in React Native you'd use Chrome or React Developer Tools (https://facebook.github.io/react-native/docs/debugging.html), and so forth (Xamarin has its debugger, and the web based options use Chrome I suppose).
AVD (Android Virtual Device) is a part of the Android Studio install and it contains emulators. You can open it without opening Android Studio, if you'd like to. See this thread on how to do it in the terminal (Mac Terminal - How to start Android Virtual Device Manager on CLI?).
For Android we have Android Virtual Device (AVD). You need to ensure Android-Studio is installed. For details creating an AVD refer to this official documentation for step by step guide.
I am new to PhoneGap development and had just picked with the most basic approaches of it.
How can we debug an application developed using PhoneGap. Debugging the application built on phonegap over the browser is easy as we can see the browser console. But things change a lot when the same application is build using phonegap and packaged in the APK file.
I tried some Android Command Line emulator apps, but was not successful to see the logs.
While developing the android application I had used log.v and in phonegap I am using console.log.
How can I see the logs I am making in the application. Is there any way to get the logs for the application built by Phonegap.?
Debugging phonegap is nothing but debugging JS. we had a tough time doing so. but Weinre was very helpful for our (partially) purpose. just install weinre and have the code injected to your device index.html. now you can get what is happening through the device console in the webinspector. hope this helps you...
If you are starting with phonegap you should read this link:
http://cordova.apache.org/docs/en/3.5.0/guide_next_index.md.html#Next%20Steps
It include a lot of useful information about phonegap programming, debugging, etc.
Debugging
Debugging Cordova requires some setup. Unlike a desktop application,
you can't simply open dev tools on your mobile device and start
debugging, luckily there are some great alternatives. Safari Remote
Debugging
The first option is Safari Remote Debugging. This works only on OSX
and only with iOS 6 (and higher). It uses Safari to connect to your
device (or the simulator) and will connect the browser's dev tools to
the Cordova application. You get what you expect from dev tools - DOM
inspection/manipulation, a JavaScript debugger, network inspection,
the console, and more. For more details, see this excellent blog post:
http://moduscreate.com/enable-remote-web-inspector-in-ios-6/
Chrome Remote Debugging
Virtually the same as the Safari version, this works with Android only
but can be used from any desktop operating system. It requires a
minimum of Android 4.4 (KitKat), minimum API level of 19, and Chrome
30+ (on the desktop). Once connected, you get the same Chrome Dev
Tools experience for your mobile applications as you do with your
desktop applications. Even better, the Chrome Dev Tools have a mirror
option that shows your app running on the mobile device. This is more
than just a view - you can scroll and click from dev tools and it
updates on the mobile device. More details on Chrome Remote Debugging
may be found here:
https://developers.google.com/chrome/mobile/docs/debugging
It is possible to use Chrome Dev Tools to inspect iOS apps, through a
WebKit proxy: https://github.com/google/ios-webkit-debug-proxy/
Ripple
Ripple is a desktop based emulator for Cordova projects. Essentially
it lets you run a Cordova application in your desktop application and
fake various Cordova features. For example, it lets you simulate the
accelerometer to test shake events. It fakes the camera API by letting
you select a picture from your hard drive. Ripple lets you focus more
on your custom code rather than worrying about Cordova plugins. You
can find out more about Ripple here:
http://ripple.incubator.apache.org/
Weinre
Weinre creates a local server that can host a remote debug client for
your Cordova applications. After you've installed and started it up,
you copy a line of code into your Cordova application and then restart
it. You can then open a dev tool panel on your desktop to work with
the application. Weinre is not quite as fancy as Chrome and Safari
Remote debugging but has the benefit of working with a much greater
range of operating systems and platforms. More information may be
found here: http://people.apache.org/~pmuellr/weinre/docs/latest/
Other Options
BlackBerry 10 supports debugging as well: Documentation
You can debug using Firefox App Manager as well, see this blog post and this MDN article.
For more examples and explanation of the above debugging tips, see:
http://developer.telerik.com/featured/a-concise-guide-to-remote-debugging-on-ios-android-and-windows-phone/
In Android you can debug your app in eclipse logcat where all javascript and other errors will be shown in console.
But for ios you need to install phonegap console plugin to see errors. install below plugin from url.
https://github.com/apache/cordova-plugin-console
Hope this helps..
Thanks
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I spent the last two days trying to figure out how to debug an HTML5 app I created using Cordova 3.2 and deployed to an Android 2.3 device. All the articles/posts I've seen provide hacks rather than real solutions :( and most of the time, none of them works for my case; debug the css styles and the Angularjs code inside my app..
So far I tested;
debug.phonegap.com
I injected the script to the index.html file then visited the generated URL in debug.phonegap.com but nothing happens; only a blank page.
Weinre
Most of the articles I found point to obsolete Github repository that countain a Jar file.. but it's not found :(
Edge inspect
It works and shows the webpage I'm browsing on the PC inside the mobile.. But the problem is that it uses some other integrated browser (or emulator) than the one that runs phonegap apps; so the results are not accurate.
Chrome emulator
Same as Edge inspect; it doesn't allow to view real web-kit v530 that is shipped with Android 2.3.
The dream solution
The perfect solution would be an extension to Google Chrome (desktop) that enables you to switch the desktop browser to the same one found in Android 2.3 platforms; no emulation no hacks, just the browser itself with web-kit v 530.
Unfortunately such solution doesn't exist :( or I'm wrong?
Any suggestions?
FOR ANDROID:
You only need to enable “USB remote debugger” within your android device and plug with a USB cable. Then open your application in the device. Chrome will detect the remote browser and you can see the console in the same way than you see it when you use Chrome locally.
Use this link: chrome://inspect/#devices in Chrome browser (you'll have to paste it into the nav bar).
If your app crashes in the device you only need to see the console’s log within your browser and see what happens. You also can add functionality, change variables, and override functions in the same way than we do it with our local browser.
Read this article for more information on the steps to take.
This will work ONLY with devices running Android 4.4+.
FOR iOS:
Use Safari for iOS, follow these steps:
1.In your iOS device go to Settings > Safari > Advanced > Web Inspector to enable Web Inspector
2.Open Safari on your iOS device.
3.Connect it to your computer via USB.
4.Open Safari on your computer.
5.In Safari’s menu, go to Develop and, look for your device’s name.
6.Select the tab you want to debug.
NOTICE
This answer is old (January 2014) many new debugging solutions are available since then.
I finally got it working! using weinre and cordova (no Phonegap build) and to save hassle for future devs, who may face the same problem, I made a YouTube tutorial ;)
If you can use an Android 4.4+ device, then you can use Chrome Remote Debugging even on the app's internal WebView. It's a much better debugger than Weinre, but the key is using the recent Android version.
Recent Cordova builds automatically enable this kind of debugging as long as it's a debug build (it's turned off in --release builds).
The best for me is to attach the Chrome debugger.
To do it, run your app in a emulator or device (using $cordova emulate)
then, open Google Chrome and go to chrome://inspect/
You'll see a list with running apps. Your app should be there. Click on "inspect".
A new window will open with developer tools. There you can click on "console" to check for errors
If your app is running Cordova 3.3+ and your device is running Android 4.4+ then you can use Chrome Remote Webview Debugging to debug your Cordova app.
To be able to do that, you must first enable USB debugging on you phone.
Then open the "inspect devices" tab. In Chrome, go to Settings > More tools > Inspect devices.
If you launch your app on your device while it's connected to your computer, The Webview should appear in the devices list. Click on the "Inspect" link of your Webview and a Debug Tool for your Webview should appear.
Here is an article fully explaining how to do it: http://geeklearning.io/apache-cordova-and-remote-debugging-on-android/
Have you tried 'GapDebug'? Its free.
It appears to integrate versions of the Safari Webkit Inspector and Chrome Dev Tools to offer an integrated debugging experience on OS X and Windows.
Another option is Visual Studio, which has prerelease support for debugging Cordova apps:
Unified debugging experience. Cross-platform development often
requires a different tool for debugging each device, emulator, or
simulator. Different tools mean different workflows and lost
productivity every time you switch devices. With Visual Studio, you
can use the same world-class debugging tools for all deployment
targets, including Windows, the Android emulator, attached Android
devices, iOS devices and emulators, and the Apache Ripple emulator.
Now that Microsoft has released Visual Studio Community edition for free, you can give this a try at no cost. You will need to download both Visual Studio, and Visual Studio Tools for Apache Cordova.
As far as I know, the only productive tool for real debugging in Cordova apps for Android platforms from 2.2 to 4.3 is jshybugger. Weinre is an inspector, not a debugger. JsHybugger instruments your code allowing you to debug inside the android WebView.
Just want to add that you can debug android apps using Genymotion. It's WAY faster then the stock android emulator.
You can use Intel XDK IDE to develop and debug on emulator or on real device
I also found Visual Studio 2015 RC tools for cordova very good, with it's ripple emulator
On Android 4.4+ w/SDK installed:
adb logcat chromium:D SystemWebViewClient:D \*:S
Here's the solution using Phonegap Build. Add the following to your config.xml to be able to inspect with Chrome Remote Webview Debugging.
First, make sure your widget tag contains xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
<widget
xmlns="http://www.w3.org/ns/widgets"
xmlns:gap="http://phonegap.com/ns/1.0"
xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
id="me.app.id"
version="1.0.0">
Then add the following
<gap:config-file platform="android" parent="/manifest">
<application android:debuggable="true" />
</gap:config-file>
It works for me on Nexus 5, Phonegap 3.7.0.
<preference name="phonegap-version" value="3.7.0" />
Build the app in Phonegap Build, install the APK, connect the phone to the USB, enable USB debugging on you phone then visit chrome://inspect.
Source:
https://www.genuitec.com/products/gapdebug/learning-center/configuration/
If you use phonegap build, there is an option to enable debug.
For local builds, you can install weinre with npm : https://npmjs.org/package/weinre
And the link to the weinre docs : http://people.apache.org/~pmuellr/weinre/docs/latest/
And there is something called chrome remote debugging but I don't know much about it, you can have a look at Raymond Camden's article : http://www.raymondcamden.com/index.cfm/2014/1/2/Apache-Cordova-33-and-Remote-Debugging-for-Android
Docs for the chrome remote debugging : https://developers.google.com/chrome-developer-tools/docs/remote-debugging
(if I understood correctly you need an android device with chrome as default browser)
Maybe the closest to your dream solution?
You can debug Cordova Android Applications which are installed on your phone remotely from your computer via the USB cable (you can also remotely click on the web application as if you were viewing the web application from your compueter) with "Chrome Remote Debugging". You can also debug web application viewed in the Stock Android browser or Chrome on Android this way.
Enable developer mode on your Android device (go to settings -> about phone -> tap 7x on the build number).
Connect your computer with your phone via USB cable.
Lunch Chrome on your computer and navigate to chrome://inspect and click the "Inspect" button next to the remote device which you want to debug (under the "Devices" tab). OR right click inside Chrome on your computer -> Inspect -> Costumize and control DevTools (3 vertical dots - top right corner of the developer tools) -> More tools -> Remote Devices -> under Devices on the left side, click on your device to which you are connected via USB -> click on the Inspect button for the application you want.
Then click on "Console" and you can debug JavaScript the same way, as you would on a normal web application with Chrome developer tools.
If you're using Cordova 3.3 or higher and your device is running Android 4.4 or higher you can use 'Remote Debugging on Android with Chrome'. Full instructions are here:
https://developer.chrome.com/devtools/docs/remote-debugging
In summary:
Plug the device into your desktop computer using a USB cable
Enable USB debugging on your device (on my device this is under Settings > More > Developer options > USB debugging)
Or, if you're using Cordova 3.3+ and don't have a physical device with 4.4, you can use an emulator that uses Android 4.4+ to run the application through the emulator, on your desktop computer.
Run your Cordova application on the device or emulator
In Chrome on your desktop computer, enter chrome://inspect/#devices in the address bar
Your device/emulator will be displayed along with any other recognised devices that are connected to your computer, and under your device there will be details of the Cordova 'WebView' (basically your Cordova app), which is running on the device/emulator (the way Cordova works is that it basically creates a 'browser' window on your device/emulator, within which there is a 'WebView' which is your running HTML/JavaScript app)
Click the 'inspect' link under the 'WebView' section where you see your device/emulator listed. This brings up the Chrome developer tools that now allow you to debug your application.
Select the 'sources' tab of the Chrome developer tools to view JavaScript that your Cordova app on the device/emulator is currently running. You can add breakpoints in the JavaScript that allow you to debug your code.
Also, you can use the 'console' tab to view any errors (which will be shown in red), or at the bottom of the console you'll see a '>' prompt. Here you can type in any variables or objects (e.g. DOM objects) that you want to inspect the current value of, and the value will be displayed.
Use Android Device Monitor
Android Device Monitor comes packages with android sdk which you would have installed previously. In the device monitor you can see you entire device log, exceptions, messages everything. This is usefully to debug application crashes or any other such problems. To run this, go to tools/ folder inside your android sdk “/var/android-sdk-linux/tools”. Then run the following
chmod +x monitor
./monitor
If you are on windows, directly open the monitor.exe file.
There is a tab below “LogCat” where you will see all device related message. You will see all messages here including android device exceptions which are not visible chrome inspect device. Be sure to create filters using the “+” sign in logcat tab, so that you see messages only for your application.
Source: http://excellencenodejsblog.com/phonegap-debugging-your-android-application/
You can also debug with chrome your html5 apps
I create a .bat to open chrome in debug mode
cd C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application
chrome.exe "file:///C:\Users\***.html" --allow-file-access-from-files --disable-web-security
I've loved weinre! How to use it:
First, put on your index.html (ensure app.settings.debugUrl is set before this):
<!-- Weinre debugging -->
<script type="text/javascript">
if (app.settings.debugUrl) {
document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", function(event) {
var s = document.createElement("script")
s.setAttribute("src", app.settings.debugUrl+"/target/target-script-min.js#anonymous")
document.getElementsByTagName("body")[0].appendChild(s)
});
}
</script>
Then:
install: sudo npm install -g weinre
run: weinre --boundHost -all-
open on browser: http://localhost:8080/client/#anonymous
watch targets appear as you open the app
Based on http://www.broken-links.com/2013/06/28/remote-debugging-with-weinre/
Devices with android <=4.0.4 need to add the plugin https://www.npmjs.com/package/cordova-plugin-crosswalk-webview-pgb-adapt
I am building a website which needs to be views on the Android browser as well.
I heard that on the android browser the javascript seems to be breaking. I do not have an android device to view it for myself.
Are there an emulators for the android browser that I can download and check for myself.
My Dev Env: MAC (Lion).
In order to use the emulator you need to have the android sdk installed: instructions here. Then you can look at using the Android emulator docs by Google: here
Another option is to run your own VM of android using parrallels, vmware, etc. The information for that and downloads can be found here