Best debugging proxy apps

Discussions
,
1

Hi all,

Looking for some advice on debugging tools.

We use the Charles app direct on iOS which we love but we are still using a fiddler for Android via web app. Do you have any recommendations for an app we can install on Android that works as well as Charles (can be charged or free).

Thanks

1 Like
2

Hiho @jordsh98!

Reqable API Testing & Capture should do the trick.

3

Depends on your particular purposes but as the debugging proxy app you can use Burp Suite (you can use only proxy features and ignore other security-related stuff or you can use them too :slight_smile: )

Personally, I havenā€™t used it like that but Iā€™ve used often and a lot wit web apps and I really like it

4

Here are a top debugging proxy app:

Top Picks

  • Proxy-Man : A premium native macOS web debugging proxy application for inspecting and modifying HTTP/HTTPS traffic. You can check via this link
  • https://proxy-man.com
5

I ran into issues with proxies getting blocked during testing, especially on mobile apps, and the usual tools didnā€™t help much. What worked for me was to Buy Residential Proxies so I could avoid detection and get data from real user IPs. That way, I managed to debug more realistically without servers refusing connections. Makes it way easier to reproduce weird bugs happening only in certain locations.

6

Have you thought about doing your own local builds and then just using developer tools from the IDE?

I know this is not always an option for testers but where it is an option its often in my view a much better option and less hassle than adding specific traffic tools into the picture.

I used to use burp suite quite a bit, really liked the repeater however depending on the app it was not always as straight forward as adding in the proxy.

Sometimes apps had to be built with specific debug configurations or in my case I test a lot of flutter apps where the traffic even on debug builds tends to get hidden. Local builds made this much easier.

With AI tools, they currently have a developer bias and are often built around having code access, these may change the testing model empowering deeper testing, debugging and root cause analysis opportunities at code level. Local builds for testers as a result is very likely to become fairly standard.

If you are just starting out on local android builds though, there is an initial learning curve. We have been doing it as standard for about 6, 7 years even if I only load them up once a week it keeps that practice and setup fresh. Its worth going through the initial pain though, lots of config setup and things you need on your machine but definitely worth it.