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Is it possible to use USB debugging on an app that is not yours, and was downloaded from the Google Play Store?

I don't really need any in-depth information, I just want to be able to see general errors that may be occurring.

I'm basically trying to debug a scrolling issue in my US Bank app on my own because their response is terrible, slow, and I've done redundant "troubleshooting" steps.

The phone I have is a Google Nexus 5 running Android 6.0.1, which is not rooted.

DrZoo
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  • If your device is rooted, you should be able to read the logcat from any app (given that errors are thrown). Otherwise, there is nothing stopping you from using USB debugging; given that you have the source code, you can even put in brakepoints given the app is compiled with debugging enabled. – GiantTree Feb 01 '17 at 20:11
  • @GiantTree That was an important step I forgot to add. My device is not rooted. And I don't have the source code, since it's an app I downloaded from the Google Play Store. I can try plugging it in and reading logcat when I get home tonight. – DrZoo Feb 01 '17 at 20:17
  • The issue is: an app can only read its own log, so you could only read the log of the adb daemon (which certainly doesn't tell you anything). This was changed some time ago to prevent the leakage of private information through logs. – GiantTree Feb 01 '17 at 20:19
  • Have you seen: http://www.curious-creature.com/docs/android-performance-case-study-1.html and you could try to see if its network issue via a MITM proxy like Charles/wireshark. – Morrison Chang Feb 01 '17 at 21:26
  • @MorrisonChang no I have not, but that is a good find. I'll give it a shot tonight. It's unfortunate that I have to take this debugging into my own hands. I first reported the problem seven days ago when the app updated. The help I've received consists of: clear cache, make sure your data is on, reboot device, uninstall and reinstall the app. Create trouble ticket New person, "have you tried to uninstall the app and reinstall it? Have you rebooted the device?" .......... – DrZoo Feb 01 '17 at 21:32
  • The problem with bank apps is that they have to follow their internal release protocols/security reviews. So even if internally its been fixed, unless the problem a serious bug (leaking credentials/app broken et al.) and not just janky UI, few will put their necks out for a hot patch release. – Morrison Chang Feb 01 '17 at 21:51
  • @GiantTree: The restriction regarding logcat you mentioned only applies to apps. If you adb logcat from a PC you see logcat from every app. – Robert Feb 02 '17 at 15:59

3 Answers3

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On an unrooted phone you can enable the Android Debug Bridge. When the phone is connected to your PC and the smartphone is unlocked you can log in via adb from the PC and see the logcat output of the app you want to monitor.

If this is helpful for you depends on the app (some apps do log anything) and what you want to achieve.

Robert
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I had a scrolling problem too. I factory reset the phone then reinstalled the us bank app then worked fine. I believe it was a config type error when transferring to the new phone. I have a Galaxy 3 android v6.

user210665
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  • They got back to me and said they started receiving numerous reports. They still haven't pushed an update. I'm going to refrain from a reset though – DrZoo Feb 22 '17 at 01:00
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Let me get it to point directly, if u don't have the source code ,you cannot read the error log messages .

Rohith M
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    I wish this were true! When I'm trying to debug my own app the log is full of every other app's log spam. – Dan Hulme Feb 02 '17 at 13:03