[android] How to debug apk signed for release?

I have an apk which I've signed and uploaded to Android Market, and installed on my phone. I would like to debug this release apk (by means of Eclipse) whilst it is running on my phone. I have done this before (and remember it being with one of the Android development tools; perhaps Dalvik Debug Monitor) but unfortunately cannot remember how to do it and have been unable to find any articles online. Does anyone know how this can be done?

Note: I have set android:debuggable="true" in the manifest and have enabled USB Debugging on my phone.

This question is related to android google-play

The answer is


I know this is old question, but future references. In Android Studio with Gradle:

buildTypes {
    release {
        debuggable true
        runProguard true
        proguardFiles getDefaultProguardFile('proguard-android.txt'), 'proguard-rules.txt'
    }
}

The line debuggable true was the trick for me.

Update:

Since gradle 1.0 it's minifyEnabled instead of runProguard. Look at here


Besides Manuel's way, you can still use the Manifest.

In Android Studio stable, you have to add the following 2 lines to application in the AndroidManifest file:

    android:debuggable="true"
    tools:ignore="HardcodedDebugMode"

The first one will enable debugging of signed APK, and the second one will prevent compile-time error.

After this, you can attach to the process via "Attach debugger to Android process" button.


Add the following to your app build.gradle and select the specified release build variant and run

signingConfigs {
        config {
            keyAlias 'keyalias'
            keyPassword 'keypwd'
            storeFile file('<<KEYSTORE-PATH>>.keystore')
            storePassword 'pwd'
        }
    }
    buildTypes {
      release {
          debuggable true
          signingConfig signingConfigs.config
          proguardFiles getDefaultProguardFile('proguard-android.txt'), 'proguard-rules.txt'
        }
    }

I tried with the following and it's worked:

release {
            debuggable true
            minifyEnabled false
            proguardFiles getDefaultProguardFile('proguard-android.txt'), 'proguard-rules.pro'
        }

In case of you decided the debug your apk which is already in market but not assigned to be debuggable and you do not want to publish it again. So follow the below steps;

  1. Decompile the Apk with ApkTool(eg. apktool d <APK_PATH>)
  2. Open the AndroidManifest.xml from decompiled files
  3. Set android:debuggable="true" in application tag
  4. Compile the modified source with ApkTool (eg. apktool b <MODIFIED_PATH>)
  5. Debuggable apk ready(which unsigned means cannot publish store). You can debug as you wish.

Questions with android tag:

Under what circumstances can I call findViewById with an Options Menu / Action Bar item? How to implement a simple scenario the OO way My eclipse won't open, i download the bundle pack it keeps saying error log getting " (1) no such column: _id10 " error java doesn't run if structure inside of onclick listener Cannot retrieve string(s) from preferences (settings) strange error in my Animation Drawable how to put image in a bundle and pass it to another activity FragmentActivity to Fragment A failure occurred while executing com.android.build.gradle.internal.tasks Why am I seeing net::ERR_CLEARTEXT_NOT_PERMITTED errors after upgrading to Cordova Android 8? "Failed to install the following Android SDK packages as some licences have not been accepted" error Android Gradle 5.0 Update:Cause: org.jetbrains.plugins.gradle.tooling.util No Creators, like default construct, exist): cannot deserialize from Object value (no delegate- or property-based Creator WebView showing ERR_CLEARTEXT_NOT_PERMITTED although site is HTTPS WARNING: API 'variant.getJavaCompile()' is obsolete and has been replaced with 'variant.getJavaCompileProvider()' GoogleMaps API KEY for testing Can I use library that used android support with Androidx projects. How to allow all Network connection types HTTP and HTTPS in Android (9) Pie? Android Material and appcompat Manifest merger failed Deprecated Gradle features were used in this build, making it incompatible with Gradle 5.0 How to format DateTime in Flutter , How to get current time in flutter? How to change package name in flutter? Failed to resolve: com.android.support:appcompat-v7:28.0 What is AndroidX? Unable to resolve dependency for ':app@debug/compileClasspath': Could not resolve FirebaseInstanceIdService is deprecated installation app blocked by play protect Handling back button in Android Navigation Component Android design support library for API 28 (P) not working Failed to resolve: com.google.firebase:firebase-core:16.0.1 com.google.android.gms:play-services-measurement-base is being requested by various other libraries java.lang.NoClassDefFoundError:failed resolution of :Lorg/apache/http/ProtocolVersion Install Android App Bundle on device Conflict with dependency 'com.android.support:support-annotations' in project ':app'. Resolved versions for app (26.1.0) and test app (27.1.1) differ. How to develop Android app completely using python? Invoke-customs are only supported starting with android 0 --min-api 26 Flutter.io Android License Status Unknown How to open Android Device Monitor in latest Android Studio 3.1 Default interface methods are only supported starting with Android N How can I change the app display name build with Flutter? Error:(9, 5) error: resource android:attr/dialogCornerRadius not found error: resource android:attr/fontVariationSettings not found Flutter does not find android sdk Error - Android resource linking failed (AAPT2 27.0.3 Daemon #0) Error : Program type already present: android.support.design.widget.CoordinatorLayout$Behavior flutter run: No connected devices Cannot inline bytecode built with JVM target 1.8 into bytecode that is being built with JVM target 1.6 Still getting warning : Configuration 'compile' is obsolete and has been replaced with 'implementation' PANIC: Cannot find AVD system path. Please define ANDROID_SDK_ROOT (in windows 10)

Questions with google-play tag:

How to enable Google Play App Signing google console error `OR-IEH-01` Is Google Play Store supported in avd emulators? updating Google play services in Emulator How to change package name in android studio? How to change Android version and code version number? Check if application is installed - Android Where do alpha testers download Google Play Android apps? Is it possible to change the package name of an Android app on Google Play? "Insufficient Storage Available" even there is lot of free space in device memory How to implement Rate It feature in Android App Google Play error "Error while retrieving information from server [DF-DFERH-01]" Screenshot sizes for publishing android app on Google Play How to open the Google Play Store directly from my Android application? Google Play on Android 4.0 emulator How to remove application from app listings on Android Developer Console Google Play app description formatting This version of the application is not configured for billing through Google Play open link of google play store in mobile version android "Rate This App"-link in Google Play store app on the phone How can I switch language in google play? Why does the Google Play store say my Android app is incompatible with my own device? Getting Data from Android Play Store versionCode vs versionName in Android Manifest How to debug apk signed for release? The apk must be signed with the same certificates as the previous version what is Promotional and Feature graphic in Android Market/Play Store? Find package name for Android apps to use Intent to launch Market app from web