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Found a problem with our Android app?

The google build sends crash reports when analytics and crash reporting are allowed in the app's settings, but that covers only crashes and the errors the app logs, and the fdroid build sends none. For anything else, a log of the app while it does the wrong thing is the most useful thing to attach to a GitHub issue.

From inside the app

Open Settings → Advanced → Debug Panel, reproduce the problem, then export the App logs tab with its download icon and attach the file to your issue. No PC or adb is needed. Debug Logs covers the panel, and what an export contains, in full.

With adb

When the app cannot reach the Debug Panel, for example because it crashes on launch, capture its logcat from a PC instead.

Set up your phone and PC for debugging:

  • Install adb (Android Debug Bridge) from the official SDK Platform Tools package.
  • Enable developer options on your phone. The procedure differs slightly between phones; search for "enable developer mode" with your phone's name if needed.
  • Connect your phone to a USB port on your PC. A dialog on the phone asks whether to allow USB debugging from this PC. Allow it, and tick the checkbox to always allow this PC.
  • Run adb devices at your computer's shell prompt. Your phone should be listed.

Then capture the log:

  • Long-press the Meshtastic app icon, open App info, and choose Force stop, so the log starts from scratch and is easier to read.
  • Start the app again. The command that follows finds the app by its process, so it must be running first.
  • On macOS or Linux, run:
adb shell 'logcat --pid=$(pidof -s com.geeksville.mesh)' | tee newlogfile.txt
  • On Windows, run this in PowerShell:
adb shell 'logcat --pid=$(pidof -s com.geeksville.mesh)' | Tee-Object newlogfile.txt

The package name above is for release builds. For a debug or snapshot build, use com.geeksville.mesh.google.debug or com.geeksville.mesh.fdroid.debug instead. For a problem that happens while the app starts, clear the log with adb logcat -c, run adb logcat | tee newlogfile.txt without the process filter, then start the app.

Go through the app to the part that misbehaves, then press Ctrl+C in the terminal to stop logging. Open a GitHub issue describing the problem and attach newlogfile.txt. We'll reply with what we find, possibly with some extra questions.