How can I see the traffic of an Android APP?

asked 2018-07-02 12:33:06 +0000

regtan
1 ●1 ●2 ●1

I am coding an App for a Project at university and I want to see the Trafic that this App has. The App should comunicate with a Server and should send data and I want to check if the conection is working. THANKS!

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answered 2018-07-04 00:18:33 +0000

Bob Jones
1496 ●2 ●179 ●22 Boston, MA

Several options exist to capture this traffic, each with their own positives/negatives:

Android side - as mentioned with some links
Other host side - if a PC, run Wireshark there
Network link - either wired (usually easier) or wireless (can be harder to manage with encryption)

It's often best to NOT collect traffic on the host(s) involved to avoid having them manipulate the traffic in some way, tainting the conclusions. This would be item 3, but wireless can be annoying to deal with - hard to capture, missing data, encryption, etc.

Other host side, if a PC, could be convenient. Install a sniffer, and you are up and running in no time. No other changes needed.

Android side - if it is easy to use those apps, or if you don't have control of the server, or the network to grab traffic, then this option becomes attractive.

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I want somehow to see the traffic with Wireshark so the second option is what I am looking for :) but I dont know how can I see the traffic of my Mobile. I dont know how exactly should I proced. What is a sniffer? Thanks!

regtan ( 2018-07-08 19:00:54 +0000 )edit

If the mobile device sends network traffic to the server, then you would see that traffic at either end of the link. Wireshark is a sniffer; install at the server side, on the PC hosting the server application.

Bob Jones ( 2018-07-08 22:20:38 +0000 )edit

You can use wireshark to sniff traffic for all devices on your LAN (including your Android phone). You'd need to type ip.src==[xxx.xx.x.x] your ip address of your android phone in filters pane of wireshark.

IgorGanapolsky ( 2018-12-09 12:08:55 +0000 )edit

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answered 2019-10-08 08:10:12 +0000

Andrey Egorov
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updated 2019-10-09 20:44:47 +0000

Hi. I had a similar problem that inspired me to develop an app that could help to capture traffic from an Android device. As my app uses an OS feature called VPNService to capture traffic, it does not require the root access. Captured packets are sent to a PC using the Wireshark "SSH Remote capture" feature.

The app is in early Beta. If you have any issues/suggestions, do not hesitate to let me know.

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