How to Use DevTools on Android Mobile (Chrome and Firefox)

Mobile web development is becoming increasingly crucial as smartphones dominate internet usage. To ensure your website or web application functions flawlessly on Android devices, it's essential to utilize powerful tools like Mobile Chrome DevTools. In this comprehensive guide, we'll explore how to harness the full potential of DevTools on Android mobile browsers, including Chrome and Firefox.

What are Mobile Chrome DevTools?

Mobile Chrome DevTools, also known as Chrome DevTools on Android, is a set of web development and debugging tools designed to assist developers in inspecting and optimizing web pages on Android mobile devices. These tools offer insights into a webpage's structure, performance, and functionality, making them indispensable for mobile web development.

Features of Chrome DevTools For Android Mobile

Following are the key features of Chrome DevTools for Android:

Inspecting Elements:

One of the fundamental features of Mobile Chrome DevTools is inspecting elements on a webpage. This feature allows you to:

• Examine the DOM (Document Object Model) structure of the page.
• Select and highlight specific elements.
• Modify HTML and CSS in real-time to see instant visual changes.
• Identify and resolve layout issues and design inconsistencies.

Using the Network Panel:

The Network panel in Mobile Chrome DevTools is a powerful tool for monitoring network activity on your mobile website. Here's how you can leverage it:

• Monitor HTTP requests and responses, including headers and payloads.
• Analyze load times and resource sizes to optimize performance.
• Simulate different network conditions to test your site's responsiveness.

Using the Console:

The Console is a critical tool for debugging JavaScript code on Android mobile browsers. With Mobile Chrome DevTools, you can:

• View and filter JavaScript errors and logs.
• Execute JavaScript commands in the browser context.
• Set breakpoints and step through code to identify and fix issues.

Other Useful Features of Android DevTools:

Mobile Chrome DevTools offers a range of additional features to enhance your mobile web development process:

1. Resources: Inspect local storage and cookie information, which is vital for debugging web applications that rely on client-side storage.
2. Info: Access URL and user-agent information, helping you ensure a consistent user experience across different devices and browsers.
3. Snippets: Save and run commonly used JavaScript code snippets, streamlining repetitive tasks.
4. Sources: View HTML, JavaScript, and CSS source code to identify and address coding errors and performance bottlenecks.

Video Tutorial Related to This Topic

If you don’t feel like reading, then instead of reading you can watch the video below that is related to this topic.

Eruda: DevTools For Android Mobile

To enable the DevTools option on Android browsers, you can use a tool called Eruda. This open-source project, available on the GitHub, provides the following features:

• Console: Display JavaScript logs.
• Elements: Check the DOM state.
• Network: Show requests status.
• Resources: Show local storage and cookie information.
• Info: Display URL and user agent info.
• Snippets: Include frequently used code snippets.
• Sources: View HTML, JavaScript, and CSS sources.

Eruda also offers plugins to extend its functionality, including:

• eruda-monitor: Display page FPS and memory usage.
• eruda-features: Detect browser features.
• eruda-timing: Show performance and resource timing.
• eruda-code: Run JavaScript code.
• eruda-benchmark: Run JavaScript benchmarks.
• eruda-geolocation: Test geolocation.
• eruda-orientation: Test orientation API.
• eruda-touches: Visualize screen touches.

How to use Eruda DevTools on Android Mobile

Now that we know everything about Android DevTools, its features and functionality. Let's see how to use this tool on your Android device. Simply follow the steps below to add DevTools to your Android browser.

Step 1: First of all open a website on your Android browser. It can be any webpage or even you can use this webpage too that is currently you are reading. 

Step 2: Now bookmark this page on your browser. After the bookmark is added, edit the bookmark and remove the URL. Instead of the URL copy the code below and paste it in the place of the URL in your bookmark. You can also rename the page name to anything you want (e.g. Inspect) and save it.

javascript:(function () { var script = document.createElement('script'); script.src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/eruda"; document.body.append(script); script.onload = function () { eruda.init(); } })();

Step 3: Now open the webpage you want to inspect using the DevTools. Then click on the bookmark you just created. You will see an icon on your Android display. Click on it and the DevTools will show up. Now use it to explore the webpage or the options of this DevTools.

Conclusion:

Mobile Chrome DevTools, along with tools like Eruda, are invaluable resources for developers seeking to optimize their websites and web applications for Android mobile devices. By mastering these tools, you can ensure a seamless and responsive user experience, identify and resolve issues quickly, and stay ahead in the competitive world of mobile web development. Start exploring Mobile Chrome DevTools today to enhance your Android web development workflow.

FAQ Schema