Capture a crash from a device

Read the device logs in Deep Inspector to get a stack trace off the handset that crashed, and export it.

You have the stack trace from the device that crashed, exported in a format you can attach to a ticket.

Before you begin

Test Nexus on the Android device.
A Gold subscription. Deep Inspector is a Gold feature; without it the screen is an upgrade page.
USB debugging enabled in Developer options.
A computer with ADB (Android Debug Bridge) installed, for a one-time permission grant. Android does not allow this permission to be granted from the settings UI, so this step cannot be skipped.
After that grant, the cable is no longer needed.

Grant the log permission, once

Connect the device and run adb devices. Confirm the device appears in the list.
Run: adb shell pm grant us.twocan.testnexus android.permission.READ_LOGS
This lets the app read system logs without root. You do it once per device.

Capture the log

Open Deep Inspector from the App Hub. It checks for the permission and opens the Logs and Health tabs once it is granted.
On the Logs tab, tap Start. New lines stream in as they arrive.
Reproduce the crash on the device.

Find the crash in the stream

Use the level menu to filter to Error. An uncaught exception is written by the AndroidRuntime tag at Error level, so filtering to Fatal alone can leave the stream empty.
Tap the search icon and look for FATAL EXCEPTION, which begins the stack trace, or for your package name or exception class.
Tap a log entry to expand it and read the full message.

Export it

Tap Stop first. Export acts on the captured buffer, not on a live stream.
Tap the export icon in the top bar and choose Plain Text, JSON, CSV or HTML.
Save the file or share it.

Watch production crashes instead

The steps above cover a device in your hand. For a crash on someone else’s device, open Connected Apps and connect a Firebase project.
When Crashlytics reports a crash, an ANR or a regression, Test Nexus sends a push notification to your device, even when the app is closed.

Verify the result

Filter the Logs tab to Error and reproduce the crash: the stack trace appears, starting with FATAL EXCEPTION under the AndroidRuntime tag.
Export it and open the file. If the Logs tab stays empty, the READ_LOGS grant did not apply — re-run the adb command and reopen Deep Inspector.

Get Test Nexus on Google Play