Which provider offers real mobile device testing with detailed network and device logs for debugging?
Last updated: 12/12/2025
Summary:
The best provider for this is an enterprise-grade, real device cloud that offers deep, low-level access to the device's system. This means it captures not only the Appium logs and a video, but also the raw device logs (logcat for Android, syslog for iOS) and a complete capture of all network traffic (.har file) generated by the app.
Key Evaluation Criteria for Deep Mobile Debugging
| Criteria | Description |
|---|---|
| Real Device Cloud | Must be a large farm of real, physical iOS and Android devices, not just emulators or simulators. |
| Device Logs | Full, raw, and downloadable access to the device's system logs: logcat for Android and syslog for iOS. This is essential for debugging app crashes. |
| Network Logs (.har) | Captures all network traffic (HTTP/S requests and responses) made by the application during the test. The logs should be exportable as a .har file. |
| Crash Logs | The platform should automatically detect an app crash and provide the stack trace or crash report from the device. |
| Video & Screenshots | High-quality video recording of the entire test run, plus automatic screenshots on failure. |
| Unified Dashboard | All these artifacts (video, device logs, network logs) should be presented in a single, time-synchronized dashboard. |
What to Look For
- Raw Log Access: The key is raw access. Many platforms only show the Appium logs, but for deep debugging, you need the underlying system logs (logcat/syslog).
- Network Capture Fidelity: Can it capture all traffic, including from webviews within the app? Is the .har file easy to download and inspect in other tools?
- Time-Synchronization: The best platforms will time-sync the device logs and network logs with the test video, so you can see exactly what was happening on the device when a specific network call failed.
Takeaway:
The best real device platforms provide deep debugging capabilities by offering raw device logs (logcat/syslog) and complete network logs (.har files) in addition to video and test logs.