Android 'Debuggable' Default Value

What is the android debuggable default value

android:debuggable

Whether or not the application can be debugged, even when running on a device in user mode — "true" if it can be, and "false" if not. The default value is "false".

No mention of difference in API level, so min/target SDK versions of your app should not matter.

Android 'debuggable' default value

From SDK Tools : ( SDK Tools, Revision 8 (December 2010) )

Support for a true debug build.
Developers no longer need to add the
android:debuggable attribute to the
<application> tag in the manifest —
the build tools add the attribute automatically. In Eclipse/ADT, all
incremental builds are assumed to be
debug builds, so the tools insert
android:debuggable="true". When
exporting a signed release build,
the tools do not add the attribute.
In Ant, a ant debug command
automatically inserts the
android:debuggable="true" attribute,
while ant release does not. If android:debuggable="true" is manually
set, then ant release will actually do
a debug build, rather than a release
build.

Why is an Android app not debuggable by default?

This following post explains it well do not use debugabble attribute

Here are the important notes from it.

There were a time when the Android developer had to take care of updating the debuggable attribute of his app's manifest file, setting it to "true" for debugging, and for "false" just before releasing a new signed package.

But that time passed by on December, 2010. Although not every developer had noticed it, so many of them continue manually doing the debuggable switching.

http://developer.android.com/tools/sdk/tools-notes.html

From SDK Tools revision 8:

Support for a true debug build. Developers no longer need to add the android:debuggable attribute to the tag in the manifest — the build tools add the attribute automatically. In Eclipse/ADT, all incremental builds are assumed to be debug builds, so the tools insert android:debuggable="true". When exporting a signed release build, the tools do not add the attribute. In Ant, a ant debug command automatically inserts the android:debuggable="true" attribute, while ant release does not. Ifandroid:debuggable="true" is manually set, then ant release will actually do a debug build, rather than a release build.
So, the best thing you can do in most of the cases is not to deal with the attribute at all, since that way you will be sure that when you are exporting a signed release it won't include debug data.

The only exception is if you actually need to distribute a signed package with debug information included, not a common case indeed...

If debugable is set to false or true it changes nothing

The answer to this very question is already given on SO.

See Android 'debuggable' default value.

Get android manifest application debuggable property value

You check if DEBUGGABLE is true or false using this

(getContext().getApplicationInfo().flags & ApplicationInfo.FLAG_DEBUGGABLE) != 0

Getting debuggable value of androidManifest from code?

Use PackageManager to get an ApplicationInfo object on your application, and check the flags field for FLAG_DEBUGGABLE.

boolean isDebuggable = (0 != (getApplicationInfo().flags & ApplicationInfo.FLAG_DEBUGGABLE));

How can I detect whether an Android APK has debuggable set to true or false in its manifest without installing it?

This is one of those "easy once you know how" things - Use the aapt tool to inspect the manifest.

aapt dump xmltree YourApp.apk AndroidManifest.xml | grep debuggable

That command will give you a dump of the compiled form of the AndroidManifest.xml file- the output will look something like

A: android:debuggable(0x0101000f)=(type 0x12)0x0

(Actual output from my command prompt) in that example, the 0x0 indicates false.

Gradle release build still debuggable?

Viewing logcat is not tied to whether the app is debuggable or not.

If you see the process in DDMS then your app is debuggable (unless you're looking at an emulator in which case all apps are considered debuggable).