Testing and debugging

Preconditions

The Developer Preview isn’t intended for use in production applications. Hence, it requires using a beta version of Google Play Services. See this guide on how to enroll in the Beta Program.

To run and test multidevice experiences, you must have at least two Android devices (for example, a phone and a tablet). The devices must:

  • Have Google Play Services Beta installed
  • Use the same primary Google Account
  • Have Quick Share enabled and be visible to nearby devices
  • Be in close proximity of each other

Deploy your apps

Deploy through Android Studio

When deploying through Android Studio, complete the following steps:

  1. Open the Android Studio project for your app.
  2. Go to Run > Edit Configurations. The Run/Debug Configuration window appears.
  3. Under Launch Options, set Launch to your app main or multidevice activity.
  4. Click Apply, and then OK.
  5. Click Run to install the app on your test device.

Deploy using the command line

When deploying using the command line, repeat the steps for all devices used in testing the multidevice experience. This section assumes that the name of your app module is crossdevice-app.

./gradlew crossdevice-app:installDebug
# Start the app's activity. This example uses the sample app.
adb shell am start -n \
  com.example.dtdi/com.example.crossdevice.MainActivity

Tips for Debugging

To debug the app, click the Debug button in Android Studio.

Given the asynchronous and distributed nature of multidevice experiences, it might be difficult to rely only on debugging. Take advantage of logging and analytics. The Cross device SDK is designed to provide callbacks for both successful and failed operations, so it's important to handle those callbacks and log outputs for easier debugging.

If your transfer failed and you can't initiate device discovery or a new session, you can try turning Airplane Mode ON and OFF to quickly reset the quick share state.

Share your feedback

Your feedback is a crucial part of the Cross device SDK Developer Preview! Let us know of any issues you find or ideas for improving the Cross device SDK on Android.