Debugging React Native Apps: 5 Best Tools and Practices

• By Amardeep Singh Sandhu

• 31st July 2024

Hey there, all code wizards and pixel pushers! Imagine this: You’ve just created a fantastic new feature for your app with the help of React Native. It’s sleek, it’s responsive, and you can’t wait to see it in action. You launch the app, but instead of the smooth experience you envisioned, you’re met with bugs and crashes. The frustration will surely kick your mind at that moment, making you stare at lines of code and wonder where things went down. And, in such conditions, only one thing will help you: Debugging React Native Apps.

Whether you’re dealing with performance issues, UI glitches, or unexpected crashes, debugging React Native apps will surely help you identify and fix problems. The debugging process may seem simple, but it can sometimes feel like trying to find a needle in a haystack.

However, fear not! 

Deftsoft has come up with a detailed blog post to guide you through the best tools and practices for debugging React Native apps easily. Our expert developers recommend the top 10 tools and practices to execute a hassle-free debugging of React Native apps.

So, let’s jump straight into the blog post without further ado.

Let’s Know the Basics first!

Before delving into the tools and techniques for debugging React Native apps, let’s first understand the basics. Read this section to learn what React Native and debugging React Native apps are exactly.

What, Exactly, is React Native?

As a passionate and well-informed developer, ‘React Native’ wouldn’t be a strange term for you. It is a popular JavaScript-based mobile app development system that helps developers build seamless, high-quality, cross-platform mobile apps with a single codebase. The history of React Native can be traced back to 2013 when Facebook was improving the efficiency of its mobile app. While doing this, Facebook’s lead developer, Jordan Walke, made one revolutionary discovery. He found a hassle-free method for the generation of UI elements using JavaScript.

(Generating UI elements on Facebook’s mobile webpage was essential to elevate its efficiency)

As soon as Walke found this method, an immediate Hackathon (a social coding event) was organized to learn more about this method.

Today, this same method is popularly known as React Native. The moment it came into the life, the mobile app development industry changed forever.

Jordan Walke initially used React Native to generate UI elements on iOS apps in 2013. Android support through React Native came in 2015. Months later, Facebook publicly debuted a framework for debugging React Native apps.

In just three after its public launch, React Native became the second biggest project on GitHub.

That’s enough information about React Native. Now, let’s understand debugging React Native apps in detail.

Understanding Debugging React Native Apps

As mentioned earlier, React Native is an open-source Facebook project that was created to develop seamless mobile applications.

Ultimately, the mobile applications developed using the React Native framework are known as ‘React Native Apps.’ There are a wide range of benefits of creating a mobile app through React Native. However, with the plethora of benefits, such as cost-efficiency, consistent user experience, and access to native modules, you can also encounter several bugs and glitches. Eventually, the bugs in a mobile app negatively impact not only the app’s functionality but also the user experience and reputation of the brand value. Altogether, this can lead to lost revenue, increased support costs, and higher development expenses. Therefore, debugging React Native apps becomes essential.

Debugging involves a series of steps that help developers to analyze and remove the problem effectively. In short, debugging is the process of identifying, analyzing, and fixing errors or bugs in software code.

In the words of Kyle Simpson, author of ‘You Don’t Know JS,’

“Good debugging tools & practices can significantly reduce the number of bugs in your application, leading to a smoother and more reliable user experience.”

– Kyle Simpson, author of ‘You Don’t Know JS

Reading this quote, you may be wondering, what are the best debugging tools to effectively identify and fix the errors in React Native apps?

Well, to find the answer to this, read the next section. 

Essential Debugging Tools for React Native

Honestly, debugging is one of the critical aspects of software development, and its importance in elevating React Native apps cannot be overstated. By debugging React Native apps, developers not only identify and resolve prevalent issues but also ensure the reliability of the codebase. A wide range of effective tools are available for successfully executing and debugging React native apps. Some of the best ones include:

1. React Native Debugger (Including React DevTools)

React Native provides its own in-app debugging tool specifically designed for React Native applications. It started gaining a lot of popularity in 2017 as a standalone app built on top of the Chrome Developer Tools. Moreover, it can also integrate with Chrome DevTools and Redux DevTools, providing an ultimate enhancement.

You can access this tool by directly visiting React Native’s official website. To execute a debugging of React Native apps, either shake your device or use the below keyboard shortcuts.

Assessing the Dev Menu on Different Platforms

For iOS Simulators

Either press’ Cmd ⌘ + D’ or visit the menu bar at the top of your screen, navigate to ‘Device,’ and select ‘shake.’

For Android Emulators

Either press’ Cmd ⌘ + M’ or simulate a shake by selecting the corresponding option from th emulator’s extended controls.

Besides using keyboard shortcuts and gestures, you can also access the Developer Menu on Android devices and emulators through ‘adb’ (Android Debug Bridge). This is a leading command-line tool that allows seamless communication with an Android device or emulator.

Here’s how it works:

Open a terminal window (on macOS or Linux) or a command prompt (on Windows).Enter the command – ‘adb shell input keyevent 82’. 

Key Features of React Native Debugger

React Native Debugger is a powerful mobile app development tool that combines multiple debugging tools into a single interface. It provides comprehensive functionalities that streamline the development process. Here are the key features of this effective tool for debugging React Native apps. 

1. Reload

A ‘Reload’ feature aims to provide instant feedback when identifying and fixing bugs. To enable this feature, navigate to the ‘Default’ option.

2. Open Debugger

Clicking on ‘Open Debugger’ allows you to access Chrome Developer Tools.

3. Open React DevTools

It is a standalone tool for debugging non-browser-based React Native apps. Thus, clicking on ‘Open React DevTools’ doesn’t redirect you to the tools. Consider installing or running the’ dev tools’ package to access it. Moreover, we highly recommend running this command via nix.

4. Show Inspector

By tapping on ‘Show Inspector,’ you can get detailed info about a specific bug.

5. Disable Fast Refresh

‘Fast Refresh’ is a separate feature in React Native that allows you to instantly see changes in their app without losing the current state. It updates the app when changes are made to the code. However, there may be situations where it is necessary to disable Fast Refresh to debug certain issues.

6. Configure Bundler

‘The Bundler’ is a feature that allows the successful bundling of JavaScript Code and assets for the React Native apps. However, by configuring the bundler, you’ll be able to adjust various settings effectively.

7. Show Performance Monitor

It provides real-time metrics and insights into the performance of your React Native apps.

How to Set Up and Use React Native Debugger?

I. Install React Native Debugger

• macOS: Download from GitHub or use Homebrew: brew install –cask react-native-debugger
• Windows: Download from GitHub
• Linux: Compile from source or use similar tools.

II. Integrate with Your Project

React Native CLI

1. Open React Native Debugger.
2. Start the app’s development server: npx react-native start
3. Enable debugging:
   • Shake your device or use the simulator’s menu to open the developer menu.
   • Select Debug JS Remotely.

Expo

1. Open React Native Debugger.
2. Start Expo project: expo start
3. Enable debugging:
   • Open the developer menu.
   • Select Debug Remote JS.

III. Use React Native Debugger

• React DevTools: Inspect and modify components.
• Redux DevTools: View and manage Redux state and actions.
• Console: Check app logs.
• Network: Monitor network requests.

IV. Troubleshooting

• Ensure ports match (default is 8081).
• Check network connections.
• Restart tools if necessary.

2. LogBox

As a well-updated developer, many of you would remember ‘React Native 0.69’ in June 2020. React Native Team debuted an updated framework with the name of ‘React Native 0.69’. This framework brought several improvements and features, including enhancements to LogBox (an innovative tool designed to improve error and warning logging).

LogBox is a comprehensive logging system in React Native that replaces older YellowBox and RedBox systems. It provides more actionable error and warning messages, making logs easier to understand and act upon.

Key Features

1. Notifications

This support of log notifications allows all consoles. Warn and console.log messages to being showed up easily.

2. Code Frames

The inclusion of code frames on the right side of the log inside the app allows you to identify the source code of every warning and error quickly.

3. Component Stacks

Component stacks in LogBox provide detailed information about the hierarchy of React components leading up to an error. Eventually, this feature will allow developers to quickly identify the origination of issues within their code.

4. Stack Frame Collapsing

It is important to clean the relevant codes or frames in an app while executing debugging. This is why Stack Frame Collapsing in LogBox is designed to intelligently collapse frames that are not immediately relevant to the current debugging task, such as internal framework code.

5. Syntax Error Formatting

Syntax error formatting in LogBox enhances the clarity of error messages related to syntax issues, making it easier for developers to spot and fix mistakes in their code.

How to Set Up and Use LogBox?

Before delving into the steps, first, make sure your React Native project is using version 0.63 or higher. You can check this by running the following code.

After this, enable LogBox in your ‘App.js’ or ‘index.js’ file. Use these codes to do so:

Once LogBox is set up, consider debugging React Native apps with it. Here’s how it works.

1: LogBox will display a notification at the bottom of your app’s screen whenever an error or warning occurs. Consider tapping on the notification to get detailed information about the error or warning.

2: Upon tapping the notification, you’ll see an error or warning message at the top. Below this message, you’ll see the component stack trace. This is where you’ll see a list of stack frames (specific lines of code). Consider clicking on these frames to redirect yourself straight to the relevant code in your editor.

3: You may find a plethora of stack frames in it. Ultimately, one may feel confused about the most pertinent parts of the stack trace. But you don’t need to worry. LogBox automatically collapses less relevant stack frames to reduce clutter. This way, you can focus on important parts of the stack trace.

4: In the worst scenario, if there’s a syntax error in your code, LogBox will highlight its exact location to help identify the spot and correct the mistake. Moreover, if you find any warnings or errors (that even LogBox features can’t fix), suppress them using:

#5: After fixing all the issues, disable LogBox with:

3. Flipper

Flipper is an open-source platform developed by Facebook that is designed to provide comprehensive debugging and performance tools for mobile app developers. Launched in 2019, Flipper supports both iOS and Android applications, integrating various tools and plugins to streamline debugging workflows. It emerged from the need for a unified platform that could enhance mobile development processes and provide more detailed insights into app behavior.

Features

There are various features that altogether establish Flipper as a reliable tool for debugging React Native apps. Take a look below:

1. Unified Debugging Interface:

Flipper provides a single platform where you can access various debugging tools, streamlining the process of diagnosing and resolving issues. This unified interface helps developers quickly switch between different aspects of debugging without needing multiple tools.

2. Plugin Architecture:

One of Flipper’s key strengths is its extensibility. It supports a wide range of plugins, such as React DevTools, Redux DevTools, and Hermes Debugger. These plugins integrate directly into Flipper, offering specialized functionality for React Native and other frameworks.

3. Interactive Debugging:

Through Flipper, you can interact with your app in real-time. This feature allows you to inspect and modify the app state, trigger actions, and observe changes dynamically, which is helpful for debugging complex issues.

4. Performance Monitoring:

Flipper includes performance monitoring tools that provide insights into key metrics like memory usage, CPU consumption, and network activity. These tools help identify performance bottlenecks and optimize the app’s performance.

5. Network Inspection:

The network plugin in Flipper allows you to inspect and analyze network requests and responses. You can view request details, headers, and payloads, which is crucial for debugging API interactions and ensuring correct data flow.

How to Set Up and Use?

Installation:

Download Flipper from the Flipper website. Choose the appropriate version for your operating system (Windows, macOS, or Linux) and follow the installation instructions.

Integration with React Native:

For iOS:

Add Flipper dependencies to your Podfile:

use_flipper!

Run pod install in your iOS directory to install the dependencies.

For Android:

Modify your android/app/build.gradle to include Flipper dependencies:

Sync your project with Gradle files to apply the changes.

Configuration:

Ensure that Flipper is correctly initialized in your app’s entry point. For React Native, this usually involves configuring the Flipper initialization in your MainApplication.java file for Android and AppDelegate.m for iOS.

Usage:

Launch Flipper on your desktop and connect it to your running application. You’ll see various plugins and tools in the Flipper interface. Use the plugins to inspect logs, debug errors, and interact with your app.

4. Reactotron

Reactotron is a desktop application developed by Infinite Red specifically for React and React Native developers. It was introduced to offer a straightforward tool for debugging React applications and enhancing developer productivity. Reactotron provides real-time insights and interactions with React applications, making it a valuable asset in development.

Key Features

A significant reason behind the popularity of Reactotron is its features. Take a look below!

1. Real-time State Inspection

Reactotron provides a live view of your app’s state, including Redux store and component state. This real-time inspection helps developers understand how state changes over time and diagnose state-related issues.

2. Action Tracking

It tracks and displays Redux actions and their effects on the state. This feature is useful for debugging Redux-related issues and ensuring that actions are being dispatched and processed correctly.

3. Performance Monitoring

Reactotron offers performance monitoring capabilities, including network request logging and performance metrics. These helps identify slow network requests and optimize the app’s performance.

4. Customizable Plugins

The tool supports various plugins for extended functionality, such as React Navigation tracking, API request logging, and more. These plugins can be tailored to fit specific needs in your development workflow.

How to Set Up and Use?

Installation:

Download Reactotron from the Reactotron GitHub repository. Install the desktop application according to your operating system.

Integration with React Native:

Install Reactotron dependencies in your project:

Configure Reactotron in your project:

• In your index.js or App.js, initialize Reactotron:

• If you’re using Redux, install and configure the Redux plugin for Reactotron:

Add the plugin to your Reactotron configuration:

Configuration:

Run your app and check the Reactotron desktop application for activity to ensure Reactotron is properly connected. If needed, configure specific plugins or settings through Reactotron’s configuration options.

Usage:

Launch Reactotron on your desktop and connect it to your app. Use the Reactotron interface to inspect the state, track actions, debug errors, and monitor performance.

5. VS Code Extensions

Visual Studio Code (VS Code) is a popular open-source code editor developed by Microsoft. Over the last years, VS Code has become widely adopted due to its versatility, rich feature set, and extensive ecosystem of extensions.

It was first announced and released in April 2015. Initially, it was introduced as a cross-platform editor built on the Electron framework, which allows applications to be built using web technologies like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.

However, in 2016, Microsoft expanded VS Code’s functionality by introducing the Extensions Marketplace.

Key Features

The main features of VS Code Extension are given below.  

1. Rich Extension Ecosystem:

VS Code’s extension marketplace offers a vast array of extensions to enhance coding efficiency, including tools for debugging, code linting, and integration with various services.

2. Customizable Environment:

Extensions enable users to customize their coding environment, including themes, keybindings, and settings. This flexibility helps tailor the editor to individual preferences and project needs.

3. Integrated Debugging:

VS Code’s built-in debugging features include breakpoints, variable inspection, call stacks, and interactive debugging. These tools make it easier to diagnose and fix issues directly within the editor.

4. Code Intelligence:

IntelliSense provides autocompletion, code navigation, and refactoring tools. Extensions can enhance IntelliSense capabilities for different languages and frameworks, improving coding efficiency.

How to Set Up and Use?

Installation:

Download and install VS Code from the official VS Code website.

Access Extension Marketplace:

Open VS Code and access the Extensions view by clicking on the Extensions icon in the sidebar or pressing Ctrl+Shift+X.

Search and Install:

Search for extensions relevant to your needs, such as React Native Tools, ESLint, or Prettier. Click “Install” to add them to your VS Code setup.

Configuration:

Configure each extension according to your project requirements. For example, set up debugging configurations in the .vscode/launch.json file for React Native or customize ESLint rules in .eslintrc.

Usage:

Utilize the features provided by the extensions to enhance your development workflow, including debugging React Native apps. Use integrated debugging tools to set breakpoints, inspect variables, and step through code. Apply code linting and formatting to maintain code quality and consistency.

Nuclide: One of the Reliable Tools for Debugging React Native Apps, But No Longer Available Now!

As a well-informed developer, you would definitely have heard of ‘Nuclide.’

Nuclide was a powerful integrated development environment (IDE) created by Facebook in 2015. It was designed and developed by Facebook to enhance the development experience of React Native, Flow, and other technologies. Nuclide was built as a package on top of Atom.

(Atom is an open-source text editor developed by GitHub)

In the mid-2010s, Nuclide became a reliable tool for integrated debugging React Native apps. However, this success was only short-lived. In 2018, Facebook announced that it would discontinue the development and maintenance of Nuclide. Eventually, Nuclide was officially Sunsetted.

While you may still find older versions of Nuclide or its codebase online, they are no longer actively maintained. We highly recommend against using them, as more reliable and technologically advanced tools for debugging React Native apps have arrived on the market.  

(We have provided this information on Nuclide as there were mixed and confused viewpoints on the existence of Nuclide online. Back then, it was a great option for debugging React Native apps. But, in 2024, there are better options)

Best Practices for Effective Debugging

Since we’ve gone through all the best tools for successfully debugging React Native apps, let’s look at the best practices to facilitate an effective debugging process.

1. Using Breakpoints

In simple words, Breakpoints are a fundamental tool for debugging, allowing developers to pause the execution of their code at specific points to inspect the app’s state. This is why and how you can use breakpoints effectively.

a. Strategic Placement

Consider placing breakpoints where you suspect a little about the occurrence of any issue at a key point in the code flow.

(We highly recommend you avoid scattering breakpoints randomly as this can lead to a lot of confusion)

b. Conditional Breakpoints

As their name suggests, ‘Conditional Breakpoints’ can only be used to pause execution when a specific condition is met. Typically, conditional breakpoints are useful in loops or repetitive code where you want to catch a specific case.

2. Source Maps

While using languages that compile to JavaScript (such as TypeScript or CoffeeScript) in debugging, Source Maps are often used to restore minified code to its original state.

Source Maps are files that map the compiled or minified code back to the original source code.

Here are the best practices for using Source Maps.

a. Enable Source Maps in Development

Make sure source maps are enabled in your development environment. You can do this by setting a configuration option in your build tool (e.g., Webpack, Babel).

b. Verify Source Map Accuracy

Double proofreading or verification is an essential task while debugging React Native Apps.

Sometimes, source maps may not accurately map to the original source due to incorrect configuration. Therefore, ensure your build pipeline is correctly set up so that you can generate accurate source maps.

3. Using Log Statements Effectively

If you don’t want to use ultra-technical methods to analyze your code, it is best to write log statements.

Log statements are a simple yet powerful way to understand what is happening in your code at different points in time. By doing so, you can easily identify, analyze, and fix issues.

Given below are some of the best practices for using log statements. Consider reading this.

a. Log Relevant Information

Many developers often understate this practice, but honestly, focusing on logging relevant data like variable values and function entry/exit points surely helps understand the existence of any issue.

b. Use Log Levels

While debugging React Native apps, consider implementing different log levels (like debug, info, warning, and error) to categorize the severity and purpose of the logs. By doing so, you can remove all the irrelevant logs based on what you’re currently investigating.

In JavaScript, use the following codes to categorize logs.

Keep these effective practices in mind while debugging React Native apps. By mastering this, you can quickly identify and resolve any existing issues in React Native applications.

Deftsoft: A Leading React Native App Development Company, Helping You in Debugging

With over 18+ years of experience, Deftsoft is a premier React Native App development company. In today’s dynamic world, a well-organized React Native app is essential to enhance the visibility of your business or brand. Trust the expertise of Deftsoft to experience unparalleled React Native app development services. Our team excels in crafting robust, user-friendly apps while prioritizing efficient debugging processes. We leverage advanced debugging techniques to identify and resolve issues swiftly.

Wrapping Up

Mastering debugging React Native apps is essential for making high-quality, reliable applications. In this guide titled ‘Debugging React Native Apps: 5 Best Tools and Practices’, Deftsoft hopes you’ve gained valuable knowledge about this challenging task. Use these effective tools and practices to enhance your debugging process and significantly streamline issue resolution. However, if you’re unable to do it, consider contacting Deftsoft. As a premier React Native app development company, we provide effective solutions, including debugging. Our highly skilled React Native developers use the best tools and practices to ensure a smoother, more productive debugging process, ultimately leading to a more polished and dependable app. Let Deftsoft be a trusted React Native debugger for you!

Contact us for any related information today!