Debug HTTP Traffic From Android Tablets Using Fiddler

Update 2013-11-06: See my newer guide for connecting Android 4.x devices with Fiddler: Capture Android Mobile Web Traffic With Fiddler

Having recently upgraded my Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 to the latest Android “Honeycomb” 3.1 release, I wanted to take a closer look at watching the HTTP web traffic from and to the device. Using the Fiddler web debugging tool on Windows, I was able to set this up rather quickly with these steps:

On the PC, Install Fiddler if needed. After install, configure Fiddler by opening the options panel (menu Tools | Fiddler Options). Select the Connections tab and enable the ‘Allow remote computers to connect’ option. Note the ‘Fiddler listens on port’ option (normally 8888), and close the dialog. Exit and restart Fiddler.

Fiddler Options

On the PC, determine it’s current IP address (open a command prompt, then type ipconfig).

On the Android tablet, install HTTP Proxy Settings app on the tablet. This app simply brings up the “HTTP Proxy” setting panel so you can make changes. Start the HTTP Proxy Settings app and enter your PC’s IP address as the host, and port number 8888.

Update 2012-02-20: With the latest updates on my Galaxy Tab 10.1, there is no longer a need for the 3rd-party Proxy Settings app. See this updated note for details: Galaxy Tab 10.1 HTTP Proxy Settings.

HTTP Proxy Settings

Now run the Android Browser and you should see HTTP traffic routed through Fiddler on the PC. Below see an example of visiting Yahoo’s “tablet” home page:

Fiddler Log Results

When you’re done, don’t forget to run the HTTP Proxy Settings app again to clear out the host and port fields. (Otherwise your tablet browser will become unusable when Fiddler is no longer running.)