DHIVA LABS · LEARN

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Android and ADB ​

Learn to talk to an Android phone from your computer: connect it safely, install and remove apps, copy files, read its log when something crashes, and go wireless without leaving the phone open to strangers.

What you will be able to do ​

By the end of this track you can:

  • turn on USB debugging, authorise your computer, and read what adb devices says about a phone;
  • install an APK, copy files both ways, take a screenshot and record the screen, with adb or with DroidDeck;
  • connect over Wi-Fi with a pairing code, and explain why the older adb tcpip 5555 method is risky;
  • read logcat, filter it down to one app, and find the line in a crash that points at the bug;
  • tell normal, runtime and special permissions apart, sideload an APK carefully, and close every door you opened when you are done.

Who it is for ​

Students, testers and new Android developers, and anyone curious about what their phone can do with a cable and a terminal. You do not need to write code. You need a computer and an Android phone or emulator that you own, or that you have been given to test.

The lessons ​

Read them in order. Each one starts from what the one before taught.

Lesson 1What is ADB?The client, the server and the daemon, USB debugging, the authorisation prompt and device states.Lesson 2ADB essentialsInstall and uninstall apps, push and pull files, and the shell commands worth knowing.Lesson 3Wireless debuggingPairing codes on Android 11 and later, the old tcpip method, and how to switch back.Lesson 4Logcat and crashesBuffers, priorities and tags, filtering by app, and reading a stack trace.Lesson 5Permissions and safetyApp permissions, special access, sideloading safely, and what clear data really deletes.LabDroidDeck labConnect, install, watch the log, capture the screen, pull a file and go wireless, on your own device.

Every lesson ends with a short quiz. Your scores are collected on the Quizzes page.

Apps that use this knowledge ​

AppWhat it does with Android
DroidDeckA Linux desktop app that runs adb for you: devices, logcat, apps, files, screen tools, wireless pairing and a shell. Used in every lesson and the lab.
SpaceSweepFrees storage on the phone. A clear example of all-files access and usage access, in lesson 5.
Mock StudioA mock API server. Point an Android app at it over the network, in the lab's extension.
NearShareSends files between a phone and a Linux computer with Quick Share, when you do not need ADB at all.
SecureShell GoAn SSH client for Android. The other direction: the phone connects to a computer.

How long it takes ​

About 20 minutes per lesson, plus 45 to 60 minutes for the lab. Around three hours in all, and you can stop after any lesson.

Next steps ​