Unlock the Power of Logging and Error Reporting in Mobile App Development

What Are Logging Frameworks?

Logging frameworks are tools that allow developers to print messages to the console window of their IDEs. They’re essential for debugging, enabling developers to check variable values, API responses, and error exceptions.

In Android and iOS, default loggers are available, but there are also third-party frameworks like Timber (Android), Willow (iOS), and CocoaLumberjack (iOS) that extend their capabilities.

Crash and Error Reporting Frameworks: The Production Environment

While logging frameworks are useful during development, crash and error reporting frameworks come into play when the app is in production. They capture app crash reports and save them to the console, enabling developers to access and debug errors.

Firebase Crashlytics is a popular tool that automatically captures crash reports and allows developers to log non-fatal errors and API responses.

The Difference Between Logging and Crash Reporting Frameworks

So, what’s the main difference between these two types of frameworks? Simply put, logging frameworks are used during development, while crash and error reporting frameworks are used in production. Both share the common goal of debugging errors, but they serve different purposes.

Problems with Remote Error Reporting and Their Solutions

When using logging and crash reporting frameworks, developers may face three common problems:

• Exposure of Sensitive Log Messages in Release Builds: To avoid exposing sensitive information, developers can use build-type-based logging, controlling which log statements are printed in the console and which are ignored.
• API Issues and Non-Fatal Errors in Production: By identifying log levels and sharing error logs with Firebase Crashlytics, developers can track non-fatal errors and address them quickly.
• Scattered Code and Maintainability: A centralized logging framework can help solve this problem, controlling both build-type-based and log-level-based logs, and avoiding code scattering and maintainability issues.

A Centralized Solution: Building a Framework

To overcome these challenges, developers can create a centralized logging framework that works hand-in-hand with build types and log levels. This framework will control which log statements are executed where and when, ensuring code maintainability and scalability.

// Example of a centralized logging framework in Android
public class Logger {
    public static void d(String message) {
        if (BuildConfig.DEBUG) {
            Log.d("LOGGER", message);
        }
    }

    public static void e(String message) {
        if (BuildConfig.RELEASE) {
            // Send error logs to Firebase Crashlytics
        }
    }
}

Implementation in Android and iOS

Using third-party logging frameworks like Timber (Android) and Willow (iOS), developers can create build-type-specific loggers and add log-level logic to their release loggers. By replacing traditional log statements with custom ones, developers can ensure that their framework works seamlessly.

// Example of a build-type-specific logger in iOS
func log(message: String) {
    #if DEBUG
        print("DEBUG: \(message)")
    #else
        // Send log messages to Firebase Crashlytics
    #endif
}