3 killer apps which make my life easier as an Android developer

Talk given at the following conferences/events:
- Droidcon Lisbon (April / 2022)

During my journey, I realized that the more I advanced in my career, the more time matters. In order to optimize my life, it was important to know the right tool for the right job and use it in the most effective way.

In this talk we will deep dive into 3 killer apps which I cannot live without: HTTP proxy, system keyboard utility and a secret tool. You will learn how to use them through real examples.

After this talk, your daily work won't be the same. Those tools will boost your efficiency to another level, allowing you to focus on what really matters.

Transcript

1. 3 killer apps which make my life easier as an Android developer Zhenlei Ji @zhenleiji
2. 🗓 Outline • The problem 😭 • Tools 🤖 • Final consideration 🙇
3. As an Android engineer…
6. Chapter 1 • By improving the impact produced • By reducing the time invested • By shifting to a higher-leverage activity Focus on High Leverage Activities
7. 🤖 Tools
8. Charles Proxy
9. What is Charles Proxy?
10. Scenario without Charles Proxy Request Response Client Server
11. Scenario with Charles Proxy Request Response Request Response Client Server Laptop with Charles Proxy 🕵
12. Charles Proxy is an interactive man-in-the-middle proxy for HTTP and HTTPS that enables a developer to view/edit all networking requests and responses. MITM
13. Key features • SSL Proxying • Throttling • No Caching • Breakpoint • Map local • Map remote • Mirror
14. SSL Proxying How to setup chls.pro/ssl 192.168.1.134:8888 👆
15. SSL Proxying Mobile Setup 👆 Mac’s IP address Default port 192.168.1.134:8888 chls.pro/ssl
16. SSL Proxying Mobile Setup 192.168.1.134:8888 chls.pro/ssl
17. SSL Proxying Project Setup <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="no"?> <manifest package="com.zji.app" xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"> <application android:networkSecurityConfig="@xml/network_security_config" /> </manifest> 2. Set the android:networkSecurityCon fi g fi eld in your AndroidManifest.xml <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> <network-security-config> <debug-overrides> <trust-anchors> <certificates src="system" /> <certificates src="user" /> </trust-anchors> </debug-overrides> </network-security-config> 1. Create a network_security_con fi g.xml fi le in your res/xml/ directory
18. SSL Proxying Charles Setup 🌐 http 🔒 https
19. SSL Proxying Charles Setup 👆
20. Finally I see the requests!
21. SSL Proxying Focus
22. SSL Proxying Focus
23. SSL Proxying Overview
24. SSL Proxying Content
25. Throttling How would you test a slow connection? Emulator Real device
26. Throttling Charles Proxy 👆
27. No caching How would you disable the cache? fun provideNetworkClient(context: Context): OkHttpClient { return OkHttpClient().newBuilder() .addInterceptor { chain -> val request = chain.request() .newBuilder() .header("Cache-Control", "no-cache") .build() chain.proceed(request) } .build() } Code
28. No caching Charles Proxy 👆
29. No caching Charles Proxy 👆
30. Breakpoint How to setup
31. Breakpoint Debug request
32. Breakpoint Debug request
33. Breakpoint Debug request
34. Breakpoint Debug response
35. Breakpoint Debug response
36. Breakpoint Debug response
37. Render UI components Polymorphic JSON HeaderDto SmallBodyTextDto ButtonDto SimpleCardDto CarouselDto Map to data models Breakpoint Server-driven UI
38. Render UI components Polymorphic JSON HeaderDto SmallBodyTextDto ButtonDto SimpleCardDto CarouselDto Map to data models Breakpoint Server-driven UI
39. Render UI components Polymorphic JSON HeaderDto SmallBodyTextDto ButtonDto SimpleCardDto Map to data models GridDto Breakpoint Server-driven UI
40. Breakpoint Wrap up • Modify Request • Inject Errors • Modify/Mock Responses
41. Map Local How would you mock the response? • MockWebServer • https://github.com/square/okhttp/tree/master/mockwebserver • Wiremock • https://github.com/wiremock/wiremock
42. Map Local Charles Proxy 👆
43. Map Local Charles Proxy 👆
44. Map Remote Charles Proxy 👆
45. Mirror What would you do to test in the dev environment? Dev
46. Mirror Charles Proxy 👆 👆
47. Mirror Charles Proxy 👆
48. What is not so good? • Java app • $50 Individual Licence 💵
49. Alternatives? mitmproxy 👍 Command line 👍 Web Interface 👍 Work on macOS, Linux, and Windows 👍 Open Source (Free) 👎 Doesn’t have network throttling Proxyman 👍 High-performance macOS app 👍 Web Interface 👎 Doesn’t work on Linux 👎 $69 Standard Licence 💵 https://mitmproxy.org/ https://proxyman.io/
50. Keyboard Maestro
51. What is Keyboard Maestro?
52. - Thanh Pham “Keyboard Maestro is an application to launch macros on your Mac”
53. Keyboard Maestro Overview Trigger Action Macro https://wiki.keyboardmaestro.com/manual/Features#Actions Hot Key Typed String Application Clipboard Changed Cron/Periodic Display Layout Changed Folder Changed Login Mounted Volume USB Device Wireless Network Audio Output Changed Sleep Wake … https://wiki.keyboardmaestro.com/manual/Features#Triggers Application Clipboard Run scripts Files Safari/Google Chrome Image Send noti fi cation Sleep Restart Shutdown KeyChain iTunes QuickTime …
54. Keyboard Maestro How to create a macro 👆
55. Keyboard Maestro How to create a macro 👆
56. Keyboard Maestro How to create a macro
57. Keyboard Maestro How to create a macro 👆 👆
58. Learning to think like a Maestro
59. “What do I find myself doing repeatedly on my Mac?”
60. Examples
61. Jira Template ntjira
62. Jira Template 👆 How to create a macro
63. Jira Template How to create a macro template_jira
64. Jira Template How to create a macro template_jira
65. Login N26 webapp ⌘⇧A
66. Login N26 webapp How to create a macro
67. Login N26 webapp How to create a macro
68. Login N26 webapp How to create a macro
69. Login N26 webapp How to create a macro 👆
70. Type username (email) zhenlei.ji+[tier][country]@n26.com nemail
71. Type username (email) How to create a macro
72. Type username (email) How to create a macro
73. Type username (email) How to create a macro
74. Personal Information CNH CPF RG Passport NIE Support Number Citizenship application number Address Phone Number Email Paypal zpass
75. Personal information How to create a macro
76. Personal information How to create a macro
77. Github PR description (table)
78. Github PR description (table) How to create a macro
79. Github PR description (table) How to create a macro
80. Github PR description (resize image)
81. Github PR description (resize image) How to create a macro
82. Github PR description (resize image) How to create a macro
83. Github PR description (resize image) How to create a macro
84. Github PR description (expandable)
85. Github PR description (expandable) How to create a macro
86. Github PR description (expandable) How to create a macro
87. GIPHY (extract gif)
88. GIPHY (extract gif) How to create a macro
89. GIPHY (extract gif) How to create a macro
90. GIPHY (extract gif) How to create a macro
91. GIPHY (extract gif) How to create a macro 👆
92. Alfred
93. What is Alfred?
95. - James Bull, Design Lead at Shopify “It's crazy to think, but I probably use Alfred 100x or more in my day. The custom workflows, web searches, clipboard history, file search, app launcher, preference syncing, spell check, dictionary support, and more make it so damn useful.”
96. 🥳 Features (free)
97. File Search
98. Web Search
99. Web Search
100. Web Bookmarks
101. Dictionary
102. System
103. 💵 Features (paid)
104. Universal Actions
105. Clipboard History
106. Snippets Alias
107. - David Chang “Unlock the true power of Alfred with workflow”
108. Alfred Workflow Overview
109. Alfred Workflow Where can I fi nd it? http://www.packal.org/work fl ow-list https://www.alfredapp.com/work fl ows/
110. Alfred Workflow Some awesome work fl ows adb-alfred ADB WiFi Android Emulator Restart Application iOS Simulator Fakeum Development Github Dash StackOver fl ow Reddit GIPHY Search CircleCI TravisCI Jenkins CI Spotify Mini Player Hide Desktop Others The items are clickable, it will redirect to the page which you can download the work fl ow
111. Alfred Workflow Create custom ones • Open new Chrome window • Scrcpy • Android Expresso • Type into your Android • Android proxy The items are clickable, it will redirect to the page which you can download the work fl ow
112. 🙇 Final consideration
113. Read documentation
114. Learn/create shortcuts
115. Automation mindset
116. - Bill Gates “I choose a lazy person to do a hard job. Because a lazy person will find an easy way to do it.”
117. @zhenleiji Zhenlei Ji
118. References • http://www.e ff ectiveengineer.com/ • https://www.charlesproxy.com/documentation/welcome/ • https://proxyman.io/ • https://mitmproxy.org/ • https://www.keyboardmaestro.com/ • https://wiki.keyboardmaestro.com/Home_Page • https://www.asiane ffi ciency.com/technology/keyboard-maestro/ • https://www.alfredapp.com/help/guides-and-tutorials/ • http://www.packal.org/work fl ow-list