React Native Debugging: Techniques, Tools, How to Use it?

Did you know that over 1.3 million people use React for design purposes worldwide, and India is the largest adopter? Learning React native debugging is crucial to optimize component lifecycle management and improve app performance in large-scale projects.

React Native Debugging is essential for efficiently identifying and resolving issues in mobile app development. It involves using specialized tools and techniques to inspect code and app behavior. 

Mastering debugging accelerates development and improves app quality. This guide covers key methods and tools for effective React Native Debugging in your ReactJS projects.

Want to sharpen your skills for react native debugging? upGrad’s Online Software Development Courses can equip you with tools and strategies to stay ahead. Enroll today!

What is React Native Debugging?

React Native debugging involves systematically identifying, diagnosing, and resolving issues within your mobile app’s JavaScript and native code. Tools like Chrome Developer Tools and React Native Debugger enable detailed inspection of app state, network requests, and performance metrics. Moreover, expo-cli streamlines the development workflow by providing rapid build, run, and debugging capabilities in a unified environment.

If you want to learn essential skills to help you understand React native debugging, the following courses can help you succeed. 

• Master of Design in User Experience
• Master the Cloud and Lead as an Expert Cloud Engineer
• AI-Powered Full Stack Development Course by IIITB

Let’s explore some of the prominent techniques associated with react native debugging. 

React Native Debugging Techniques

Effective debugging is critical to identifying and resolving issues in React Native applications. Various tools and methods, including logging, Chrome debugging, and Visual Studio Code, can be leveraged to debug your application efficiently. 

Each technique helps you track down issues at different levels. Whether through simple log statements, inspecting code in real-time with the browser, or using a strong IDE like VS Code with integrated debugging tools.

1. Logging

Logging is one of the simplest and most effective ways to debug React Native apps during development. Using console.log(), developers can track variable values, function calls, and execution flow, giving insights into how the app behaves. However, console.log() should be removed before moving to production to avoid unnecessary performance overhead.

• Simple Debugging: Use console.log() to print messages, variables, or error states to understand the flow.
• Temporary Debugging: This technique is helpful for quick, temporary debugging during development, but must be removed before finalizing the code.
• Overhead: Be cautious, as excessive logging can impact performance and clutter the console.

Code Example:

let userData = { name: 'Shyam Singh', age: 32, city: 'Delhi' };
console.log('User data:', userData);

Output:

User data: { name: 'Shyam Singh', age: 32, city: 'Delhi' }

This log prints the content of the userData object to the console. It helps you quickly check the values of variables and ensure that data is being processed as expected during development.

2. Debugging in Chrome Browser

Remote Debugging in Chrome is a powerful tool for debugging React Native applications. By enabling Remote Debugging, you can leverage Chrome’s Developer Tools, just like you would for web applications, to inspect JavaScript, set breakpoints, and monitor network requests. This method is ideal for checking the runtime environment and catching issues that may be difficult to spot during regular development.

• Remote Debugging Setup: Activate remote debugging in your React Native app to link it to Chrome.
• Console Integration: You can view JavaScript logs directly in the Chrome DevTools Console.
• Network Inspection: API requests and responses can be tracked, which is essential when integrating with backends built in Python or Java.

Code Example:

let apiUrl = 'https://api.example.com/data';
fetch(apiUrl)
  .then(response => response.json())
  .then(data => console.log('API Response:', data))
  .catch(error => console.log('Error fetching data:', error));

Output:

API Response: { id: 1, name: 'Sample Data' }

In Chrome DevTools, you can see the console log of the API Response. This allows you to track the API request/response and identify any issues related to data fetching or API errors.

3. Debugging in Visual Studio Code

Visual Studio Code (VS Code) is a popular integrated development environment (IDE) for React Native development. Using the React Native Tools extension, you can debug your app directly from VS Code. This technique lets you set breakpoints, step through code, and inspect the app’s execution flow in a highly integrated environment.

• React Native Tools Extension: Install the React Native Tools extension in VS Code for seamless debugging.
• Launch Configuration: Create a launch.json file for the correct configuration setup.
• Remote JS Debugging: Enable Debug JS Remotely and Live Reload to start debugging your app directly from the IDE.

Code Example:

function fetchData() {
  let data = { user: 'Rishab', status: 'Active' };
  return data;
}
console.log(fetchData());

Output Code:

{ user: 'Rishab', status: 'Active' }

After setting up the launch.json file and running the debugger in VS Code, you can inspect the console to see the logged output of the fetchData function. You can also set breakpoints to break the code and analyze the function’s execution flow.

Let’s understand some of the features of the React native debugger. 

Features of React Native Debugger 

The React Native Debugger is a powerful standalone tool that integrates multiple debugging features explicitly tailored for React Native apps. It combines a UI Inspector for examining component hierarchy and styles, and an advanced Redux debugger for real-time state management insights.

Additionally, it supports AsyncStorage management to view stored data, and allows you to set breakpoints, allowing you to pause and inspect the app's execution flow at any point. These features enable deep inspection and troubleshooting, accelerating the development of robust, performant React Native applications.

Here are the features of React Native Debugger

1. UI Inspector

You must be aware of element inspector if you are a web developer. The UI Inspector in React Native Debugger works similarly: one can see all the tags used in your app and inspect their styling. You can use the inspector to test your UI and adjust the styling. 

This is, by far, the most efficient approach to viewing and debugging UI hierarchy in React Native projects. 

2. Debug Redux

You will need a state management library whether you are working on a React or React Native app. Redux is one of the most popular state management libraries on the market. 

However, especially in React Native, using Redux might be a nuisance if you cannot debug your state. You may use React Native Debugger to debug your Redux-based project easily. You may even debug the current condition in real-time. 

Until we specifically If we do not use redux devtools in our project, it will not work properly. As seen in the code snippet below, first must enable redux in our app by inserting certain config lines to our App.js file either to our redux main function, to use redux devtools in the react-native-debugger: 

const composeEnhancers = window.__REDUX_DEVTOOLS_EXTENSION_COMPOSE__ || compose; 

const store = createStore(reducers, /* preloadedState, */ composeEnhancers(middlewares)); 

If we now reload our RN Debugger tool and perform some activities, we will see the following in the debugger console: 

As you will see, the React Native Debugger exposes the entire Redux state, so users do not need to use breakpoints or console logs to figure out how data flow in the redux system. One incredible feature is the ability to go back in time directly from the debugger to reverse and re-run Redux activities. Another notable feature is the ability to see the exact difference between two state transitions, which is especially useful for projects with many Redux states. 

3. Network Inspector

In general, we may not know what is happening behind the scenes while designing an app that needs to connect to a server. When submitting a request to the server, for example, it may be difficult to track down an issue. Developers typically debug this by printing or alerting error messages; however, this is time-consuming (even though most people do it), as it takes many iterations to comprehend the condition fully. 

We can easily monitor every inbound and outbound traffic request between the app and the server using the React Native Debugger. 

4. AsyncStorage Management

You can easily print or log your AsyncStorage on the console by running the following command: 

console.log(showAsyncStorageContentInDev()) 

This will print or report the AsyncStorage data in the terminal on React Native Debugger. 

5. Breakpoints

The React Native Debugger also allows us to pause the execution job anytime. This will allow developers to inspect data states or understand app activity anytime during the app's lifecycle. 

Example Scenario:

Imagine you’re developing a React Native e-commerce app integrated with a backend built on Java and APIs exposed via REST APIs. Using React Native Debugger, you inspect the UI hierarchy to fix misaligned product cards with the UI Inspector. 

When users interact with the shopping cart, you monitor Redux state changes live, using time-travel debugging to trace issues causing incorrect cart totals. While debugging API calls to your Python backend, the Network Inspector helps you identify failed requests and malformed payloads.

Finally, you check AsyncStorage to verify local cache data and set breakpoints to pause and inspect functions, updating order details and ensuring a smooth, bug-free checkout process.

How to Debug React Native App? [Step-by-Step]

Debugging a React Native app involves connecting your running application to debugging tools like Chrome Developer Tools to inspect JavaScript execution and catch real-time errors. By following systematic steps, you can leverage powerful browser-based debugging features, such as breakpoints, call stacks, and variable inspection, to troubleshoot and optimize your app.

Step 1: Run Your Application in the iOS Simulator: Launch your app on the ios simulator using the React Native CLI or Expo.

npx react-native run-ios

Step 2: Open the Debugger UI: Press Command + D (or use the Shake Gesture on a physical device) to open the developer menu. Select Debug JS Remotely. This will open the debugger UI at:

http://localhost:8081/debugger-ui

Step 3: Enable Pause on Caught Exceptions: In Chrome Developer Tools, open the Sources panel, then click the pause button with a stop sign to enable Pause on Caught Exceptions. This pauses execution when exceptions occur, even if your code catches them.

Step 4: Open Chrome Developer Tools: Press Command + Option + I to open Chrome DevTools, or navigate via the menu:

View -> Developer -> Developer Tools

Code Example:

function fetchData() {
  console.log('Fetching data...');
  fetch('https://api.example.com/items')
    .then(response => response.json())
    .then(data => {
      console.log('Data received:', data);
    })
    .catch(error => {
      console.error('Error fetching data:', error);
    });
}

Output:

Fetching data...
Data received: [{ id: 1, name: 'Item 1' }, { id: 2, name: 'Item 2' }]

Running the app in the simulator and enabling remote debugging connects your React Native JavaScript runtime to Chrome DevTools. This lets you pause on exceptions, step through code, and see console logs, making error diagnosis more efficient and straightforward.

Let’s understand how you can enable keyboard shortcuts for react native debugging. 

Enabling Keyboard Shortcuts 

Using keyboard shortcuts in the iOS Simulator enhances your debugging and development workflow for React Native apps by reducing reliance on mouse interactions. You need to connect your physical keyboard to the simulator to unlock these shortcuts, enabling direct keyboard input. This setup ensures smooth and efficient control over simulator functions like reloading, debugging, and accessing developer menus.

• Launch the iOS Simulator: Open the iOS Simulator on your Mac, either via Xcode or by running your React Native app with the command:

bash
Copy code
npx react-native run-ios

• Access the Hardware Menu: On the top menu bar of your Mac, click on Hardware. This menu contains all the device-related controls for the simulator, such as device rotation, shutdown, and keyboard settings.
• Select Keyboard Settings: From the dropdown under Hardware, hover over Keyboard to reveal keyboard-related options. This submenu manages the simulator's input device settings.
• Enable Connect Hardware Keyboard: Click on Connect Hardware Keyboard to check or enable this option. This setting allows the simulator to receive input directly from your physical keyboard instead of relying on the on-screen virtual keyboard. Once enabled, you can use keyboard shortcuts efficiently.
• Verify Keyboard Connection: After enabling, test the connection by pressing keys on your physical keyboard. The simulator should now respond to shortcut commands such as Cmd + D to open the developer menu or Cmd + R to reload the app.

Let’s understand how to access the in-house developer menus.

Accessing In-App Developer Menu

Shake your device or pick "Shake Gesture" from the Hardware menu in the iOS Simulator to get to the developer menu. When your app runs in the iOS Simulator, or M when executing in an Android emulator on Mac OS, or Ctrl+M on Windows and Linux, developers can use the D keyboard shortcut. To open the dev menu on an Android device, use the command adb shell input keyevent 82. (82 being the Menu key code). 

Reloading JavaScript

Fast Refresh is a React Native feature that provides near-instant feedback for changes made to your React components. Enabling Fast Refresh when debugging can be beneficial. Fast Refresh is enabled by default, and you may enable it in the React Native developer menu by toggling "Enable Fast Refresh." Most of your adjustments should be displayed within a second or two once you enable it. 

Use Case:

Imagine you are developing a React Native app that uses TensorFlow for on-device machine learning with your model hosted on AWS S3. You run your app inside a Docker container for consistent environments. 

When debugging UI or TensorFlow integration issues, open the developer menu using the emulator’s shortcuts, toggle Fast Refresh, and see changes applied instantly. This workflow dramatically reduces downtime, enabling quick iteration and smoother integration of ML models and backend services.

If you want to gain expertise in professional DevOps operations, check out upGrad’s Professional Certificate Program in Cloud Computing and DevOps. The program lets you learn AWS, Azure, and GCP for enterprise-grade applications. 

Let’s understand some of the errors and warnings for react native debugging. 

In-app Errors and Warnings

In development builds, errors and warnings are presented inside your app. 

Errors 

Inside your app, errors are displayed in a full-screen alert with a red background. A RedBox is the name for this type of display. You can manually trigger one using console.error(). 

Warnings 

Warnings will have a yellow background on the screen. YellowBoxes are the name for these notifications. To get more information or dismiss the notifications, click on them. 

A YellowBox can be triggered using console.warn(), much like a RedBox. 

YellowBoxes can be turned off in the console during development. 

disableYellowBox=true; By setting an array of prefixes to ignore, certain warnings can be ignored programmatically: 

import { YellowBox } from ‘react-native’; 

YelloBox.ignoreWarnings([‘Warning:….’[); 

In React Native development builds, errors and warnings are prominently displayed within the app to aid rapid debugging. Errors appear as RedBoxes, a full-screen alert with a red background, signalling critical issues that block app execution. 

Warnings show as Yellow boxes with a yellow background, indicating non-critical but essential messages. You can programmatically control these warnings to focus on relevant issues during development.

• RedBox Errors: These are critical errors shown in a full-screen red alert. They halt app execution to prevent further issues. You can manually trigger a RedBox using:

console.error('Critical error occurred!');

• YellowBox Warnings: Warnings appear with a yellow background, alerting you to potential problems without stopping the app. Trigger a YellowBox using:

console.warn('This is a warning!');

• Disabling YellowBoxes: You can disable all warnings in development by setting:

console.disableYellowBox = true;

Or ignore specific warnings by prefix using:

import { YellowBox } from 'react-native';

YellowBox.ignoreWarnings(['Warning: ...']);

Use Case:

When developing a React Native app integrated with TensorFlow models and backend services hosted on AWS, you may encounter multiple warnings and errors during data fetching or model loading. RedBoxes alert you to critical failures like API errors or syntax issues, while YellowBoxes notify you of deprecated APIs or performance tips. Controlling these notifications ensures you focus on critical bugs while ignoring less relevant warnings, streamlining debugging, and improving development efficiency.

If you want to learn more about algorithms for native debugging, check out upGrad’s Data Structures & Algorithms. The 50-hour free program helps you gather expertise on stacks, queues, and arrays, which are critical to understanding debugging operations. 

React Native Debugging: Chrome Developer Tools

Chrome Developer Tools enable remote debugging of your React Native JavaScript code by connecting via the Debug JS Remotely option. This option provides features like breakpoints and variable inspection. 

This setup allows you to pause on caught exceptions, improving error detection during development. However, style debugging and in-depth React component inspection remain limited compared to dedicated React DevTools.

Debugging Steps:

Step 1: Enable Debug JS Remotely: In your React Native app, open the developer menu and select Debug JS Remotely. This opens the debugger interface in Chrome.

Step 2: Open Chrome Developer Tools: Navigate to Chrome’s menu:

Or use keyboard shortcuts:

Cmd + Option + I on macOS

Ctrl + Shift + I on Windows/Linux

Step 3: Set Pause on Caught Exceptions: In the Sources tab, enable Pause On Caught Exceptions to halt execution when errors occur, even if your code catches them.

Also read: Top 28 React Projects for Beginners in 2025 [Source Code Included]

Safari Developer Tools 

For iOS React Native apps, you don’t need to enable Debug JS Remotely to debug JavaScript; instead, you can use Safari’s Web Inspector to inspect your app’s JavaScript context directly. You can access the JSContext associated with your running app in the iOS Simulator by allowing the Develop menu in Safari preferences. 

This tool provides a Console and Debugger for setting breakpoints, inspecting variables, and stepping through code. While sourcemaps are disabled by default, enabling them allows you to debug source files, improving traceability and debugging precision.

1. In Safari, go to Preferences Advanced and enable the Develop menu. "Show Develop menu in menu bar" should be selected. 
2. Select the JSContext for your app: Develop -> Simulator -> JSContext 
3. Safari's Web Inspector, which includes a Console and a Debugger, should open. 
4. Although sourcemaps are not enabled by default, you can enable them by following these instructions or seeing this video and setting break points in the proper places in the source code. 

5. A new JSContext is created each time the app is reloaded (using live or manually reloading). You can avoid manually selecting the newest JSContext by selecting "Automatically Show Web Inspectors for JSContexts."

   Example Scenario:

   While developing an iOS React Native app integrated with Python backend services hosted on AWS. You trace API response handling errors in real time by setting breakpoints in your original source files (enabled via sourcemaps). This direct inspection helps you quickly identify issues without needing Chrome or remote debugging, streamlining your development and testing process.

React Developer Tools for Debug React Native

You must use the desktop app to debug React Native using React's Developer Tools. Simply use the following command to install it globally or locally in your project: 

yarn add react-devtools 

or npm: 

npm install react-devtools --save 

After that, run yarn react-devtools to activate the app. 

For these two reasons, React's Developer Tools may be the greatest tool for debugging React Native: 

• It makes it possible to debug React components. 
• It allows you to debug React Native styles (my favorite aspect of these development tools!). This feature is included in the latest version and works with the inspector in the developer menu. Writing styles used to be a pain, and you had to wait for the app to reload to see the changes. Now we can debug and implement style properties without reloading the app to see the results. 

Except for layout, basic state, and characteristics: 

• Debugging JavaScript is not possible. 
• Console logs are missing. 
• There are no breakpoints or exclusions. 

Although it works with emulated and real devices and is cross-platform, it is a highly specialized debugger. If I needed to debug my layout or determine where a component was getting props wrong, I would use this. 

The redeeming grace is that it also sets the highlighted component as a variable in Chrome Inspector, allowing you to dump the property's state there. It is quite a clever trick. 

Also read: Debugging C Program: Techniques, Tools, and Best Practices

Conclusion

Effective React Native debugging involves using tools like Chrome DevTools, Safari Web Inspector, and React Native Debugger to inspect code and manage network activity. Learning these techniques helps you quickly identify and fix issues, improving app stability and performance. To optimize your workflow, integrate debugging early in development and consistently leverage features like breakpoints, state inspection, and network analysis.

If you want to learn advanced skills to for React native debugging. These are some of the additional courses that can help understand React comprehensively. 

• Generative AI Mastery Certificate for Software Development
• Executive Programme in Generative AI for Leaders
• React.js For Beginners

Curious which courses can help you learn React? Contact upGrad for personalized counseling and valuable insights. For more details, you can also visit your nearest upGrad offline center. 

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References

1. https://citrusbug.com/blog/react-statistics/