Bugjaeger Mobile ADB – Develop & Debug via USB OTG - Interview with the developer of a fantastic app

Did you have any prior development or coding experience?

I’ve been developing Android apps for a couple of years now. I’m a self-taught programmer and the first applications that I’ve developed were reporting tools for a company in the financial sector. Developing Android apps was just a free time activity at first. Later it became my main focus. I’m really enjoying it. I developed various apps related to image processing, audio, or even industry automation. Bugjaeger is one of my tech tools.

What was the most challenging aspect of developing mobile app?

Getting a better understanding of the underlining technologies and combine them to create the app. I needed to spend a lot of time studying the sources of the Android system before I could write even one line of code. Additionally, the app is a combination of Java/Kotlin code and native C/C++ code, which slows down the development.

_{Roman Sisik}

My name is Roman Sisik. I'm an app developer, entrepreneur and tech blogger.
I created the Bugjaeger app for all tech-savvy Android enthusiasts out there. I'm the owner of sisik.eu blog where I write about all kinds of mobile technologies and embedded systems.

Name a few of your favorite apps and reason you love them.

Waze – I like the accuracy. The app really helped me to avoid traffic and find the fastest way. It saved me so much time.
Audible app – Listening to audio books is my favorite activity when driving or doing sports. But the app itself is also handy and easy to use.
WhatsApp – Reliable, fast, and easy to use. And I also like that it offers a desktop version seamlessly synchronized with the app.

How long have you been working on this app?

I started to work on Bugjaeger during the summer of 2017 and I published the initial version end of October of the same year. Since then there were so many changes – various new features, UI improvements, bug fixes.

What need of the user did you have in mind when developing this app?

I wanted to give the user who is interested in Android technology the possibility to use the tools that are normally only available on the development machine directly from his phone. The tech-savvy user should be able to do tasks like executing scripts, checking logs, taking screenshots without even using his laptop. Just with a couple of taps on his phone/tablet.

In what way do you think your app is better than similar apps on the market? Please describe in detail what innovation you think you bring and what you are proud of in your app.

I think enabling access via USB OTG (not only WiFi), so that the user can use the app in a similar way as the desktop tools he is already familiar with, was one of the differentiating things.

Another thing is streamlined commands packed into a mobile interface, so that instead of typing in and executing various ADB shell commands, you just need to do a couple of taps.

One additional thing is packing the two important development and flashing tools (fastboot + ADB) into one mobile app. So that the user can have access to the functionality of both tools (which is I think are related) from one app.

What are your future plans and expected features of the coming new versions of this app?

There are so many things that I would like to implement. First, there will probably be some improvements and additional features related to file manipulation, fastboot and logs.

I also would like to give the user more configuration options, so that he can tweak the app according to his preferences.

Later I would like to give users more options to share scripts, logs, or other content extracted by the app with each other.

Assuming new users of your app are reading this page. What do you want to ask them to do (contact you about X, Share the app, etc.)?

The app has a bit of a learning curve, so I would suggest that the users check my blog posts with “Bugjaeger” tag. This should help them see all the possibilities that the app offers.

If they like the app, I’d really be glad when they would tell about it to their tech-savvy friend who’s interested in Android-related stuff.

Additionally, if they have suggestions or issues, they should really let me know. Explaining the suggestions or issues that they have in detail can really help to improve the app.