Record a session and share it

Why: a bug showed up once and you’re not sure you can repeat it. With a recording, the developer sees the screen, the logs and every request of that very run, instead of reading “it sometimes fails at checkout”.

What happens

1. While a session is recorded, the Recording card next to the screen shows the elapsed time.
2. When something goes wrong, click the card or press Mark this moment: a marker is pinned on the recording’s timeline.
3. Open Recordings in the header and pick the recording. It plays like a video, with logcat, the WebView’s network and console moving along with the picture.
4. Click a marker to jump to it, and look at the Network tab for the failed request.
5. Press Share: a link is copied. Paste it into the ticket.

Good to know

• Depending on how your portal is set up, sessions are recorded always, unless you turn it off in the launch dialog, or only when you turn it on. If the card says “Not recording”, click it to start.
• A recording keeps more than the picture: logcat (the device’s system log), the WebViews’ requests, console and WebSockets, the device, network and load, and your taps. Typed text is never recorded.
• A share link opens the recording without signing in and carries the moment you’re at, so the reader lands right on the bug. Shared recordings and recordings with markers are not deleted automatically.
• Very short recordings (under 20 seconds by default) are thrown away when they end.

If it doesn’t work

• No Recording card or no Recordings button: recordings are turned off on this portal. Ask whoever runs it.
• Share is missing: share links are turned off on the portal; download the recording file instead (Download → Recording file).
• The recording ends early: it ends when the session stops. Stopping and starting it again makes a new recording.

More details: Recordings.