FLEX vs PonyDebugger
FLEX
engineering.flipboard.comPonyDebugger
github.comSide by side
| Figure | FLEX | PonyDebugger |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | — | Yes |
| macOS | — | Yes |
| iOS | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 1 |
| Spec score · Debuggers | 8.5 (#4) | 8.2 (#7) |
| Installation | The project documents installation through CocoaPods, Carthage, Buck, manual Xcode integration, and Swift Package Manager. | The iOS client can be installed with CocoaPods or manually, and the gateway server has a userland installation procedure using virtualenv. |
| Network debugging | Its network history can show requests made using NSURLConnection or NSURLSession, including timing, headers, and responses. | The iOS client forwards application network traffic through its proxy server for inspection in Chrome Developer Tools. |
| Purpose | FLEX is an in-app debugging and exploration tool for iOS development. | PonyDebugger is a client library and gateway server that uses Chrome Developer Tools to debug an application's network traffic and managed object contexts. |
Plans
In their own words
FLEX
FLEX is a free, open-source debugging and exploration library for iOS applications. It runs inside the app and places a toolbar in a window above it, allowing developers to inspect and change application state without an LLDB or Xcode connection or a remote debugging server. The tool can inspect view hierarchies, find live heap objects, show and modify properties and ivars, and call methods. Its network history covers NSURLConnection and NSURLSession requests with timing, headers, and responses. Developers can browse app bundles and sandboxes, inspect SQLite and Realm databases, and view or edit NSUserDefaults values, including strings, numbers, arrays, and dictionaries. FLEX works in the iOS Simulator and on physical devices, supports Objective-C and Swift, and requires an iOS 9-or-later target. Installation options include CocoaPods, Carthage, Buck, manual Xcode integration, and Swift Package Manager.
PonyDebugger
PonyDebugger is a free remote debugging toolset for native iOS apps. An app-side client connects to a gateway server, which presents debugging views through Chrome Developer Tools. Network traffic can be routed through a proxy for inspection in Chrome’s Network tools, including HTTPS; the client automatically proxies requests using NSURLConnection and NSURLSession. Developers can register managed object contexts and browse Core Data entities and objects, though these stores are read-only. The view hierarchy display can highlight matching views, edit displayed attributes, and remove nodes. Remote logging supports text and recursive inspection of object properties. Setup requires integrating the client and connecting it to the gateway; the quick start requires Xcode Command Line Tools. The gateway serves Chrome Developer Tools on localhost port 9000 by default, and can be configured for access from another device or computer. The iOS client requires iOS 5.0 or above. The project is Apache License 2.0; its README warns that automatic forwarding of all network traffic swizzles private API methods and should be limited to debug builds.