debug application start

[baptx]

Hello, is it possible to start an Android application when the debugging starts instead of starting the app before?
This would be useful to set breakpoints called directly at the application start.

[JesusFreke]

There's an option for that in the android developer options. I forget the exact terminology, but iirc, you want to choose the application as a "debug app", and then I think there's another option to pause on app launch for a debugger to attach.

[baptx]

@JesusFreke Thanks, I remember it was mentioned in an article (https://simoneaonzo.it/debug-smali/).
The solution is also mentioned here:
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/16929391/android-how-to-debug-apps-start-up-process/69151258#69151258
I got it working with IntelliJ IDEA and Waydroid by enabling developer options (tap the build number 7 times), selecting the debug app and enabling the option "Wait for debugger".

[baptx]

@JesusFreke It would be useful to mention it in the README steps, which currently say to start the app before the debugger.