DW Spectrum Collecting Mobile Debug Logs

How to Collect DW Spectrum Mobile Debug Logs?

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Affected Roles: Administrator, Owner

Related Digital Watchdog VMS Apps: DW Spectrum IPVMS, DW Spectrum Mobile

Last Edit: April 25, 2025

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Debug Logs

When reporting issues encountered on DW Spectrum Mobile, you may be asked to provide a mobile client log that can help the support team investigate and resolve your request.

Common issues that are investigated in these cases include:

DW Cloud connectivity issues (may also require the DW Spectrum Server debug log and DW Cloud System ID)
Mobile application crashes

This article will outline how to collect debug logs from an Android or iOS mobile device for DW Spectrum Mobile.

Part 1: Collecting Debug Logs for Android

Before collecting the debug logs, make sure that the DW Spectrum Mobile application can access the internal storage of the Android device.

This option can typically be found under Settings > Permission in Android devices.

Changing Log Level of DW Spectrum Mobile for Android

To configure DW Spectrum Mobile (Android) to create debug logs:

Open the DW Spectrum Mobile application on the Android device.
Open the Main menu then press-and-hold on the version number for at least 10 seconds.

The Developer Settings will display.
Configure the following:
- Change Log Level – set the desired logging level. If you are unclear on the needed level, “Verbose” will log everything.
- Upload logs next – set the how long the log will capture information.

When ready, tap the Upload logs next button.
Copy the Log ID then recreate the issue (multiple times if possible).
- Issues caused by stream playback – connect to the DW Spectrum System through the mobile application and attempt to view the camera’s video stream
- Issues with DW Cloud connectivity – attempt to connect to the DW Spectrum System through the mobile application. When the “unreachable” flag displays, wait at least one minute. Repeat the scenario several times to make sure that the issue has been replicated.

Provide the Log ID to DW Technical Support for your case.

1.2 Computer Setup Instructions for Android

To obtain the debug logs using a computer:

On your PC, open a text editor (ex. Notepad) and paste the following content:

logFile="/sdcard/mobile_client"

enableLog=1

logLevel=verbose

**NOTE: The “logLevel=” value represents the logging level that you selected in Section 1.1 above. Replace “verbose” with the logging level that you set in DW Spectrum Mobile.

Save the file and name it as “mobile_client.ini”.

Make sure that the DW Spectrum Mobile application is closed on the phone then connect the phone to your PC with a USB cable.

**NOTE: For other OS platforms, additional applications or dependencies are required (see the instructions for macOS or Ubuntu).

Unlock the phone and access the phone’s storage with the computer’s File Explorer application.

Move the mobile_client.ini file to the Android phone’s storage folder.

1.3 Collecting the Debug Log Files from Android

Now that the mobile application has been set up for logging, please replicate the issue.
- Issues caused by stream playback – connect to the DW Spectrum System through the mobile application and attempt to view the camera’s video stream
- Issues with DW Cloud connectivity – attempt to connect to the DW Spectrum System through the mobile application. When the “unreachable” flag displays, wait at least one minute. Repeat the scenario several times to make sure that the issue has been replicated.

Close the DW Spectrum Mobile application and take note of the current time.

Using your PC, open the phone’s storage and locate the “mobile_client.log” file.
The mobile_client.log file should be located in the same folder as the mobile_client.ini file in the phone’s storage.

Use a text editor (ex. Notepad) to open the file.

Check the timestamps listed in the file and make sure that the debug log has covered the desired amount of time. If not, remove the log file and repeat Section 1.1 above.

Copy the mobile_client.log to your PC and share it with the DW Support Team for further investigation.

Part 2 – Collecting Debug Logs for iOS

Obtaining the debug logs from an iOS device is slightly different in comparison the process for an Android device. Follow the instructions below for this process.

2.1 Changing Log Level of DW Spectrum Mobile for iOS

To obtain debug logs from an iOS device:

Launch the DW Spectrum Mobile application on your iOS device. Make sure to disconnect from all DW Spectrum Systems.
Press and hold on the version number for 10 seconds.

The Developer Settings will begin to display.
Change the Change Log Level to ‘DEBUG2’ (verbose).

2.2 Collecting the Debug Log Files from iOS

Completely close the DW Spectrum Mobile application on the iOS device.

If you have not already done so, connect the iPhone or iPad to a macOS computer with a USB cable.

Open the Console application on the macOS computer. This can be found in the /Applications/Utilities/ directory.

From the Console app sidebar, locate the Devices section. Select the iOS mobile device that is connected to the computer.

Console log data for the iOS device will begin to display.

Launch the DW Spectrum Mobile application and take note of the current time.

Press and hold the DW Spectrum mobile number for ten (10) seconds and confirm that the Change Log Level is set to “verbose”.

Now that the mobile application has been set up for logging, replicate the issue.
- Issues caused by stream playback – connect to the DW Spectrum System through the mobile application and attempt to view the camera’s video stream
- Issues with DW Cloud connectivity – attempt to connect to the DW Spectrum System through the mobile application. When the “unreachable” flag displays, wait at least one minute. Repeat the scenario several times to make sure that the issue has been replicated.

Next, close the DW Spectrum Mobile application and record the time that the mobile client was stopped on the iOS device.

On the macOS computer, check the timestamps that are listed in the log and make sure that the log has covered the desired amount of time. If not, clean the log entries and repeat the steps above.