How to Capture Android App Traffic with Charles and Drony: A Step‑by‑Step Guide

Why Use Charles + Drony for Packet Capture?

When capturing traffic from Android apps, several tools are available (Fiddler, Charles, etc.). Combining Charles with a VPN app like Drony avoids Wi‑Fi proxy detection because VPN forwarding is independent of the device's proxy settings, making it a reliable choice.

Tool Download

Link: https://pan.baidu.com/s/1TYelBGxO5n0sqVidN48djg
Password: 5c5u

Environment

pixel2   v10 (rooted)
Magisk   v23.0
Charles  v4.6.2
Drony    v1.3.154

Charles Configuration

Requirements

JDK

Enable super administrator

Disable firewall

Download

Charles download: https://www.charlesproxy.com/download/

Installation

Follow the installer prompts (Next → Next) and launch Charles after installation.

Activation

Generate a registration key at https://www.zzzmode.com/mytools/charles/ and enter it via Help → Registered.

Set Proxy

Open Proxy Settings and ensure the Windows Proxy option is unchecked (so PC traffic is not captured).

Configure the listening port as needed.

SSL Proxying

Open SSL Proxying Settings and add *.* to enable SSL interception.

After this configuration, Charles can capture HTTP traffic, but HTTPS still appears as failed (red X) until a certificate is installed.

Certificate Configuration

Save Certificate

In Charles, click Save Charles Root Cert... and choose a location.

Push to Phone

adb push C:\Users\Ti\Downloads\1.pem /sdcard/1.pem

Install on Device

Open the pushed file from storage and install the certificate (any name is fine). The certificate appears in the trusted credentials list.

Certificate Paths

System cert path: /etc/security/cacerts
User cert path:   /data/misc/user/0/cacerts-added

Since Android 7+ trusts only system certificates, move the user certificate to the system location using Magisk's Move Certificates module.

Drony Configuration

Install Drony, then open Settings → Wi‑Fi → (not) Wireless Networks…

Set Hostname and Port

Enter the same hostname and port used for the Wi‑Fi proxy.

Configure Filter

Scroll to Filter and select Redirect All .

Add App Rule

Tap Rules , press the + button, add the target app, set behavior to Allow All , and save.

Repeat to add more apps as needed.

Start Drony

Return to the main screen and toggle the switch to start forwarding traffic for the selected apps.

Example Captures

Using the configured Wi‑Fi proxy, the author captured login traffic from a sample app (referred to as “某狗”). The same method worked for another app (“某物”), revealing that apps employing Wi‑Fi proxy detection fail to show data unless Drony is used.

Summary

Combining Charles with Drony provides a robust solution for capturing both HTTP and HTTPS traffic from Android applications, bypassing proxy detection mechanisms and simplifying network debugging.