I loved Charles, I used it for many years. It only stopped when an update changed the UI in ways that were confusing, and also the chrome network tab really did everything I need in terms of inspecting requests / responses.
Yes, Proxyman has great sim integration, including the ability to filter by apps within the sim. It's a far better macOS app than Charles, and I've never found it to be lacking a feature I used in Charles.
I feel obliged to mention Fiddler. The tool I loved almost 20 years back and felt like it came from future. IIRC it was/is more powerful than Charles. Fiddler was Windows only but at one time they had builds for other platforms in works. Sadly they got acquired which changed their roadmap, and I had also moved on from Windows.
I once used Charles Proxy to change all the game configs for Candy Crush Saga on my phone back in 2013 by intercepting and replacing the API requests - I made all the puzzles have 1-2 colors and infinite powerups. I guess they didn't care much about the security because I ended up spending way more time in the game
I used Charles for a while and also jumped on the Proxyman bandwagon. It’s a slick tool and even works for remote debugging (i.e., an iPhone attached to your computer with a cable).
Fantastic software that I've used for over a decade. Interacted with Karl a few years ago about Adobe's AMF format; very generous with his time.
I was surprised to learn that it's over 20 years old! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Proxy
Never learnt the use of this tool. The certificate configuration tripped my head during my work.
This gives brain damage because it doesn't make sense.
Why to check network payload when you are sure the data was sent.
The closest free alternative is https://www.mitmproxy.org/ that is not even close.
And off course, https://www.wireshark.org/ but that is too generic and with a bigger learning curve.
Worth the money. And no subscription (or there weren't a subscription back then)
https://portswigger.net/burp/communitydownload
Does it work for Xcode simulators?
I use Charles extensively (I am using it for the development I’m doing right now), and it needs to work on simulators.
Cost isn’t an issue for me. Fitness to purpose is important. I won’t cripple my development capacity, in order to save $50.
Thanks!
https://www.telerik.com/fiddler
I’m on proxyman https://proxyman.com/
https://www.charlesproxy.com/documentation/ios/
https://httptoolkit.com
It even bypasses SSL pinning on Android using 1 click.
Why to check network payload when you are sure the data was sent.
-frontend developer
I emailed the author about it a decade ago but he didn’t seem convinced