Malloc debug

See Malloc Debug and Native Memory Tracking using libc Callbacks for a thorough description of the debugging options available for native memory issues.

Malloc statistics

Android supports the mallinfo(3)and malloc_info(3) extensions to <malloc.h>. The malloc_info function is available in Android 6.0 and later and its XML schema is documented in Bionic's <malloc.h>.

Dalvik Debug Monitor Server

You can also use the Dalvik Debug Monitor Server (DDMS) to obtain a graphical view of Malloc Debug output.

To use DDMS, first turn on its native memory UI:

1. Open ~/.android/ddms.cfg
2. Add the line: native=true

Upon relaunching DDMS and selecting a process, you can switch to the new native allocation tab and populate it with a list of allocations. This is especially useful for debugging memory leaks.