Localhost running on mac.. Can I view it on my Android phone?

Question

Running a ruby on rails project on my mac. I need to test it on my android phone. Is there a way to view my mac localhost on my android phone?

Answer 1

Here's a quick to-do to have your localhost available for tests on other devices :

1) identify the IP of your Android : select the Wi-Fi you're connected (the same as the one the Mac is on), you'll have the IP detailed on it). For the example : we suppose your Android IP is : 192.168.0.10

2) open a Shell on your Mac and edit your host :

sudo nano /etc/hosts

3) edit the file as this :

127.0.0.1 192.168.0.10

4) Identify your Mac IP : (as @Chuck perfectly explained) (in your shell) :

ifconfig

5) Open your favourite webbrowser you use on your phone and connect to your Mac IP (with the port if needed) with directly something like :

http://192.168.x.x:8000/

6) Enjoy your test :)

Notice you can do that for every support connected on your Wi-Fi.