How to Detect Frida and Frida Methods in Android & iOS Apps

Last updated November 27, 2023 by Appdome

This Knowledge Base article describes how to use Appdome’s AI/ML in your CI/CD pipeline to continuously deliver plugins that Detect Frida and Frida Methods in Mobile apps.

What is Frida?

Frida is a dynamic/binary instrumentation toolkit intended for developers, pen-testers, and security researchers. Frida has official builds made by the Frida.re website, while a custom Frida toolkit is a non-official Frida typically used by malicious actors to compromise mobile apps, inject malicious code, or change a mobile app’s logic or behavior in unintended and malicious ways, such as creating an update to existing malware, disabling SSL/TLS Pinning, and intercepting the network traffic via a middleman proxy. In addition, Custom Frida can be used to reverse engineer how apps work and obtain knowledge on an undocumented API used in an app.

Why Detect Frida and Its Methods in Mobile Apps?

By opting to detect Frida and Frida methods, developers can thwart cybercriminals who might employ custom Frida toolkits to exploit mobile apps, inject malicious code, or modify an app’s logic in hazardous ways. Detecting Frida methods is also crucial since a custom Frida toolkit can be used to reverse-engineer application functionalities and extract insights from undocumented APIs used by Android apps. By implementing detection mechanisms for Frida and its methods, mobile applications are protected from potential threats.

Prerequisites for Using Appdome's Detect Frida and Frida Methods Plugins:

To use Appdome’s mobile app security build system to Detect Frida and Frida Methods , you’ll need:

How to Implement Detect Frida and Frida Methods in Mobile Apps Using Appdome

On Appdome, follow these simple steps to create self-defending Mobile Apps that Detect Frida and Frida Methods without an SDK or gateway:

  1. Designate the Mobile App to be protected.

    1. Upload an app via the Appdome Mobile Defense platform GUI or via Appdome’s DEV-API or CI/CD Plugins.

    2. Mobile App Formats: .ipa for iOS, or .apk or .aab for Android
    3. Detect Frida and Frida Methods is compatible with: Obj-C, Java, JS, C#, C++, Swift, Kotlin, Flutter, React Native, Unity, Xamarin, and more.
  2. Select the defense: Detect Frida and Frida Methods.

      1. Create and name the Fusion Set (security template) that will contain the Detect Frida and Frida Methods feature as shown below:
        fusion set that contains Detect Frida and Frida Methods

        Figure 1: Fusion Set that will contain the Detect Frida and Frida Methods feature

      2. Follow the steps in Sections 2.2-2.2.2 of this article to add the Detect Frida and Frida Methods feature to your Fusion Set via the Appdome Console.

      3. When you enable Block Frida you'll notice that the Fusion Set you created in step 2.1 now bears the icon of the protection category that contains Detect Frida and Frida Methods.

        Fusion Set applied Detect Frida and Frida Methods

        Figure 2: Fusion Set that displays the newly added Detect Frida and Frida Methods protection
        Note: Annotating the Fusion Set to identify the protection(s) selected is optional only (not mandatory).

      4. Open the Fusion Set Detail Summary by clicking the “...” symbol on the far-right corner of the Fusion Set. Copy the Fusion Set ID from the Fusion Set Detail Summary (as shown below): fusion Set Detail Summary image

        Figure 3: Fusion Set Detail Summary

      5. Follow the instructions below to use the Fusion Set ID inside any standard mobile DevOps or CI/CD toolkit like Bitrise, Jenkins, Travis, Team City, Circle CI or other system:
        1. Refer to the Appdome API Reference Guide for API building instructions.
        2. Look for sample APIs in Appdome’s GitHub Repository.
    1. Add the Detect Frida and Frida Methods feature to your security template.

      1. Navigate to Build > Anti Fraud tab > Mobile Malware Prevention section in the Appdome Console.
      2. Toggle On Block Frida > Detect Frida and Frida Methods.
        Note: The checkmark feature Detect Frida and Frida Methods is enabled by default, as shown below. Detect Frida and Frida Methods option

        Figure 4: Selecting Detect Frida and Frida Methods

    2. Initiate the build command either by clicking Build My App at the bottom of the Build Workflow (shown in Figure 4) or via your CI/CD as described in Section 2.1.4.
    Congratulations!  The Detect Frida and Frida Methods protection is now added to the mobile app
  3. Certify the Detect Frida and Frida Methods feature in Mobile Apps

    After building Detect Frida and Frida Methods, Appdome generates a Certified Secure™ certificate to guarantee that the Detect Frida and Frida Methods protection has been added and is protecting the app. To verify that the Detect Frida and Frida Methods protection has been added to the mobile app, locate the protection in the Certified Secure™ certificate as shown below: Detect Frida and Frida Methods shown in Certificate secure

    Figure 5: Certified Secure™ certificate

    Each Certified Secure™ certificate provides DevOps and DevSecOps organizations the entire workflow summary, audit trail of each build, and proof of protection that Detect Frida and Frida Methods has been added to each Mobile app. Certified Secure provides instant and in-line DevSecOps compliance certification that Detect Frida and Frida Methods and other mobile app security features are in each build of the mobile app.


Using Appdome, there are no development or coding prerequisites to build secured Apps by using Detect Frida and Frida Methods. There is no SDK and no library to code or implement in the app and no gateway to deploy in your network. All protections are built into each app and the resulting app is self-defending and self-protecting.

Releasing and Publishing Mobile Apps with Detect Frida and Frida Methods

After successfully securing your app by using Appdome, there are several available options to complete your project, depending on your app lifecycle or workflow. These include:

Related Articles:

How Do I Learn More?

If you have any questions, please send them our way at support.appdome.com or via the chat window on the Appdome platform.

Thank you!

Thanks for visiting Appdome! Our mission is to secure every app on the planet by making mobile app security easy. We hope we’re living up to the mission with your project.

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