How do I detect if I am in release or debug mode?

Yes, you will have no problems using:

if (BuildConfig.DEBUG) {
   //It's not a release version.
}

Unless you are importing the wrong BuildConfig class. Make sure you are referencing your project's BuildConfig class, not from any of your dependency libraries.

Try the following:

boolean isDebuggable =  ( 0 != ( getApplicationInfo().flags & ApplicationInfo.FLAG_DEBUGGABLE ) );

Kotlin:

val isDebuggable = 0 != applicationInfo.flags and ApplicationInfo.FLAG_DEBUGGABLE

It is taken from bundells post from here

The simplest, and best long-term solution, is to use BuildConfig.DEBUG. This is a boolean value that will be true for a debug build, false otherwise:

if (BuildConfig.DEBUG) {
  // do something for a debug build
}

There have been reports that this value is not 100% reliable from Eclipse-based builds, though I personally have not encountered a problem, so I cannot say how much of an issue it really is.

If you are using Android Studio, or if you are using Gradle from the command line, you can add your own stuff to BuildConfig or otherwise tweak the debug and release build types to help distinguish these situations at runtime.

The solution from Illegal Argument is based on the value of the android:debuggable flag in the manifest. If that is how you wish to distinguish a "debug" build from a "release" build, then by definition, that's the best solution. However, bear in mind that going forward, the debuggable flag is really an independent concept from what Gradle/Android Studio consider a "debug" build to be. Any build type can elect to set the debuggable flag to whatever value that makes sense for that developer and for that build type.