diff --git a/ReactAndroid/src/main/java/com/facebook/react/devsupport/DebugServerException.java b/ReactAndroid/src/main/java/com/facebook/react/devsupport/DebugServerException.java
index 59f80aba4..1cf1ff387 100644
--- a/ReactAndroid/src/main/java/com/facebook/react/devsupport/DebugServerException.java
+++ b/ReactAndroid/src/main/java/com/facebook/react/devsupport/DebugServerException.java
@@ -22,24 +22,16 @@ import org.json.JSONException;
 import org.json.JSONObject;
 
 /**
+ * Tracks errors connecting to or received from the debug derver.
  * The debug server returns errors as json objects. This exception represents that error.
  */
 public class DebugServerException extends IOException {
-
-  public final String description;
-  public final String fileName;
-  public final int lineNumber;
-  public final int column;
-
   private DebugServerException(String description, String fileName, int lineNumber, int column) {
-    this.description = description;
-    this.fileName = fileName;
-    this.lineNumber = lineNumber;
-    this.column = column;
+    super(description + "\n  at " + fileName + ":" + lineNumber + ":" + column);
   }
 
-  public String toReadableMessage() {
-    return description + "\n  at " + fileName + ":" + lineNumber + ":" + column;
+  public DebugServerException(String description) {
+    super(description);
   }
 
   /**
diff --git a/ReactAndroid/src/main/java/com/facebook/react/devsupport/DevServerHelper.java b/ReactAndroid/src/main/java/com/facebook/react/devsupport/DevServerHelper.java
index 79a71b242..d8d802320 100644
--- a/ReactAndroid/src/main/java/com/facebook/react/devsupport/DevServerHelper.java
+++ b/ReactAndroid/src/main/java/com/facebook/react/devsupport/DevServerHelper.java
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ import javax.annotation.Nullable;
 
 import java.io.File;
 import java.io.IOException;
+import java.net.URL;
 import java.util.Locale;
 import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
 
@@ -177,7 +178,7 @@ public class DevServerHelper {
       final String jsModulePath,
       final File outputFile) {
     final String bundleURL = createBundleURL(getDebugServerHost(), jsModulePath, getDevMode(), getHMR());
-    Request request = new Request.Builder()
+    final Request request = new Request.Builder()
         .url(bundleURL)
         .build();
     mDownloadBundleFromURLCall = Assertions.assertNotNull(mClient.newCall(request));
@@ -191,7 +192,15 @@ public class DevServerHelper {
         }
         mDownloadBundleFromURLCall = null;
 
-        callback.onFailure(e);
+        StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
+        sb.append("Could not connect to development server.\n\n")
+          .append("URL: ").append(request.urlString()).append("\n\n")
+          .append("Try the following to fix the issue:\n")
+          .append("\u2022 Ensure that the packager server is running\n")
+          .append("\u2022 Ensure that your device/emulator is connected to your machine and has USB debugging enabled - run 'adb devices' to see a list of connected devices\n")
+          .append("\u2022 If you're on a physical device connected to the same machine, run 'adb reverse tcp:8081 tcp:8081' to forward requests from your device\n")
+          .append("\u2022 If your device is on the same Wi-Fi network, set 'Debug server host & port for device' in 'Dev settings' to your machine's IP address and the port of the local dev server - e.g. 10.0.1.1:8081");
+        callback.onFailure(new DebugServerException(sb.toString()));
       }
 
       @Override
@@ -210,7 +219,12 @@ public class DevServerHelper {
           if (debugServerException != null) {
             callback.onFailure(debugServerException);
           } else {
-            callback.onFailure(new IOException("Unexpected response code: " + response.code()));
+            StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
+            sb.append("The development server returned response error code: ").append(response.code()).append("\n\n")
+              .append("URL: ").append(request.urlString()).append("\n\n")
+              .append("Body:\n")
+              .append(body);
+            callback.onFailure(new DebugServerException(sb.toString()));
           }
           return;
         }
diff --git a/ReactAndroid/src/main/java/com/facebook/react/devsupport/DevSupportManagerImpl.java b/ReactAndroid/src/main/java/com/facebook/react/devsupport/DevSupportManagerImpl.java
index 7bdeea2d7..120443eca 100644
--- a/ReactAndroid/src/main/java/com/facebook/react/devsupport/DevSupportManagerImpl.java
+++ b/ReactAndroid/src/main/java/com/facebook/react/devsupport/DevSupportManagerImpl.java
@@ -633,7 +633,7 @@ public class DevSupportManagerImpl implements DevSupportManager {
                   public void run() {
                     if (cause instanceof DebugServerException) {
                       DebugServerException debugServerException = (DebugServerException) cause;
-                      showNewJavaError(debugServerException.description, cause);
+                      showNewJavaError(debugServerException.getMessage(), cause);
                     } else {
                       showNewJavaError(
                           mApplicationContext.getString(R.string.catalyst_jsload_error),
diff --git a/ReactAndroid/src/main/res/devsupport/values/strings.xml b/ReactAndroid/src/main/res/devsupport/values/strings.xml
index 0107c3689..d56ca71d1 100644
--- a/ReactAndroid/src/main/res/devsupport/values/strings.xml
+++ b/ReactAndroid/src/main/res/devsupport/values/strings.xml
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@
   <string name="catalyst_settings_title" project="catalyst" translatable="false">Catalyst Dev Settings</string>
   <string name="catalyst_jsload_title" project="catalyst" translatable="false">Please wait…</string>
   <string name="catalyst_jsload_message" project="catalyst" translatable="false">Fetching JS bundle</string>
-  <string name="catalyst_jsload_error" project="catalyst" translatable="false">Unable to download JS bundle from the dev server.\n\nTry the following to fix the issue:\n• Ensure that the packager server is running\n• Ensure that your device/emulator is connected to your machine and has USB debugging enabled - run \'adb devices\' to see a list of connected devices\n• If you\'re on a physical device connected to the same machine, run \'adb reverse tcp:8081 tcp:8081\' to forward requests from your device\n• If your device is on the same Wi-Fi network, set \'Debug server host &amp; port for device\' in \'Dev settings\' to your machine\'s IP address and the port of the local dev server - e.g. 10.0.1.1:8081</string>
+  <string name="catalyst_jsload_error" project="catalyst" translatable="false">Unable to download JS bundle. Did you forget to start the development server or connect your device?</string>
   <string name="catalyst_remotedbg_message" project="catalyst" translatable="false">Connecting to remote debugger</string>
   <string name="catalyst_remotedbg_error" project="catalyst" translatable="false">Unable to connect with remote debugger</string>
   <string name="catalyst_element_inspector" project="catalyst" translatable="false">Show Inspector</string>