Then head back to the System menu to access Developer options. The steps are more or less the same across the board, with subtle differences based on Settings app layout and customization. One thing that remains consistent across all devices is that if you have a lock on your phone, you’ll have to type in your PIN when you activate Developer options. USB Debugging is the most used option on this list for several reasons. When enabled, this option lets the devices connected via USB gather information and send commands to your phone.
The first thing that you have to do is launch the Settings app and head over to About Phone. The data is anonymised and only held for the duration of the investigation. Find out more about sending an error report through the Samsung Members app. Scroll down to the bottom of the Settings screen and tap “About Phone” or “About Tablet.”
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Typically, the choices depend on the type and model of the device you are working with. With Developer mode enabled, return to the main Settings menu, then open the System menu and scroll down. From there, select the new Developer options menu (marked by the curly brackets) towards the bottom. While these options offer immense flexibility and functionality, they also come with inherent risks if misused or enabled without proper understanding. Therefore, caution must be exercised when exploring the options found under developer settings. When you tap on an app, you can also see the specific processes and services it’s using.
As mentioned earlier, these options are primarily meant for developers to test their apps. Earlier, we wrote a piece on some helpful https://wizardsdev.com/en/vacancy/strong-middle-android-developer/ developer options to enable on your device. However, accessing the developer options menu isn’t straightforward as it is hidden.
How to Enable Developer Options and USB Debugging on Android
For the most part, you’ll never need this menu as most of the options and settings are useful for developers and that’s about it. However, once in a while, it’s useful for us regular folks to have access to it too. For example, you need USB debugging turned on if you want to sideload an update using ADB on your PC. Or, on the Pixel 4, the Developer options menu includes settings to control when the 90Hz display comes on.
If you are unable to use developer options, you can use a few familiar troubleshooting methods to try and fix the same. You can also report an error through the Samsung Members app if you’re having issues with your phone. Just tap Support and select Error reports under Send feedback. Follow the on-screen instructions to describe your issue and send a report. Wi-Fi scan throttling limits background apps from scanning for Wi-Fi to once every 30 minutes. Without being activated, this can be as much as once every 15 seconds.
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This is a bit like force-enabling antialiasing using the NVIDIA Control Panel on a Windows gaming PC. If you have a high-end phone or tablet with great graphics performance and you play 3D games on it, there’s a way to make those games look even better. Just go to the Developer Options screen and enable the “Force 4x MSAA” option. It’s called “Running Services,” and it shows every single app that’s currently running on your device. You can also see each app’s corresponding processes and services, how much RAM it’s using, and how long it’s been running. This is also where you can stop those individual processes and services within apps, though you really shouldn’t need to do that.
Correctly using developer options can save you time and energy in performing multiple tasks on your android device. Also, you come to know about the hidden potential of your device by knowing what developer options do. Even something as simple as spoofing your GPS location, or fooling apps into thinking you’re somewhere that you aren’t, requires you to enable developer mode. For example, if you want to spoof your GPS in Pokemon Go, you need to enable developer mode. When you slide the toggle button to enable USB debugging, it will pop up a dialog message displaying that this feature is used for development purposes only. Again, tap the Build number repeatedly until the phone tells you that you’re a developer.
Reveal Developer Options
However, higher performance means that it’ll also drain the battery quickly. If you’re on Android 10 and above, you already have a system-wide dark mode option on your phone. But when it comes to apps, some of them still lack a dark mode option. You can use ‘Override force-dark’ option to enable dark modes in those apps as well. This won’t work flawlessly for every app, but it’ll help if you hate using light mode.
Developer options should be towards the bottom of this screen. Tap Build number repeatedly until it says you’re a developer, then back out to the main Settings menu. Developer options should now be the last item at the bottom of the menu. For more detailed touch data, you can enable the Pointer location option to see the touch input and its path and the detailed coordinates at the top. When you enable the Show Taps option, it’ll show a small circle on the screen wherever it registers a touch. This can be particularly useful when recording your screen to create a tutorial of some sort to show the precise location of the touches.
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The Developer options menu lets you configure system behaviours to improve app performance. The list of developer options will depend on the version of Android that your device is running. As the name implies, the “Developer Options”—sometimes called “Developer Mode”—are intended to be used by Android developers.
- It allows you to see what processes are currently running on your smartphone, how much RAM is in use, and what apps are using it.
- Some phones will include a general message about tinkering with your Android phone, but you can simply tap OK.
- You can have access to the hidden features of Android by configuring some settings on your device.
- If you’re interested in developing apps for Galaxy devices, visit Android Developers and Samsung Developers for more information.
- Want to install an app that’s not available in your country?
The developer options feature is enabled by default on Android devices running on Android 4.1 or below OS versions. However, you need to enable it on devices running on Android 4.2 or above OS versions. The reason for hiding this feature by default is that it is designed for developers who want to check various functionalities of the device. By default, the developer options are locked on Android as these are advanced settings only meant for developers to test apps. Thus, tweaking them without knowledge can impact your phone’s performance. You can also investigate other, more advanced settings using Android’s developer options.