Android Developer Mode: Enabling and Using

Developer mode on Android is a special section of functions that is turned off or completely hidden by default. After activation, it opens access to a set of different settings and capabilities. Among them are: additional items for working with the hardware and software of a mobile gadget, tools for debugging, logging, creating reports, diagnosing the device, etc.

In most cases, the functions of developer mode are not of interest to the average user, since they are aimed mainly at professionals: programmers, firmware developers, application creators and service center technicians. But sometimes there may be a need for a simple user to use developer mode. There is no way to avoid using the functions hidden in this section when you need to enable USB debugging, enable bootloader unlocking, or show touches on the screen. How to enable this mode and get into its menu is what this article is about.

How to enable developer mode on Android

On Android 4.1 and below, the “For Developers” item is in the settings menu. In new versions of the operating system it is hidden.

To enable it, from Android 4.2 to Android 7.1, go to settings and find the “About phone” section. Find the “Build number” item there and quickly click on it 7 times in a row.

A message will appear on the screen indicating how many times you have left to click. Continue until the “You are now a developer!” notification appears.

After this, the “For Developers” section will be in the main settings menu.

Turn on the screen by double tapping Android

This option allows you to activate your phone with a double tap.

The item may be in the Accessibility section. Or in screen settings > press to turn on.

It is important to understand that not all devices support double tap activation.

  1. Let's go to settings.
  2. Next we find the Screen option.
  3. On some versions of the operating system you will need to click Advanced to open the full menu.
  4. Activate the Enable item by pressing, the name of the item may be slightly different, depending on the version of the operating system.

Some device models do not have this function. For others, the setting may be in a different section:

Settings > Convenience > Gestures and motions > Idle gestures.

By the way, double tap may not work in your pocket, because the proximity sensor will be covered there. It all depends on the device model.

The function is convenient, for example, to quickly view notifications or time.

Sometimes this function is not available, as for example in Huawei P9 Lite, but it turns out that it can be enabled if you have root rights (a special application may be required).

How to enable the “For Developers” option on Android 8 and 9

On Android 8.0 and later, to enable the developer menu, go to the “System” section. In this section, find the sub-item “About phone”.

By clicking on the “Build number” line 7 times, you will receive a notification that you have become a developer.

The “For Developers” item will appear in the “System” section of the main settings menu.

What is HWUI?

HWUI Library

allows you to accelerate UI components using the GPU.
HWUI
was introduced in Honeycomb to make the user interface fast, responsive and smooth.
... HWUI
requires an OpenGL-compliant 2.0 GPU, which cannot be emulated using software on
Android
.

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Developer mode in MIUI on Xiaomi

In MIUI firmware on Xiaomi, the developer menu is enabled in a similar way. The “About phone” item is located first in the settings menu. Go into it and find the “MIUI Version” parameter. By quickly tapping on it 7 times in a row, the notification “You have become a developer!” will appear on the screen.

After enabling the mode, go to the main settings menu and find the “Advanced settings” (“System and device”) item there. The “For Developers” menu will be at the end of the list, this is the third item from the bottom.

Diagnostics

Even if there is a slight impairment of color vision, many people do not even suspect it. And the presence of pathology will be learned as a result of the next examination by an ophthalmologist.

To test vision for color perception, experts use special Rabkin tables, which include images of numbers consisting of a certain color of circles located against a background of a different color. A healthy person (trichromat) recognizes numbers without difficulty, but with existing pathology, recognizing the presented symbols is difficult. Given that the examination is carried out in daylight, with a distance to the table of at least 1 meter.

Menu Features Overview for Developers

The functions in the developer menu are grouped into categories. A brief description of each of them will be below. Some settings are not present in all devices, but since developer mode is part of the kernel, most parameters are available regardless of the firmware.

See also: How to set up GPS on Android?

Memory. Shows the average consumption of the Android OS and applications over the recent period of operation.

Bug report. Can be interactive and detailed. The first allows you to create a screenshot, supplement it with information about the problem, and track the status. Detailed – collects extended information about the system, covering many parameters. Used if the device works poorly, does not respond to actions, or even slows down.

Backup password. Allows you to set a password to protect your backup data.

Don't turn off the screen. Leaves the screen backlight constantly on when the device is charging.

Enable HCI Bluetooth log. Allows you to save Bluetooth HCI data packets to the log file BTSNOOP_HCI.log (the file location is different on different devices and OS versions). Using special software you can analyze log data

Factory unlock. Allows/prohibits unlocking the bootloader on devices with it locked. Activation is necessary, for example, to install unofficial firmware.

Working applications. List of running applications and display of system resource consumption by each of them.

Color mode. Activates the SRGB color scheme.

WebView service. Selecting an engine for processing web pages by applications without standard browser functions.

Automatic system updates. Enables installation of system updates when the mobile gadget is rebooted.

Differences between the demo smartphone and the original

First of all, the difference lies in the attractive price, reduced by up to 70% compared to the original version. The bad news is that the display samples do not have a GSM module, i.e. You cannot call these numbers. Also, the demo version does not have a fingerprint scanner. This restriction is introduced to prevent the buyer from accidentally or intentionally entering his fingerprint into the system.

Apple has also introduced a number of other restrictions. For example, the operating system installed in the demo version of the iPhone does not allow you to delete pre-installed applications and download new ones. Thus, only the default software is available.

Another unpleasant point is advertising, which regularly pops up on the displays of demo smartphones and does not allow you to comfortably use the device. Plus, any settings specified by the user on display samples are reset to factory settings after 15 minutes of standby mode.

Now about the pleasant things. In addition to the tempting price, demo smartphones have a number of other advantages. In terms of functions, this is a full-fledged device, only without a cellular module and a fingerprint scanner. The camera, hardware, screen and other characteristics are identical to those in the original versions. At the same time, the battery sometimes holds its charge much longer, because it does not need to waste resources on working with mobile networks.

Set aside

The “Debugging” mode items are responsible for debugging the operation of the OS from a PC via a USB cable.

USB debugging. Enable/disable PC debugging support.

Revoke access. Prohibit interference with the operation of the PC system from which debugging was previously carried out.

Bug report. Displays the corresponding key in the menu.

Select app for dummy locations. Responsible for selecting the application that transmitted false location coordinates (Fake GPS).

Enable attribute checking. Enables attribute checking in debug mode.

Select the application to debug. Selecting a specific application for debugging. It will be useful for programmers and software developers.

Wait for the debugger to connect. The item is inactive until the application for debugging is specified.

Check the application during installation. Checking application security when installed via ADB/ADT.

Log buffer size. Responsible for the size of the buffer into which the debugging process log is written.

Debugging the GPU. Enables loading of GPU debug layers.

Track system updates. Monitor and analyze workflows to increase operating system productivity.

How to set up a colorblind screen on a Samsung smartphone.

The magnificent screens of modern smartphones provide rich reproduction of more than a million colors. And looking at this world through the screen of a smartphone, whether taking pictures or “walking” on the Internet, we optimistically perceive this life, colored by an infinite number of shades of color emitted by the pixels of the display, even if it is filled with worries, worries, sadness or joy.
But, according to medical statistics, seeing all the diversity of the color palette is, unfortunately, almost impossible for many people: approximately 8% of men and 0.5% of women in the United States from birth cannot correctly perceive the color of the world around them, as they suffer from color blindness .

Deuteranomaly (more often called “ color blindness ”) is a disorder of color perception that is usually congenital. The term "color blindness" began to be used at the end of the 18th century. It is named after the English chemist J. Dalton, who was able to identify and describe this disorder in himself.

A person is able to perceive the main colors of the daylight spectrum thanks to special receptors in the retina - cones. There are only three of them, and each cone is responsible for the perception of its own tone - red, blue or green. All other shades are obtained by mixing these basic colors. The normal functioning of cones gives a person correct color perception. If the functioning of one of the receptors is disrupted, a person’s color perception is distorted. In medicine, this is called dichromazeum, and there are three types: - deuteranomaly - a type of color blindness, characterized by the inability to perceive green shades, i.e. green is confused with red; - protanomaly - color blindness, in which a person finds it difficult to distinguish red shades, i.e. red is confused with green; - tritanomaly - color blindness with the absence of perception of blue color, i.e. blue gets confused with yellow.

Fortunately, this specific perception of color, which is also called “color blindness,” in any way affect the clarity of a person’s vision.

But this deviation in color perception cannot be treated, and the only method that somehow allows it to be corrected is the use of glasses with special filters, which are ordinary coated lenses that allow a person to distinguish shades of green, blue or red.

It is quite possible for a person with such a congenital disorder to live a full life: for this it is enough to adapt to the world around him. And a smartphone will help you with this, the screen of which can be customized by turning on special light filters.

Networks

This section is responsible for wired and wireless (USB, BT, Wi-Fi) connections.

Certification of wireless monitors. Displays WiDi/Miracast display certification options.

Detailed Wi-Fi log. Extended log for network connections.

Switch to mobile network. Automatically switches to mobile. internet if wifi gets bad.

Always enable searching for Wi-Fi networks. The mobile gadget searches for networks even when using EDGE/3G/4G.

Don't turn off your mobile internet. Keeps the EDGE/3G/LTE connection always active, even when Wi-Fi is running. Useful when the Wi-Fi connection is poor.

Hardware acceleration in modem mode. Using acceleration when connecting as a modem. Can be useful when internet speed is low.

See also: How to automate your Android device?

USB configuration. PC connection mode: charging, MTP (data transfer), PTP (in camera mode), RNDIS (network card), audio source, MIDI (sound synthesizer).

Show Bluetooth devices without names. Displays the MAC addresses of available wireless gadgets.

Disable absolute volume level. Disable absolute volume level. May be useful if BT headphones play too soft/loud.

Enable in-band playback. Transmits sound signals from the phone to headphones. Turn it on if the headset does not report an incoming call or message.

Bluetooth version AVRCP. Selecting the control signal protocol version. The change sometimes helps if the mobile gadget does not respond correctly to button presses (pause, rewind, volume) of wireless headphones/speakers.

Audio codec for transmission via Bluetooth. Selecting the audio encoding mode. Allows you to switch between SBC, AAC, LDAC, aptX, etc. It only works if the headphones support multiple codecs.

Sampling frequency when transmitting via Bluetooth. BT audio sampling rate. The higher, the better the quality, but it does not always work, and will only be effective for Lose-less music formats.

Audio encoding depth when transmitted via Bluetooth. Likewise: the higher, the better the quality.

Bluetooth audio channel mode. Switch between mono and stereo. Can be useful if headphones don't want to play in stereo.

LDAC audio codec for Bluetooth: playback quality. Choosing a balance between connection quality and speed. Raising it sometimes improves the sound, lowering it sometimes improves the quality of the connection. It's simple.

How to use demo phones?

Whatever you want, the main thing is to reflash your smartphone to remove possible restrictions. Thus, the user gets a cheap flagship with long battery life without a cellular module and a fingerprint scanner. In all other respects there should be no restrictions, but for this you need to find suitable and proven firmware.

Smartphone as a tablet

A smartphone is smaller than a tablet and is much more convenient to work with and keep it with you at all times. And if you consider that the battery in demo smartphones lasts a long time, such a device is quite suitable for the role of a pocket computer.

Demo phone as a camera

For photography enthusiasts and fans of video blogging, the demo smartphone turns into a compact camera that is convenient to take with you on a trip. This is much more convenient than carrying around full-fledged photo or video equipment. This phone can also be used as a webcam for a PC.

Demo smartphone as a player

Flagship devices have long acquired decent sound cards, allowing the device to be used as a music player. The demo gadget should do an excellent job of this task.

Other features of demo phones

There are many ways to use a modern phone without a cellular module. Turn your gadget into a gaming console, use it as an e-reader, fitness and weight loss app. Everything here is limited by the user’s imagination. Here are some tips for using old smartphones; they will also be relevant for demo versions.

Rendering

A set of settings regarding the interface. Useful mainly for developers; inexperienced users are of little interest, except for the last point.

Show surface updates. Shows interface elements that are updating using flickers.

Show element borders. Displays the borders of interface elements.

Mirror interface. Forces switches, sliders and checkboxes to the right, and aligns text to the left.

Window animation. Animation speed in application windows.

Transition animation. Animation speed when switching between items/programs.

Duration of the animation. Almost the same as the previous point.

Emulation of additional screens. Displaying an additional screen on top of the main one, with a duplicated interface.

Minimum width. The most useful item is needed to control the scale of the interface. If the elements are too large, you can increase the DPI; if the elements are very small, you can decrease it (minimum 320). The function is available in Android 7 and later.

Emulation of additional Android screens

The option allows application developers to simulate different screen sizes (duplication).

This feature will become available after activating developer mode.

But for this feature to work, the application also needs to support this function.

By enabling this function, the user will see another screen that will duplicate the main one. The dimensions of the additional screen can be adjusted independently. It also seems that using this option you can reduce the font in the system, there is a minimum width setting, which can be adjusted in DPI.

When activated, you can select the size of the future additional screen:

Hardware rendering acceleration

Working with graphics. In addition to developers, it can be useful for problems with 3D.

GPU acceleration. Involves constant use of the graphics chip for 2D processing.

Show screen updates.

Blinking highlights areas of the interface processed by the GPU.

Show hardware updates.

Highlights elements processed by hardware in green.

Debugging overlay. Highlights areas where GUI elements overlap each other.

See also: Blacklist - blocking unwanted calls and SMS

Debugging operations of truncation of complex shapes. Selecting elements of complex shape in the GUI.

Enable 4x MSAA. Enables 4x image smoothing. Makes the picture smoother, but loads the chip.

Disable hardware overlays. Uses the GPU to process overlays.

Simulate an anomaly. Adapts color rendering for people with impaired color perception. Monochrome mode can be useful for devices with OLED screens in reading mode (when color pictures are not needed), since it saves battery.

Visualizer. Selecting a graphics processing engine. The item is not available on all smartphones.

Types of Color Deficiency

The ability to distinguish over 100 different shades of color is something that a person with normal vision can easily do. For people with color blindness, they can distinguish between about 20 shades of color.

However, color blindness is generally divided into three (3) types.

A) Red-green color blindness

This describes a condition in which a person cannot distinguish red from green. This is the most common type of color blindness and comes in four (4) different types:

These types of color blindness are the common and most common types of color deficiency.

B) Blue-yellow color blindness

This category of color deficiency is not as widespread as red-green blindness, but there are people who suffer from this condition. People with this type of color blindness have difficulty distinguishing between yellow and red, and blue and green.

These are the two (2) types of blue-yellow color blindness:

B) Complete color blindness

People with this visual impairment, known as monochromism, do not see color at all. This is a very rare type of color deficiency.

If you have trouble distinguishing between two or more colors, you may have a color deficiency. However, the best way to be sure is to visit a hospital or ophthalmologist near you.

Applications

This subsection is responsible for working with applications.

Displacement of background activities. Deletes application data after completion.

Limit of background processes. Limits the number of processes that are simultaneously active in the background.

Background check. Shows processes that are running in the background.

All ANR. Enables notifications that the application is frozen and unresponsive.

Show alert channel alerts. Enables display of notifications outside the valid channel.

Inactive applications. Shows and allows you to change the status of active/inactive applications.

Allow saving to external storage devices. You can install applications on a flash drive, even if the flash drive does not have support. May help on devices with small (8-16 GB) memory.

Resizing in multi-window mode. Allows you to forcefully resize application windows in multi-window mode.

Enable MIUI optimization. An item available in the developer menu on Xiaomi. It improves system performance, so it is active, but disabling it can be useful for some bugs.

Notify about dangerous functions. Available on Xiaomi. Warns if an application exhibits unusual and suspicious activity.

Additional Information

There was also information that Android 6 introduced an experimental feature that allows multiple active applications to run on one screen. That is, it is possible to enable full multitasking. However, at the moment this requires Root access and some manipulations with system files, so within the framework of this article I will not describe the possibility, and I also do not rule out that the multi-window interface function will soon be available by default.

If you missed something, share your observations. And in general, how do you like Android 6 Marshmallow? Are the reviews ripe (for Android 5 they were not the best)?

And maybe this will be interesting:

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10/27/2015 at 11:30

Thank you, I didn’t know about the file manager that finally appeared and about the System UI Tuner; there is nothing about them in the official list of changes. As it seemed, the battery 6 began to last longer. And I’m glad that in the status bar the letter “O” in the word “ready” is finally attached to the word itself

04.11.2015 at 22:09

Nexus 5 has been updated to Android 6. WiFi does not receive an IP address automatically, you have to enter everything manually. A computer on a W10 mobile sees a disk as a disk (as on a 5), ​​but there is a disk inside. empty! Having a file manager is, of course, cool, but why is that so? Either a bug or an incomprehensible feature... I'm sad

05.11.2015 at 06:41

Hello. I also have a Nexus 5, but I haven’t noticed any of these problems. Is the phone unlocked when connected to Win 10? (in order for the disk not to be empty, the lock must be removed from the phone itself).

How to disable developer mode

You can disable developer mode on Android using the switch at the very top of its menu.

On older versions of Android, to remove the “For Developers” menu from the settings, open the “Applications” submenu. Tap on “All” (swipe right twice), open the “Settings” app card, tap on the “Erase data” button and confirm.

On Android 8 and later, select “Applications and notifications” in settings. Click the "Show all applications" button, find "Settings" in the list. Once you select it, you will see “Storage” among the items. Open it and click on “Erase data”.

In MIUI on Xiaomi, select “All apps” in the settings. Find the Settings app in the list and open it.

Click the "Clear" button at the bottom, click "Clear All" and click "OK".

That's it, ready, developer mode is turned off and removed from the settings. Turn it back on, as written at the beginning of the article.

How to take off with this: how to speed up Android, games in general and PUBG Mobile in particular

Here and below the settings for our taste and color will be listed. Everyone can choose their own, adjust what is necessary and all that.

By the way, we already wrote a little on this topic when we talked about limiting the number of processes in the article “Optimizing Android devices without using third-party programs”:

In total, we need a “Multiprocessor WebView” - this is one of the extremely important points that will speed up the system as a whole, although it may have a negative impact on battery life.

How to speed up Android even more? And is it visually clear? The same goes for the “SD card optimization” item, if of course you even have one (card) and the item in general).

Further, if you are not a fan of all kinds of animations, then it would be extremely rational to disable the animation of windows and transitions and remove the duration of the animation. This will save resources by an order of magnitude, and visually (subjectively and in terms of sensations) your phone will immediately begin to fly.

Color vision test

Ophthalmologists divide patients according to the degree of color perception into the following categories:

To detect color blindness, ophthalmologists perform a color vision test. For primary diagnosis, polychromatic Rabkin tables are used. With their help, you can determine whether a person has problems with the visual system and what type of color blindness he suffers from.

Rabkin's table is a multi-colored image of dots and circles of different sizes, collected into a single picture. On each illustration, geometric shapes and numbers of a contrasting shade are encrypted on a plain background. A person without pathologies will be able to recognize all elements of the image. A patient with color blindness will not be able to see some parts of the drawing.

You can take a color perception test using the Rabkin method yourself. To determine the diagnosis, you need the pictures themselves and their interpretation. Even if you yourself have been tested and found some deviations from the norm, it is better to consult an ophthalmologist.

No. 4. Speeding up system animations

In the corresponding settings section, which is now available to you, activate the positions:

  • "Window Animation";
  • "Animation of transitions";
  • "Animation Duration".

This useful set of options will significantly speed up the visual performance of Android. Some manufacturers, in pursuit of external effects, load the system with bright and beautiful animation, so Android starts to work slower.

Developers add animation to smooth transitions between menus and applications. But this can create an undesirable effect: the power of devices is increasing all the time, all applications open very quickly, but the animation is lagging. Sometimes it even becomes completely unnecessary and inappropriate. Graphic delights today do not impress users much.

Now you have the opportunity to independently set the display time of animation elements or simply disable them. Some users note that after this the system starts working much faster.

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