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Justin Duino / How-To Geek

In Android, Developer Choices is a secret, hidden menu with quite a lot of superior choices. These options are primarily meant for builders, however a lot of them will be helpful to common Android customers and fanatics. We’ll share a few of the greatest.

Earlier than we begin toggling issues on, you’ll first must carry out a secret handshake to allow the Developer Choices menu in Settings. Since these choices aren’t meant for the common consumer, the menu is hidden by default. Follow our simple steps to quickly enable Developer Options.

RELATED: How to Enable Developer Options and USB Debugging on Android

Allow USB Debugging

USB debugging.

“USB debugging” appears like an choice solely an Android developer would want, nevertheless it’s in all probability essentially the most broadly used hidden choice in Android. USB debugging permits functions in your pc to interface along with your Android phone over the USB connection.

That is required for quite a lot of superior methods, together with rooting an Android phone, unlocking it, putting in a customized ROM, or controlling your phone screen from your PC. You may as well use ADB commands to push and pull recordsdata between your system and your pc.

RELATED: How to Install and Use ADB, the Android Debug Bridge Utility

USB debugging could be a safety concern, because it provides your pc entry to your cellphone. You could possibly plug your system right into a malicious USB charging port, which might attempt to compromise you. That’s why Android forces you to conform to a immediate each time you plug your system into a brand new pc with USB debugging enabled.

Entry Android’s Constructed-In Process Supervisor

Running Services

Do you know Android has a Process Supervisor like Home windows does? It’s referred to as “Operating Companies,” and it exhibits each single app that’s presently operating in your system. You may as well see every app’s corresponding processes and companies, how a lot RAM it’s utilizing, and the way lengthy it’s been operating. That is additionally the place you’ll be able to cease these particular person processes and companies inside apps, although you actually shouldn’t want to do this.

Drive All Apps to Use Darkish Mode

Force dark mode for all apps.

Android 10 launched a system-wide dark mode, and lots of apps now assist it. Nevertheless, there are a couple of holdouts which may be an unwelcome blast of shiny gentle in your face. You may repair this with the “Override Drive-Darkish” toggle.

Needless to say that is forcing apps to be displayed in a mode that they don’t formally assist. You could run into some points with textual content being unreadable or different wonkiness. Nonetheless, it’s a fairly neat trick.

RELATED: How to Turn on Dark Mode on Android

Disable or Velocity Up Animations

Android animation scales.

Once you transfer between apps and screens in Android, you’re spending a few of that point animations and ready for them to go away. You may disable these animations completely by altering the Window animation scale, Transition animation scale, and Animator length scale choices right here. For those who like animations—however simply want they have been quicker—you’ll be able to pace them up.

On a quick cellphone or pill, this could make switching between apps practically immediate. For those who thought your Android cellphone was speedy earlier than, simply strive disabling animations and also you’ll be shocked how a lot quicker it may appear.

RELATED: How to Speed Up Animations to Make Android Feel Faster

Drive the Highest Refresh Price

Force Peak Refresh Rate

It’s fairly widespread for high-end Android telephones to have high refresh rate displays these days. Nevertheless, many of those gadgets will change between refresh charges to enhance battery life. Meaning you’re not all the time getting the very best doable refresh charge on a regular basis.

If you wish to all the time use the very best refresh charge—in any case, that’s what you paid for—you’ll be able to merely toggle on the change for “Drive Peak Refresh Price.” Needless to say this may influence battery life.

RELATED: Do You Need a 144Hz, 240Hz, or 300Hz Refresh Rate Display?

See Which Apps Get Precedence Therapy

Standby apps

One of many causes why you shouldn’t use task killers on Android is it’s particularly designed to handle assets for you. You may really look behind the scenes a bit on how this works by visiting the “Standby Apps” part within the Developer Choices.

Every app is given one in every of 5 values: “Lively,” “Working Set,” “Frequent,” “Uncommon,” or “Restricted.” “Lively” is the high-end of utilization, whereas “Restricted” is the bottom. You’ll additionally see grayed out apps labeled “Exempt” should you’ve disabled battery optimizations, or “By no means” should you’ve by no means opened them. Faucet on an app to regulate its worth.

RELATED: How to Stop Android From Killing Background Apps

Drive-Allow FXAA For OpenGL Video games

Force-Enable FXAA

When you’ve got a high-end cellphone or pill with nice graphics efficiency and also you play 3D video games on it, there’s a approach to make these video games look even higher. Simply go to the Developer Choices display and allow the “Drive 4x MSAA” choice.

It will pressure Android to make use of 4x multisample anti-aliasing in OpenGL ES 2.0 video games and different apps. This requires extra graphics energy and can in all probability drain your battery a bit quicker, however it can enhance picture high quality in some video games. This can be a bit like force-enabling antialiasing utilizing the NVIDIA Management Panel on a Home windows gaming PC.

Disable Cell Knowledge When on Wi-Fi

Disable mobile data on Wi-Fi

Once you’re related to a Wi-Fi community, Android retains your cell knowledge connection alive within the background. That is to make switching between Wi-Fi and cell knowledge as seamless as doable. It doesn’t use a lot knowledge, however you’ll be able to disable the characteristic should you’d like. Toggle off the change for “Cell Knowledge All the time Lively.”

Faux Your GPS Location

Fake GPS location app.

The “Choose Mock Location App” choice lets you use an app to set fake GPS locations, tricking Android into considering you’re at a location the place you really aren’t. Use this feature together with an app like Fake GPS Location and you may trick your Android system and the apps operating on it into considering you’re at areas the place you really aren’t.

How would this be helpful? Nicely, you may faux a GPS check-in at a location with out really going there or confuse your folks in a location-tracking app by seemingly teleporting world wide.

RELATED: How to Spoof Your Location on Android

Keep Awake Whereas Charging

Stay Awake while charging.

You need to use Android’s Display Saver (formerly called “Daydream”) to show sure apps whereas charging your system. Nevertheless, if you wish to show any app whereas charging your cellphone in a single day, you’ll be able to merely allow the “Keep Awake” choice right here. Android will maintain your system’s display on whereas charging and received’t flip it off.


If you wish to undo any of those modifications, you’ll be able to rapidly erase all of your customized choices by sliding the “Use Developer Choices” change on the prime of the display to “Off.” A lot of the choices listed below are solely helpful to builders debugging their Android apps. Don’t go alongside altering choices on this menu with out figuring out what they do.


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