For the standard Android user, we don’t see a need to get excessively technical with our devices. We want to install the apps we want to use and let the device do it’s thing. For those people that do like to fiddle enabling developer options is a must.
Why bother:
Developer options actually has some really cool features in there. Among the most prominent are troubleshooting features for developers (I know, makes sense right). Things like “Enable Bluetooth HCI snoop log” aren’t going to be something the everyday user would enable but there are some things that might come in handy. If you are the person who likes to make full backups of your device on to a desktop machine, developer options allows you to protect that with a password. You can get to the default task manager, set mock locations (not the same as VPN apps) change the default USB configuration and more.
Now that we have reviewed a little bit of the why, lets jump into how.
Becoming a Developer (kinda):
There are no real requirements, to getting this done. You just need to have an android phone.
- Open your app drawer and tap on Settings
- Scroll all the way down (or to the right depending on your device) and tap About phone
- Scroll to the bottom and find Build number
- Tap build numer, then tap it again, and again. Do this 7 times, until it says you have unlocked developer options.
- Tap the back button to get you back to the settings menu
- Just above About phone, you would see Developer Options
You are one step close to understanding your phone that much better. What is your favorite setting to play with in Developer Options? Did you even know this was here? Leave you thoughts below.
