Android Developer Mode: Enable or Disable

Developer mode on a phone or tablet is a set of special functions for performing some tasks of configuring, testing, debugging and expanding the capabilities of a device running on the Android operating system. This feature – Android developer mode is available on all modern mobile devices.

Using the developer mode, you can change some phone settings, enter the debugging tools or diagnostics of the device.

By default, Android developer mode is hidden from the phone or tablet user since Android 4.2 Jelly Bean. In previous versions of Android 4.1 and earlier, the option “For developers” is located in the settings menu of the device. The developers option is hidden in modern versions of the system to protect the device from incorrect actions by an inexperienced user.

In most cases, developer mode is for professionals or advanced users. This feature is in demand by mobile application developers, programmers, service center employees, etc.

Developer options may vary from device to device due to some features being modified by firmware from a particular phone manufacturer. But, the main part of the parameters is unchanged on all smartphones running the Android operating system.

An ordinary user, in some cases, may also need to use this option on their device. For example, otherwise he will not be able to enable USB debugging on the phone or access other necessary functions.

In such situations, the user has a natural question about how to enable developer mode on the device in order to access the necessary parameters on their phone.

In this article, we will look at how to enable developer mode on Android and, conversely, how to disable developer mode on a mobile device. Keep in mind that some phones may have different settings menu items due to changes made by the smartphone manufacturer to the “clean” version of the Android operating system.

How to enter developer mode on Android versions 7.1 – 4.2

First, we will learn how to enable Android developer mode on a phone from operating system version 4.2 to version 7.1 inclusive.

Do the following:

1. Open device settings.
2. Click on the “About phone” section.
3. Navigate to Build Number.
4. Click a few times on this option.
5. As a result of your actions, a pop-up inscription “You have become a developer!” will appear on the device screen.
6. You will see that a new item “For Developers” has appeared in the phone settings menu.

How to enter developer mode on Android versions 10 – 8

Now we will enable developer mode on Android 10, Android 9, Android 8.1, Android 8.

Go through the following steps:

1. Enter “Settings”.
2. Select the “About phone” option.
3. Look for the Build Number option.
4. It is necessary to click on this item of device parameters several times. Tips will appear on the screen of the device with the number of further clicks.
5. Finally, a small window will appear on the phone screen with the announcement “You have become a developer!”.

To access Android developer options the next time, do the following:

1. Open your phone settings.
2. Click on the “System” option.
3. In the “System” section, select “Advanced”.
4. A new item will appear in the list of system settings: “For Developers”.

Congratulations, you now have access to the mobile device developer options. Now you can change certain special settings on your mobile device.

How to turn off developer mode on your phone

In situations where the developer mode is no longer needed, and you do not want someone else there to be able to enable something on your phone, you must turn off this option on the device.

To disable developer mode follow the path:

1. Enter settings.
2. Open the “System” option.
3. Click on “Advanced”.
4. Enter the “For Developers” option.
5. Move the mode operation settings slider to the “Disabled” position.

On most phones, the developer mode option disappears from the phone settings, all settings will be reset, and this feature will become disabled. On some other devices, the function itself will stop working, but the “For Developers” option item remains in the smartphone or tablet settings.

To remove the feature for device developers, use the method of erasing data on the phone. In different versions of the Android operating system, the interface for performing the necessary actions may differ slightly, but the logic of actions is the same everywhere.

Go through the following steps:

1. Go to “Settings”.
2. Open Apps & Notifications.
3. Click on Show All Apps.
4. Select the Settings app.
5. Enter the “Storage and cache” option.
6. Tap on the Clear Storage option.
7. In the warning window, click the “OK” button.

Keep in mind that all data of this application will be deleted from the phone: files, databases, settings, accounts, etc.

There is another method to get rid of developer mode: resetting the device to factory settings. As a result of this operation, the Google account and all user data will be deleted from the phone, the settings will be reset and all installed applications will be deleted, except for the default ones. The system will be restored to the default settings it had when you purchased the mobile phone.

Among other options, developer mode will be removed. It is worth using this method only in case of serious problems with the software on the phone.

Article Conclusions

Modern phones with the Android operating system have a hidden developer mode designed to perform work on changing device settings, testing, diagnosing or debugging the device. This mode is primarily intended for professionals.

Any user can enable the developer mode option on their smartphone or tablet to gain access to some features that are not available in normal phone usage. If necessary, the user has the ability to disable the developer mode on his mobile device.