10 reasons you should enable developer mode on your Android phone (even if you’re not a developer)
Since it’s hidden from plain sight, many Android phone owners believe that the Developer Options menu is some kind of arcane place where you shouldn’t wander uninvited. But the reality is that you can unlock the Developer mode in just a few seconds, and it packs a ton of useful options that can come in handy even for the most casual of users.
Here are 10 reasons to visit the Develop options menu on your Android phone, even if you aren’t anywhere close to being an actual developer.
It takes just a few seconds
Before you start exploring it, you need to unlock the Developer options menu. The easiest way to do it is to open Settings, tap the search icon, and type “build number.” Just tap on the result, and you will be taken to the build number entry.
Once there, just tap it until you are prompted to enter your PIN, then confirm that you want to unlock the Developer menu. Now type “Developer” in the Settings search, and open the Developer options menu.
Improve your phone’s performance
Speed up those animations
If there’s one option in the Developer menu I recommend every Android user change, it’s the Animation scale. This speeds up system animations, making your phone feel much snappier.
The animation scale settings are located under the Drawing tab of the Developers menu. The default scale is set to 1x, but you should set it to .5x. Just set all three animation scale options to .5x, and that’s it.
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Force dark mode more in apps that don’t support it
Dark mode everywhere
While virtually every single Android app supports Dark mode, some still burn your eyes with their bright UI elements even when your phone is set to Dark mode.
The good news is that you can force apps to use Dark mode even if they don’t support it. The toggle is located under the Hardware accelerated rendering menu. All you have to do is enable it.
Just keep in mind that some apps may look a bit strange with forced Dark mode. If you notice weird colors, it’s likely the app doesn’t play nice with Dark mode.
Use the built-in task manager
Monitor memory usage
For some reason, Google decided to hide Android’s built-in task manager in the Developer options menu, which is unfortunate because it’s very handy. To access it, scroll down until you see the Running services option.
Open it to access the task manager. Once there, you can monitor your phone’s memory usage, stop active services, show and monitor cached processes—tap the three-dot menu, then tap the “Show cached processes” button—and force close them.
Force grayscale color mode if your phone doesn’t support it by default
Or switch to one of the three available color blindness modes
Most Android phones let owners switch between color modes, but if your phone doesn’t have this option in the regular Settings menu, you can find it in the Developers menu. Just scroll down until you see the “Simulate color space” option.
Open it, and you’ll get a choice between four different color space modes: Monochromacy (grayscale), Deuteranomaly (red-green), Protanomaly (red-green), and Tritanomaly (blue-yellow). This option can be helpful if you have color vision deficiency or just want to use your phone in monochrome mode.
Switch to a different Bluetooth audio codec
Test how different audio codecs sound on your earbuds
Your phone should automatically switch to the highest-quality Bluetooth audio codec supported by your wireless earbuds or phone as soon as you connect them. But if you want to hear the difference between different codecs, or just want to switch to a specific one, you can do so in the Developers menu.
First, connect the earbuds, then open the Developers menu and find the “Bluetooth Audio Codec” option. Tap it, and you’ll be able to switch between different codecs. Also, if the HD audio toggle is disabled for some reason, make sure to enable it because it improves audio quality over Bluetooth.
Improve the multitasking experience
Use every app in split-screen
The Window Management tab in the Developers menu hides two super handy options if you’re into Android multitasking. Enabling “Force activities to be resizable” and “Multi window for all apps” will allow you to use and resize any app in split-screen mode. Just don’t forget to reboot your phone for these options to take effect.
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Change the default USB configuration
Automatically enable file transfers when you connect to a PC
When you connect your phone to a PC, it defaults to charging mode, and you have to open the USB configuration menu and manually enable file transfer or USB tethering every single time. Luckily, there’s an option in the Developer menu where you can change the default USB mode.
Scroll down until you see “Default USB configuration,” open it, and change the default mode when your phone is connected to devices via USB. Now you won’t have to manually tweak this setting every time you hook your phone to your computer.
Improve game visuals
Antialiasing is nice to have
Force 4x MSAA (multi-sample antialiasing) can improve visuals in some games by smoothing out jagged edges, but enabling this option will also drain your battery faster because 4x MSAA requires more graphics power. Also, if you have an underpowered phone, games may run worse with this option enabled.
Enable USB debugging
USB debugging can be handy for a number of reasons
If you want to install a custom ROM, use the ADB (Android Debug Bridge) utility to sideload apps, remove bloatware, and do much more, you’ll first have to enable USB debugging. I also recommend enabling wireless debugging so you can control your phone with ADB wirelessly. Note that some banking apps may stop working after enabling debugging. If you encounter this issue, you’ll have to disable debugging to continue using your banking app.
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