We explain what are Android Developer Options,
and show you how to access and enable Android
Developer Options on any Android phone or Android
tablet . PLUS: 32 things you can do in Android
Developer Options. (See also: 44 best Android
phones of 2015 UK .)
What are Android Developer Options?
Every Android smartphone and Android tablet
contains a secret set of options: Android Developer
Options. As the name suggests these are intended
principally for developers - people who need
additional functions to test software and apps they
are writing for Android devices. There are many
options that allow you to simulate app stresses or
enable debugging options.
Android Developer Options allow you to enable
debugging over USB, capture bug reports on to your
Android device, and show CPU usage on screen to
measure the impact of your software.
Android Developer Options also allow you to draw
debugging information on screen including layout
bounds, updates on GPU views and hardware
layers, and other information. There are many more
options, most of which I will outline below. But first,
let's look at how to access and enable Android
Developer Options. (See also: How to install Ubuntu
Touch on your Android phone or tablet
.)
How to access and enable Android Developer
Options
Android Developer Options are available on all
Android devices, but OEMs do make accessing
them slightly different on occasion. They all make
them impossible to accidentally access, for good
reason. This is because the options offer great
power - power most people can't usefully use.
Regardless, generally speaking the following
process works. I enabled Android Developer Options
on my LG G3.
Go to Settings > General > About phone. Then scroll
and select Software information > Build number.
Now rapidly tap on 'Build Number' five times and
you will see the message 'You are now a
developer!'
The critical thing is to get to 'Build number', and
then tap rapidly until you see the message. Some
OEMs make it seven- rather than five taps. Under
Settings > General, you will now see 'Developer
Options'. Enable this to access the options outlined
below.
Once you have enabled the options, there is no
obvious way to delete the Developer Options apart
from factory resetting your handset. But you can
easily set the Developer Options slider to off, and do
no harm. (See also: Install Android L on Nexus 5 and
Nexus 7.)
32 things you can do in Android Developer Options
I will list alphabetically these options and what they
do. If you know of any other options, let me know in
the comments below. If you don't understand any of
what follows, you shouldn't be using that tool!
1. Background process limit:
Right down the bottom of the
list, this option lets you set
how many processes can run
in the background at any one
time.
2. Bluetooth HCI snoop log: The 'Enable Bluetooth
HCI snoop log' allows you to capture and analyze
Bluetooth HCI (Host Controller Interface) packets.
Enabling this will places them for analysis in a file
on the device storage (/sdcard/btsnoop_hci.log) for
retrieval.
3. Bug report: Right at the top of the list you will find
'Take Bug Report'. Tapping this option surfaces the
log files on your device, allowing you to send them
wherever you wish to view them.
4. Debug GPU overdraw: GPU overdraw happens
every time the application asks the system to draw
something on top of something else. Debug GPU
overdraw gives you information about this.
5. Desktop backup password: Android Developer
Options allow you to backup and restore to and
from your PC things such as apps and their
associated data. This option requires a password
for such backups.
6. Don't keep activities: Be very careful about using
this setting: it force closes every application as
soon as you leave its main view.
7. Enable OpenGL traces: A setting that records
OpenGL errors. Enable OpenGL traces places errors
in a log file of your choosing.
8. Force 4x MSAA: This setting forces multi-sample
anti-aliasing (MSAA). This makes things look better,
but puts more strain on the CPU / RAM.
9. Force GPU rendering: This setting forces apps to
use hardware 2D rendering, even if they were
written to not use it. It can make things look great,
or it can temporarily bork your phone. Use with
care.
10. Force RTL layout direction: This forces screen
orientation for right-to-left language support. Useful
principally for developers of multi-language apps.
11. Keep your phone awake: Check the 'Stay
awake' opotion and the screen on your phone to
stay on anytime and every time it is plugged in.
Useful if you are working on Android development
and find it annoying that the screen keeps timing
out. But it won't do your screen any good in the
medium term.
12. Mock locations: Hit the 'Allow Mock Locations'
option, and you will be able to manually write
location information. This is useful if you are
developing an app that uses location information.
13. Pointer location: Places an information bar at
the top of your screen that tells you the coordinates
of the last place the screen was touched.
14. Power menu bug reports: This adds an option to
the menu you see when you press and hold the
power key, allowing you to collect and send a bug
report.
15. Process stats: This is one of
only a couple of options that
remains enabled even when you
switch off Developer Options. It
shows you a tonne of data about
what is going on in your
smartphone or tablet.
16. Profile GPU rendering: This setting draws a
graph - a visual rendering of how hard the GPU is
working. You can either view onscreen or save to a
file.
17. Select debug app: Choose an app, debug it.
18. Select runtime: Here you can choose to use
either Dalvik or ART. Important for developers
creating apps to run on Android L. (See also: How to
fix Wi-Fi problems with Android Lollipop.)
19. Show all ANRs: Makes every process show an
'App Not Responding' dialog if it hangs. Even if it is
running in the background, which is useful if the app
you are developing is interfering with another
process, and you need to work out what is
happening.
20. Show CPU usage: Allows you to view CPU
information inscreen at all times.
21. Show GPU view updates: Enable this setting
and any onscreen element drawn with GPU
hardware is viewed with a red overlay.
22. Show hardware layer updates: Tells you when
hardware layers update.
23. Show layout bounds: This useful tool marks the
edges of all the elements in a dialog so you know
where a touch will activate them.
24. Show surface updates: Selecting this option
makes the edge of an onscreen window flash when
its contents are updated.
25. Show touches: This option adds a visual cue on
the screen wherever a touch is registered.
26. Simulate secondary displays: Allows you to
simulate different screen sizes.
27. Strict mode enabled: Flashes the screen when
an app uses the main thread to perform long and
intensive operations.
28. Transition animation scale: This setting sets the
speed for transition-animation playback.
29. USB debugging: Allows your Android device to
communicate via USB to your computer via the
Android Debug Bridge (ADB). You can also revoke
USB debugging authorizations: When you use a
computer to debug over USB for the first time, you
have to authorize it and set up a keypair. This
setting revokes that.
30. Verify apps over USB: Use this setting and
Google scans apps you installed looking for
malicious behavior.
31. Wait for debugger: Not enabled unless you are
set up to debug an app. When enabled it prevents
that app from starting until the debugger is
attached.
32. Window animation scale: Sets the speed for
window-animation playback. (Also see: 28 best
Android tablets of 2015 .)