Android devices hide options that allow you to boost their base performance. These devices have tools called Developer Options, a set of hidden settings originally designed by Google for application developers, but which any user can take advantage of to significantly improve the experience of using their phone.
These advanced settings allow you to modify aspects of the operating system that are usually hidden from average users. These configurations are not only intended for testing and application development, but also offer tools to optimize performance, improve energy efficiency, and personalize the user experience.
How to turn on developer options
To enable Developer Options on your Android device, follow these simple steps:
- Go to the Settings app on your device.
- Go to the “About Phone” section. Depending on the device, this section may be labeled “Software Information” or “System Settings.”
- Find the build number and tap it repeatedly seven times in a row. With each tap, you’ll see a message letting you know how many more times you need to tap to activate Developer Options.
- Once you’ve tapped seven times, you’ll see a message indicating that Developer Options have been successfully activated. You can now access them from the main Settings screen.
While Developer Options offer numerous benefits for optimizing your Android device, it’s important to use them with caution. Some advanced settings can negatively affect performance or compromise system stability if not applied correctly.
Improving speed and the feeling of agility
One of the first settings you can tweak with the Developer options is the speed of UI animations. This doesn’t speed up phone processing, but it does make the user experience feel faster and smoother. To adjust these animations:
- Once the Developer Options are enabled, scroll down until you find the “Window Animation Scale” option.
- Here you can select “0.5x” as the new animation speed. In addition, you can downscale animation for transitions and animator timing for faster response when interacting with your device.
Resource monitoring and management
Android also includes a hidden task manager that lets you monitor and manage app-consuming resources in real-time. This task manager is a powerful tool to optimize your device’s performance:
- Within the Developer Options, find and select “Running Services.” Here, you’ll be able to see how each app is using system resources.
- If you identify an app that’s consuming too many resources, you can stop it directly from this screen. This is useful to prevent poorly optimized or background apps from affecting the overall performance of your phone.
Improving graphics performance
For lovers of games and applications that require high graphics performance, the Developer Options also offer the possibility to activate hardware-accelerated performance.
To activate it, look for the “4x MSAA (Multi-sampling Anti-aliasing)” option within the Developer Options and activate it. This will improve graphical quality in graphics-intensive games and applications.
Optimizing Battery Life
Battery life is a common concern among mobile users. With Developer Options, you can take steps to optimize your power consumption:
- Scroll through the “Background Check” options in the Developer Options and disable permissions for apps that are unnecessarily consuming battery in the background.
- This can be done in the Developer Options to prevent mobile data from being active when connected to a Wi-Fi network, which can save battery life significantly.
Emergency Preparedness
In case your phone experiences serious problems, such as a broken screen or the need to recover important data, the Developer Options also allow you to enable USB debugging.
This feature allows your computer to connect to the phone via ADB (Android Debug Bridge), making it easy to back up data, screen recording, and other recovery processes.
Comments