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Android Developer Options

Loading an application onto your Android® device from your development computer requires that the developer options be enabled on your device. Additionally, your development computer uses the Android Debug Bridge (ADB) to load and run apps on your Android device. The ADB communicates using the USB cable which requires USB debugging enabled on your Android device.

Enable On-Device Developer Options

By default, most Android devices are sold with the developer options disabled. To enable developer options on an Android device, use the following steps:

  1. Open the Settings menu on the device. The Settings menu can be accessed from the settings icon, , in the Android apps screen.

  2. Select About device from the Settings menu. Depending on the version of Android supplied with the device, About device can be interchanged for any of the following alternatives:

    • About

    • About tablet

    • About phone

  3. Find Build Number within the list of About device information. Click the Build Number item seven times to enable developer options.

    Note

    Some Android devices provide a Search option at the top of the Settings menu that you can use to search directly for Build Number.

  4. Your Android device briefly displays a confirmation message that your device has developer options enabled.

When Developer options have been enabled, a new { } Developer options menu item is displayed in the settings. You can optionally disable developer options on your phone again by setting the switch at the top of the { } Developer options to off.

Enable USB Debugging

To enable USB debugging on an Android device, use the following steps:

  1. Open the Settings menu on the device. The Settings menu can be accessed from the settings icon, , in the Android apps screen.

  2. Select System. This step is applicable only on Android 8.0 and higher.

  3. Select {} Developer options from the menu.

  4. Find USB debugging within the list of {} Developer options.

  5. Click USB debugging to enable USB debugging on your Android device.

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