Galaxy S6 Guide

How to enable Galaxy S6 developer options (and S6 edge)

enable and access developer options on Samsung Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 edge

Table of Contents hide
1) What’s Galaxy S6 developer options?
2) How to enable and access Galaxy S6 developer options?
2.1) Step 1: Go to Settings—About device.
2.2) Step 2: Tap Build number 7 times.
2.3) Step 3: Go to Settings — Developer options.
2.4) Step 4: Enable Galaxy S6 Developer options.
2.5) Step 5: Use Galaxy S6 Developer options.
3) Full list of Galaxy S6 developer options

What’s Galaxy S6 developer options?

Just like other Android devices, Samsung Galaxy S6 developer options are mainly for developers. Developers can test their apps in Galaxy S6 (and Galaxy S6 edge)  under various simulated scenarios, for example, how the app performs  under low memory situation.

Galaxy S6 developer options also provide some useful features for advanced Android users.  For example, you may want to run some ADB commands on Galaxy S6, or take a lot of screenshots on Galaxy S6 (if you just take a few screenshots on Galaxy S6 directly, please follow this guide.), or control and animation speed, or record the Galaxy S6 screen.

Please note, Samsung Galaxy S6  developer options are identical to those of Galaxy S6 edge. So this guide also applies to Samsung Galaxy S6 edge developer options.

How to enable and access Galaxy S6 developer options?

Since Android Jelly Bean 4.2, the developer options have been hidden by default  in all Android phones. The main purpose of hiding developer options is to avoid the accidental usage of these options. Some options, especially those for app testing,  may adversely affect the performance of the phone.

So, when you get Samsung Galaxy S6  or S6 edge, the developer options are hidden.  You need enable (un-hide) it first before you can use Galaxy S6 developer options.

Here are the steps you can follow to enable and access Galaxy S6 developer options.

Step 1: Go to Settings—About device.

Step 2: Tap Build number 7 times.

After tapping build number two or more times, the notifications will be shown on the screen telling you the progress:

You are now X steps away from being a developer.

After tapping the build number 7 times, you will be notified you are a developer.

Now, Galaxy S6 developer options will be available in the Settings menu.

access_enable_galaxy_s6_developer_options_1_build_number access_enable_galaxy_s6_developer_options_2_steps_away_from_being_a_developer

Step 3:  Go to Settings — Developer options.

In the Settings menu, you can find the Developer options right above About device.

Tap Developer options.

Step 4: Enable Galaxy S6  Developer options.

In Developer options page, drag the switch to right to turn it on. The color should change to green as shown below.

Step 5: Use Galaxy S6 Developer options.

For example, you want to turn on USB debugging on Galaxy S6. You can tap USB debugging as shown below. This will enable USB debugging for Galaxy S6.

access_enable_galaxy_s6_developer_options_3_settings_developer_options access_enable_galaxy_s6_developer_options_4_usb_debugging

Full list of Galaxy S6 developer options

Please note, most of the Galaxy S6 developer options are for app developers or Android hackers.  Please do NOT  change the settings unless you know what you are doing.

  • Take bug report
  • Set desktop backup password
  • Stay awake while charging (screen will not sleep)
  • Bluetooth HCI snoop log
  • Processes stats (lists the stats of running processes)
  • USB debugging (you can then run ADB command from PC)
  • Revoke USB debugging authorizations
  • Include bug reports in power menu options
  • Allow mock locations
  • View attribute inspection
  • Select app to be debugged
  • Wait for debugger
  • Verify apps vis USB
  • WiFi verbose logging
  • Aggressive WiFi/cell handover
  • Allow WiFi roaming scans
  • Buffer size for logging
  • Show touches
  • Show pointer location
  • Show screen updates
  • Show layout boundaries
  • Force RTL layout
  • Window animation scale
  • Transition animation scale
  • Animator duration scale
  • Simulate secondary displays
  • Force GPU rendering
  • Show GPU view updates
  • Show hardware layers update
  • Debug GPU overdraw
  • Show non-rectangular clips
  • Turn on 4x MSAA
  • Turn off hardware overlays
  • Simulate color space
  • Use NuPlayer (instead of AwesomePlayer)
  • Prevent USB audio routing
  • Strict mode
  • Show CPU usage
  • GPU rendering profile
  • Turn on OpenGL traces
  • Do not keep activities
  • Limit background processes
  • Show all ANRs (app not responding)

Can you enable and use Galaxy S6 developer options?  Do you have any questions on using Galaxy S6 developer options?

Please leave your questions or problems in the comment box below if you have any questions on Galaxy S6 developer options, or Galaxy S6  edge developer options.

For other features of Galaxy S6, please check Galaxy S6 online manual page.

For detailed guides on how to use Samsung Galaxy S6, please check Galaxy S6 how-to guides page.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  2. Devon says

    the Color Scheme setups they have are pretty cool.
    Go to Simulate Color Space in your developer options and can can your color scheme. Using various 3D Live wallpapers and Galaxy s6 Themes, Can see some really cool animations, effects, and colors. S6 Edge has best developer options setup of all android devices to date , Hopefully android builds new color codes from The Stimulated Color Space to use in Android Studio! Happy Developing all!

    Reply

  3. chris G says

    Limit background processes,,i find that i brings down the RAM usage , should i keep it on , to solve the RAM issues that the S6 has been having

    Reply

  4. chris G says

    mine is around 85% , , i always hit the smart manager to close down the apps , and i have shut off some back ground stuff as well , i maintain it well , so when i saw the Limit background processes i hit that , and seems to lower the RAM issues ,, and lower the battery usage as well . ,,i do not plan on making any apps, i just love exploring new things ,, ,,,now as a developer , would that use more DATA , on my LTE 4G ?

    Reply

  5. Rusty says

    My RAM was also unnecessarily high. Always hovering around the 85% mark and sometimes as high as 92%. Enabling developer mode and limiting processes to 4 has brought the RAM down to 52%. Thats a massive drop. I still think it’s an issue that should be looked at in the next firmware update though.
    Thanks for the info guys

    Reply

  6. Cheyenne says

    So I clicked the build number button alot and the words popped up saying I changed something. I don’t developed or use my phone for anything other than talk text n social media. Did I just ruin my phone or what?

    Reply

  7. Allenson says

    Does turning on the developer mode affect the battery? Because since I turned it on, I’ve been having problems with my battery life and it also takes a lot longer to charge as well.

    Reply

  8. Shazly says

    After i downloaded 5.1.1 update on my s6 edge the wallpaper motion effect is not working however it’s on so can the developer option fix it?

    Reply

  9. BRT says

    I enabled “developer options” Checked USB debugging on. When I connected a cable it comes back with “Charger connected”.

    Reply

  10. Tony says

    I did everything you suggested and I still can not see my files on my PC. My PC will not detect my phone. Do you have any other suggestions? Thanks.

    Reply

  11. Yasir says

    In samsung s6 edge , i m in the developer options but i cannot find OEM enable settings in developer options
    Can u please help where can i find it

    Reply

  12. lanny says

    In Galaxy s6 after enabled the ‘Do not keep activities’ it cannot be turned off. After turned it off and minimize the Settings then re open it, the ‘Do not keep activities’ is turned on again. How to turn it off? Thanks!

    Reply

  13. airgiles1 says

    Can I affect the volume playback level using this method? My phone sucks when it comes to playing it on portable Bluetooth Speakers, and I’ve tried a lot of apps, to no avail

    Reply

  14. jade says

    Hi. I have deleted by accident my albums in the gallery. I wanted to retrieve the photos so badly. I did everything as instructed and allowed USB debugging on my galaxy s6. However, when I try to connect it to a data recovery software on my computer, it says usb debug settings are not found. Please help me. I’m so desperate to retrieve my photos. huhu

    Reply

  15. Yoel Gluschnaider says

    Enabling the “Do not keep activities” option doesn’t seem to stick. As soon as I exit the options screen this option is disabled. Any thoughts? (Galaxy S6 Edge).
    The rest of the options seems to be persistent.

    Reply

  16. luqmanoley says

    I did install the SmartSwitch but still couldn’t detect it. I’m transferring my files via DropBox now sigh.

    Reply

  17. Jack M says

    I am trying to recover some lost pictures on my Samsung S6. I go into developer mode but my USB debugging option stays grayed out (I cant turn it on). Can any help

    Reply

  18. Atamli says

    Hi, I managed to enable the developer option on Samsung Galaxy s6 edge plus but the USB debugging option is on grey. So can enable USB debugging. Also my android studio can’t see it . Can you please help ?

    Reply

  20. Vincey says

    Hi. Just wanna know if activating my developer options on my samsung s6 edge will put my phone to harm? I mean, do i put my phone to risk of getting viruses once activated? Thanks for the response. Appreciate it.

    Reply

  21. Chris says

    I was looking through the developer options just for fun to see what options existed, but i didnt mean to change anything, and I was planning on turning it back off but while i was scrolling through i accidentally activated the “Forced RTL Layout” which caused the message “unfortunately, system UI has stopped” and my screen to turn black and it wont stay on for more than a second before going black again. Is there any way I can fix this through my computer despite my inability to access anything on my phone?

    Reply

  22. noname says

    Can you tell us something we don’t know ?
    Like how to activate “Do not keep activities” ?
    Here it get reseted as soon as I leave the screen… wich is unusual and anoying for a developper!

    Reply

  23. Jack says

    I am trying to keep Mock Location on but turn Developer Options off momentarily but it keeps auto enabling itself. Is there any way to turn this option off?

    Reply

  25. Ellen says

    my cousin have kinda broken my dad’s phone becoz she wanna help my dad to get the pokemon from australia or sth by using fly gps ,and some how my dad is now no longer can play pokemon . he can still open pokemon go but it is failed to connect the location . We tried to find the developer option by the method above but it doesnt work , i want to ask if there is another method to open the developer option ? And please answer it as soon as possible since my dad has no patient to anything , thank you!!

    Reply

  26. Petri says

    I have a S6 edge and been taping a thousand times but still no dev options . Could it be blocked by the carrier ? Using SFR in France. Android 6.0.1

    Reply

  27. Allan says

    Hi, when I watched videos on my s6 they play fine, but when I screen mirror to my Samsung smart TV the audio is behind, can this be rectified in developer options?

    Reply

  29. Aref says

    Hello guys,
    I wanna turn off Dev. Option, but i cant.
    I tried one way (Setting-Apps-Setting and there i couldnt find the Clear Data option).
    Please help…

    Reply

  30. Shane says

    What is the black cat head do? Tap Android Version few times fast, then hold on your last tap n you go to screen with a big “N” logo. Then long press or something n 1 of 2 things pop up. A “Do Not” symbol, a red circle with a red line thru it. And/or a cat’s head pops up. What is this???? What does it do???

    Reply

  31. khokon imtiaz says

    why not open softwar update option on galaxy s6 edge+??when I tap softwar update option.I not found any option.

    Reply

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