Want more power and control? Turn on developer mode.

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PUBLIC DEFENDER By Brian Livingston Most digital devices and software applications have a little-known side of themselves called “developer mode.” Onc
[See the full post at: Want more power and control? Turn on developer mode.]

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oldfry, abbodi86, rc primak, geekdom, Alex5723

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Developer mode main use on Android devices is to sideload apps blocked by Google play, like KODI, all ad blocker apps..
Sideloading on iOS will never come to users (its available for enterprises) , even with developer mode.

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rc primak

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Windows Developer Mode — I was not aware that Windows 10 or Windows 11, Home or Pro, needed any special Developer Mode to install and run applications from outside the Windows Store. I’ve been “sideloading” applications for Windows 10 since it came out. In Windows 10 Pro I’ve never heard or read that Developer Mode needs to be enabled to set up and use Remote Access or to keep the PC awake. Power Plan settings and Advanced Settings there have never required enabling Developer Mode in Windows 10 Pro for me. Windows Firewall Settings also have never required Developer Mode for me in Windows Pro editions.

Are we talking about devices locked into Windows Home S-Mode? Or with Group Policies set by a System Administrator?

Android Developer Mode is something I would never activate. In this mode people do things which infect or brick their phones way too often. It’s like physically taking apart a Chromebook and removing the write-protect screw to completely replace the built-in firmware with something from who-knows-where. So many opportunities to brick the device, so little benefit as long as your Chromebook or phone is still receiving firmware updates from Google. And utterly unnecessary if you only want to run Linux alongside Chrome OS on a Chromebook with an Intel processor.

As I hinted above, I have used the Developer Mode on my Intel-based Chromebook (Skylake, Cave series) to allow me to boot into Linux as well as Chrome OS. That is truly useful for me, because I do not live in an always-connected world. Currently I have installed the MrChromebox substitute firmware (which really only is used to allow Legacy Boot and Boot From USB) plus the CHRX install scripts, originally meant for installing Gallium OS onto an Intel-based Chromebook. Since Gallium OS development has stalled at the Ubuntu Linux 18.04 LTS kernel, I recently upgraded through the scripts to Xubuntu 22.04 LTS (the current LTS version), then switched from the “Desktop” option to Xfce for my Desktop Environment (DE) once I booted into Xubuntu using the Developer Mode boot screen options. (In other words, I installed with the default Gnome-Wayland DE, then switched on my next session login to the Xfce DE at the Greeter Screen before logging into my next Xubuntu desktop session.)

So, Developer Mode can be very useful on certain devices in specific use case situations.

Thanks for another interesting and inspiring article!

-- rc primak

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I would think it a very bad idea that someone who did not know of the feature should even consider enabling the feature.

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geekdom, rc primak

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True. But I do fully understand the features and the options I am enabling before I mess with developer modes in anything. I would strongly recommend the same caveat to everyone.

-- rc primak

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geekdom

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It strikes me as hacker’s paradise.

On permanent hiatus {with backup and coffee}
offline▸ Win10Pro 2004.19041.572 x64 i3-3220 RAM8GB HDD Firefox83.0b3 WindowsDefender
offline▸ Acer TravelMate P215-52 RAM8GB Win11Pro 22H2.22621.1265 x64 i5-10210U SSD Firefox106.0 MicrosoftDefender
online▸ Win11Pro 22H2.22621.1992 x64 i5-9400 RAM16GB HDD Firefox116.0b3 MicrosoftDefender

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rc primak

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That’s what backup is for.  🙂

cheers, Paul

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rc primak

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Amazon hides Developer Options on Fire TV devices by default

A new update for Amazon Fire TV devices hides the Developer Options on the device by default, which makes it difficult to enable sideloading and use other development related features.

Previously, Developer Options were accessible directly on the devices for all users.

One of the main uses of Android’s Developer Options for home users is to enable the sideloading of apps on Fire TV. Many apps, including apps to watch YouTube without advertisement, are not available in the Amazon App Store. To install these apps, users need to unlock the sideloading option in the Developer Options, as these applications refuse to install otherwise.

The update affects many Fire TV devices, including the Fire TV Stick 4K Max, Fire TV Cube, Fire TV Smart TV, Fire TV Stick Lite, and others.

Most Android devices, including most Android TV and Google TV devices, hide the developer menu by default. It is one of those “to keep users safe and from harming themselves” types of explanations that Google gave when it made the change…

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rc primak, oldfry

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