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⚡ Quick Start

New here? Three steps, about five minutes:

1. Install the app. Download the APK from the Releases page and open it on your phone. Details
2. Grant the permission once. Connect your phone to a computer by USB, then run:

   npm install -g dev-mode-cli
   devmode grant
   

   Other ways, and what this permission does
3. Use it. Toggle Developer Options, USB Debugging and Wireless Debugging from the app, the home screen widgets or the notification bar.

Requirements

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📸 App Screenshots

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✨ Features Overview

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📲 Home Screen Widget Setup

Dev Mode offers both a comprehensive 3-in-1 multi-control bar and individual 1x1 standalone widgets:

1. Long-press any empty space on your Android home screen.
2. Tap Widgets in the launcher popup menu and scroll to Dev Mode.
3. Choose your preferred format:
   • 3-in-1 Quick Toggle (3x1): Access Developer Options, USB Debugging, and Wireless ADB side-by-side.
   • Dev Mode (1x1): Dedicated single button for Developer Options.
   • USB Debugging (1x1): Dedicated single button for USB ADB.
   • Wireless ADB (1x1): Dedicated single button for Wireless ADB.
4. Drag and drop the widget onto your home screen. Tapping tiles toggles system states instantly in the background without needing to launch the full app.

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📥 Install

1. Open the Releases page and download the latest APK:
   • app-arm64-v8a-release.apk: for almost every phone made in the last several years (about 35 MB).
   • app-armeabi-v7a-release.apk: only for older 32-bit phones (about 29 MB).
2. Open the downloaded file. When Android asks, allow Install unknown apps for your browser or file manager.
3. Open Dev Mode and follow the onboarding. The last step is the one-time permission grant below.

Not sure which APK? Pick arm64-v8a. If Android says the app is not compatible, use armeabi-v7a.

Updates are manual: download the newer APK and install it over the old one. Your settings stay, because every release is signed with the same key.

Optional: verify your download. Compare the SHA-256 of the file with the checksum in the release notes (PowerShell):

Get-FileHash .\app-arm64-v8a-release.apk -Algorithm SHA256

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🚀 One-Time Setup (Permission Grant)

Changing Android developer settings needs a permission that only a computer can grant. Do this once per install. Pick one of the two ways below.

Prerequisites

1. Turn on Developer Options and USB Debugging on your phone once (Settings → About phone → tap Build number 7 times).
2. Connect the phone to your computer with a USB cable and tap Always allow on the phone.

Option A: Dev Mode CLI (recommended)

The Dev Mode CLI finds your phone and grants the permission for you. It needs Node.js 16+ and Android Platform Tools (adb).

# Install once. The package is named dev-mode-cli, the command it adds is devmode
npm install -g dev-mode-cli

# Grant the permission
devmode grant

Prefer not to install anything? Run it once with npx:

npx dev-mode-cli grant

Use npx dev-mode-cli, not npx devmode. On npm, devmode is a different, unrelated package.

The same CLI also controls the app from your PC. Open its one-key menu with devmode auto, or run commands directly:

devmode on            # Developer Options ON
devmode usb on        # USB Debugging ON
devmode wifi on       # Wireless Debugging ON and auto-connect over Wi-Fi
devmode status        # Show device status

Option B: Manual ADB

adb shell pm grant com.devmode.app android.permission.WRITE_SECURE_SETTINGS

Using Shizuku? You can also authorize the permission directly on-device using Shizuku without needing a PC connection.

Check it worked

The onboarding screen and the Security screen show GRANTED once the permission is active. Tap Recheck if it still says pending.

What the permission does

WRITE_SECURE_SETTINGS is an Android permission that lets an app change protected system settings. Android has no button to grant it, so it is granted once from a computer.

Dev Mode uses it only to change these settings:

• Developer Options on or off
• USB Debugging on or off
• Wireless Debugging on or off
• Animation scales (window, transition, animator)
• Stay awake while charging, show touches, pointer location

It does not give Dev Mode root access. It does not let the app read your files, photos, messages or other apps.

To be fully transparent: technically this permission allows writing any protected setting. Dev Mode only changes the ones listed above, and all of the code is in this repository so you can check it.

Permissions the app asks for, and why:

You can undo the permission at any time, see Revoking Permission below.

Revoking Permission

You keep full control. Revoke it any time from your computer:

adb shell pm revoke com.devmode.app android.permission.WRITE_SECURE_SETTINGS

(or simply uninstall the application).

If you reinstall or clear the app, run the grant command again.

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🧰 Troubleshooting

The app still says the permission is pending after I ran the command. Run adb devices on your computer. Your phone should be listed as device. If it says unauthorized, unlock the phone and tap Allow on the "Allow USB debugging?" prompt. Then run the grant command again and tap Recheck in the app.

adb or devmode is not recognized. Install Android Platform Tools and add the folder to your PATH. For devmode, install Node.js first, then run npm install -g dev-mode-cli. Open a new terminal window afterwards.

Which command do I use, devmode or dev-mode-cli? Install with the package name, run with the short command: npm install -g dev-mode-cli, then devmode grant. If you do not want to install it, use npx dev-mode-cli grant. Do not use npx devmode, because devmode on npm is a different, unrelated package.

Wireless Debugging turns itself off when my Wi-Fi drops. That is Android's behavior. Dev Mode can turn it back on when Wi-Fi returns: open Developer Settings in the app and enable Keep Wireless Debugging On.

Wireless Debugging will not turn on. It needs Android 11 or newer and a connected Wi-Fi network. The first time on a new network, Android may ask you to approve it in its own Wireless debugging screen.

"App not installed" or "conflicts with an existing package". A copy signed with a different key is already on the phone, for example an older test build. Uninstall it, then install the release APK. You will need to run the grant command again.

Play Protect warns about the app. Android shows this for any app installed from outside the Play Store. You can compare your download with the SHA-256 checksum in the release notes before choosing Install anyway.

I reinstalled or cleared the app and the toggles stopped working. The permission belongs to the installation. Run the grant command again.

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🛠️ Development & Building

The project is built using Expo (React Native) with a custom native Kotlin module located in modules/dev-toggle-native/.

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18+
• Android SDK (API 34+) & JDK 17

Local Setup

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Run TypeScript type check
npx tsc --noEmit

# Run code linter
npx expo lint

# Build & launch on connected Android device
npx expo run:android

Release Builds (signed APK)

Release builds are signed with your own keystore. Create android/keystore.properties (git-ignored) next to your .jks file:

storeFile=devmode-release.jks
storePassword=YOUR_PASSWORD
keyAlias=devmode
keyPassword=YOUR_PASSWORD

storeFile is resolved from android/app/. Without this file the release build falls back to the debug key, so a fresh clone still builds, but that APK is not suitable for publishing.

cd android
./gradlew assembleRelease     # Windows: .\gradlew.bat assembleRelease

Output: android/app/build/outputs/apk/release/ with one APK per CPU architecture (arm64-v8a, armeabi-v7a). Release builds use R8 code shrinking and resource shrinking to keep the download small.

Never commit or lose the keystore. Back up the .jks file and its password. Without the same key you cannot publish updates that install over existing installs.

Publishing a release

Keep three things in step for every release:

Android refuses to install an APK whose versionCode is the same or lower than the installed one, so always increase it.

gh release create v1.2.0 \
  android/app/build/outputs/apk/release/app-arm64-v8a-release.apk \
  android/app/build/outputs/apk/release/app-armeabi-v7a-release.apk \
  --title "Dev Mode v1.2.0" --notes "What changed"

Cloud Builds with EAS

# Development build
npx eas-cli@latest build --platform android --profile development

# Production APK / AAB
npx eas-cli@latest build --platform android --profile production

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☕ Support the Project

If you find Dev Mode useful and want to support ongoing updates, features, and maintenance, feel free to support via Ko-fi:

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🤝 Contributing & Pull Requests

Contributions, feedback, and pull requests are welcomed!

• Fork the Repository: Feel free to fork the project and adapt it for your workflow.
• Give Credit: If you use this codebase or build upon it, please provide attribution and a link back to this repository.
• Submit Pull Requests: Check out open issues or propose new developer utilities through a PR.

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📄 License & Attribution

This project is open-source software licensed under the MIT License.

Copyright © 2026 Jhayr Cervantes (GitHub: @Ryderhxrzy)

Redistribution & Attribution Terms

Under the MIT License, you are free to use, modify, and distribute this software for personal or commercial projects, provided that:

• You must retain the original copyright notice and permission notice in all copies or substantial portions of the software.
• Credit is given to the author (Jhayr Cervantes / @Ryderhxrzy).

Third-Party Acknowledgments

• Expo & React Native: Copyright (c) 650 Industries, Inc. (Licensed under MIT).
• Lucide Icons: Copyright (c) Lucide Contributors (Licensed under ISC).