what is it and what can it be used for

ADB, Fastboot, Root, Recovery, do these things still exist? A few years ago, when OEM ROMs had real performance issues, it was much more common to use these tools. With the passage of time, new versions of Android and the stability of the layers of customization, this becomes less and less necessary.

In any case, there are tools which are still worth knowing, and which can open up a world of options and customization

beyond those that Android allows us when we do not go beyond the settings menus. In this article we will talk about ADB, a tool that will allow us to grant permissions to certain appsenable hidden options or download files without root or deep modification.

to what? abs

ADB stands for the acronym Android Debugging Bridge. As the name suggests, it is a tool through which the command console of our PC will serve as a bridge between it and the phone. Thanks to it, we can send commands to smartphone

, as well as downloading files from one platform to another. To start working with ADB, it is necessary to activate the usb debugging. and one Settings and About Phone. look for it build number , and tap it seven times. Once you’ve done that, you’ll see Developer Options, where the usb debugging.

As we expected, ADB requires a terminal or command console to work. If you are using Windows, you will need to install the Universal ADB Drivers. Once installed, type CMD in the windows search engine you will get to the command window.

If you’re using macOS, all you need to do is open a terminal. To do this, click on the magnifying glass icon and write Terminal. Once opened, copy this command, it will download the necessary drivers

hit <(curl -s https://raw.githubusercontent.com/corbindavenport/nexus-tools/master/install.sh)

main commands

There are several basic commands for ADB, through which we will execute simple commands. If you know a little English, you will appreciate that the controls are quite intuitiveand if not, just have that list handy.

• ADB Devices: Indicates whether or not there are devices connected by ABD
• AfDB push: allows us to send a file from our PC to our device. Just type the command and paste the file into the terminal.
• Draw ADB: allows us to send a file from our smartphone to the PC. Same operation as ADB Push.
• ADB facility: Allows you to install an APK file.
• ADB Uninstall: guess? allows you to uninstall an APK file.
• ADB shell: Allows you to control the device in text mode. Later we will see its usefulness, but in short, it allows you to work with Android code and applications to modify it as you wish.
• AfDB Restart: Force a restart in normal mode.
• ADB Restart Bootloader: Restart the device in bootloader mode.
• ADB reboot recovery: Restart the device in recovery mode.

descend into the real world

Well, we already know what ADB is and a good list of commands to start working with, but… what can it be used for in real life situations? First, we will start with send files from pc to mobile. In general, our PC generally recognizes the device and without any further problems we can exchange files. However, sometimes due to proprietary driver issue, we cannot connect PC to mobile in the normal way. In these cases, ADB can be a solution.

As we indicated, all you have to do is use the ADB Push command, and load the path of the file we want to copy. An example of its use would be the following.

c:\carpeta\tutorialadb.pdf/sdcard/downloads

In this way, we would send a file from our folder to our smartphone. Otherwise, we would use ADB Pullas in the following example.

adb pull /sdcard/downloads/tutorialadb.pdf c:\user\desktop\folder

In this case, we send a file from the smartphone to the hard disk c.

Some manufacturers, such as OnePlus, upload their ROM files so that users can install them. There is still the possibility of installing a ROM from the terminal settings, but sideloading (from PC to mobile) will always result in a cleaner install. To do this we will use the ADB Sideload command, and next we will load the ROM file. For example:

adb sideload update.zip

Some applications provide functions from other devices to our terminal, such as OnePlus Gestures. This app allows you to wear OnePlus gestures (very similar to iPhone gestures) on any Android device. However, if we have a navigation bar, this can be a problem, and not all Android terminals allow us to hide it.

Do you remember how before we talked about ABD Shell to give textual commands to the system? A good example would be the following command.

adb Shell pm Grant com.nombredelaapplication android.permission.WRITE.SECURE_SETTINGS

With this command, we tell Android that this application is allowed to hide, for example, the navigation bar.

Thanks to ADB Shell, we can also order the system to modify certain aspects, such as its themes. On Google Pixels running Android Q, the adb shell settings command puts secure uinightmode 2 tells the phone that switch to dark modesomething that cannot be enabled from settings.

Another use of ADB Shell? Imagine that a terminal button is broken and you can’t take a screenshot. These three commands allow you make one and store it wherever you want.

adb shell screenshot -p /sdcard/screenshot.png

adb pull /sdcard/screenshot.png

adb shell rm /sdcard/screenshot.png

Here are some examples of what we can do with ADB, but let’s recap so that you leave here with a clear idea. The function of ADB is to give commands between PC and phonegiving us more in-depth access, not depending on the settings menu of the latter.

We can perform basic functions such as downloading files, installing applications, updates or restarting the phone, but also the system can be told to modify its behaviorchange themes, give additional permissions to applications… In short, a more than powerful tool that we recommend you take a look.