The links between Android and our car are becoming closer and closer, thanks to Android Auto. This mode which allows you to connect your smartphone to use it on the go has various functions, such as night mode which we have always activated. In addition, one of the latest developments makes this connection easier for us: the possibility of using it wirelessly.
However, many users who want to personalize their devices as much as possible wonder what the purpose is developer mode. As with the mobile system which also has this setting, Android Auto offers hidden options that we can take advantage of. We tell you everything about Android Auto developer mode.
What is it and how to access Developer Settings
As the name suggests, Developer Settings These are hidden options on Android that make certain tasks easier for application developers themselves. For this reason, by default they are hidden, as one wrong step could spoil the experience and prevent your devices from working normally.
Likewise, in Android Auto we don’t have a large number of developer settings, but instead some interesting options appear. But before getting to the heart of the matter, let’s see how to enable android auto developer settings.
To begin, we must go to the official application of Android Auto on our phone. We will easily find it by going to Settings and doing a quick search with the term “Android Auto”. If you prefer to find it yourself, go to Settings > Connected devices > Connection preferences > Android Auto (on Pixel).
Or if you have a Xiaomi, the location is somewhat different: Settings > Connection & sharing > Android Auto. Next, we will swipe vertically to the bottom of the Android Auto home screen. In the “Version” section we must tap several times until a notice appears, this will tell us how many times we still need to tap it to activate the developer settings. Complete it, and that’s it.
With this option activated, all you have to do is press the “more options” menu (the three small dots that appear at the top right of the screen). Just after, You will see in the drop-down list the “Developer Settings”. Tap and you’re there.
This is all that allows us to change the developer settings
As we mentioned earlier, Android Auto’s developer settings contain a smaller number of editable options than those of Google’s mobile operating system. But this does not prevent access to it, since They will give us games to personalize the experience.
In the parameter list we can change behavior, for example from Android Auto wireless mode. You will see this option first on the list and it allows us to disable the wireless connection from our phone to the car screen. Note that it is not exclusive, that is, if we have it activated we can also use the wired connection.
On the other hand, the “Application Mode” option will not serve us as ordinary users, but is a setting dedicated to developers who want to test their applications. In some of its forms, like “Demo”, it will help our device delete all data after use.
The third option refers to light and dark mode, we can choose who controls this: the car, the phone, or force one of the two modes forever. The following parameters again have a more specialized use, as they give us the ability to save videos and screenshots of Android Auto, as well as capturing sound from our microphone, all during a debugging session (for developers). We repeat, perhaps these are not of interest to the average user.
The audio sample rate is used to change sound quality coming from Android Auto, it is recommended to leave it as it comes by default. Continuing with sound, we can also change the audio codecs used for data transmission between the phone and our car’s screen.
The rest of the functions touch on aspects useful for developers such as debug logging (to create a logcat), GPS data collection and audio latency dump. We also have a button to delete all data. What may interest us is the “Video Resolution”, where We choose in which resolution Android Auto is displayed. You can select 480p, 720p or 1080p as you wish, or leave this choice in charge of the mobile.
We will benefit more from these options if we are developers. In the case of the rest of us, some options are useful for modifying behavior.
To finish this review, the penultimate option bears some resemblance to its namesake on Android: unknown sources. This function is used to show external applications of third parties that we have installed, because by default it will be blocked.
As we have seen, this section has useful functions, but it is mainly intended for developers who need a testing environment for your applications. Likewise, the average user will also be able to take advantage of some of these functions, in particular to personalize the experience that Android Auto offers us.
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