Android hides developer options by default.

That begs the question: is there a downside to turning them on?

What Are Android’s Developer Options?

Developer options enabled on an Android phone.

Image Credit: Bertel King/MakeUseOf

Developer options are tweaks that, for the most part, are primarily of interest to Android app developers.

What Are the Risks of Enabling Developer Options?

There is a reason that developer options are tucked away as a secret feature.

person accessing Developer options on an Android phone

And when push comes to shove, a factory reset will take care of most software problems.

Unless an attacker is specifically targeting you, they design their code to go after the lowest common denominator.

That means devices that regular folks use, where developer options are disabled.

The first set of developer options on an Android phone.

Such malware targets older hardware, with outdated versions of Android containing software vulnerabilities that haven’t been patched.

Keeping developer options disabled doesn’t make the list oftips for avoiding dangerous malware on Android.

The same is true of wireless debugging.

Networking-related developer options within Android.

Your phone isn’t floating around vulnerable like it would be if youunlocked the bootloader.

You’re the biggest risk to your gadget when you play around with developer options, not someone else.

A search for developer options related to animations