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This Windows application can, if connected with an Android device, list and change every device setting. Many of these settings are either not available in the device settings or difficult to access.
The following conditions must be met:
- «USB debugging» must be activated. For a detailed description how to activate USB debugging click here. Please note that some devices only allow debugging in file transfer mode.
- The device must be connected to the computer with a USB data cable. Make sure that Windows recognizes the device and installs the correct driver.
How to do
- Download and start the application on a Windows computer. The download is available at the end of this post. If all conditions met press «START».
- Accept the permission request on the device.
- You will see 4 different types of settings. Every type is explained below. Double click on a setting will open a new window where the setting can be changed.
Different types of settings
- Global
Global system settings, containing preferences that always apply identically to all defined users. Applications can read these but are not allowed to write; like the "Secure" settings, these are for preferences that the user must explicitly modify through the system UI or specialized APIs for those values. This type was introduced in API 17 and now contains some values that were previously stored in type System.
- System
System settings, containing miscellaneous system preferences. This table holds simple name/value pairs. There are convenience functions for accessing individual settings entries.
- Secure
Secure system settings, containing system preferences that applications can read but are not allowed to write. These are for preferences that the user must explicitly modify through the UI of a system app. Normal applications cannot modify the secure settings database, either directly or by calling the "put" methods that this class contains.
- Privacy
New in Android 12 is the privacy settings. Two very interesting settings are camera_mic_icons_enabled and location_indicators_enabled. With these settings you can deactivate the annoying, green indicator in the upper right corner that appears every time when the camera, microphone or location is accessed. Unfortunately, these settings will be automatically reset by the system after restarting the device.
Note
Please note, that some settings require a device restart to become effective.
Another note
This program won't work if the Android operating system is running in multi user account mode.
Warning
The use of this application is at your own risk. You have to know which setting you want to change and which affect it has. If you change the wrong setting, you'll need to reset your device.
Download:
Change log:
- Version 1: Initial version
- Version 2: Added privacy settings
Categories: Android Windows Tools
