Why is Developer Options Enabled on a New Phone Out of the Box

Recently, I purchased the Pixel 9 Pro XL [couldn’t get the Pixel 10 Pro XL thanks to Flipkart’s Biometric Scam ], and the first thing I decided to do with it is to install the latest Android 16 update [the device comes with Android 14 out of the box]. For that, I headed to the Settings > System page and was about to go to Software Update when my eyes caught the Developer Options menu. I very well know what this is and have interacted with most of the features present inside it, so why was I taken aback?

Why is Developer Options Enabled on a New Phone - 1

Well, this is because I haven’t enabled it in the first place! For the unaware, you have to manually enable Developer Options by tapping on the Build Number 7 times, which I was pretty sure I hadn’t done till now. So the first query that came to my mind was “Is it a used device?” I once again went through the unboxing video that I had made just to verify if the box was sealed or not. Turns out there’s nothing wrong with that, and it was indeed a brand new device. So what’s going on?

Why is Developer Options Enabled on a New Phone Out of the Box?

Why is Developer Options Enabled on a New Phone - 2

Now that the main concern was addressed [that it’s a new phone], I took a few moments to think about how this could have happened. Just when I was about to give up, my eyes fell on my previous device, which I was using till now [OnePlus 11]. And this then answered all my queries.

I had taken a backup of all the data and settings from my OnePlus 11 and restored it on my Pixel 9 Pro XL. Did you notice the word ‘settings’? Yes, the Developer Option was enabled on my OnePlus 11, and when I restored those settings on my Pixel 9 Pro, it enabled the Developer Options there as well. That’s really quite an impressive restoration done, kudos to Google for that! [It seems to have taken atleast one page from Titanium Backup’s book!]

  • Why I Cancelled and Returned My Pixel 10 Pro XL for 9 Pro XL
  • Magic Cue Not Working on Pixel 10: How to Fix
  • How to Run Magic Cue and Other AI Features on Rooted Pixel 10
  • Pixel 10/Pro/XL Random Screen Freeze [Fix?]
Google preferred - 3 Google preferred - 4

(Cancel Reply)

Δ