How to enable developer mode on iPhone and iPad?

Apple has always been advanced in bringing out new features and how to make the best use of them and the users especially have used them to their fullest such that anything can now be done with an iPhone let alone other Apple products.

Apple’s new release of products namely the iPad pro with the iOS 12, iPhone Xs, iPhone Xr, and iPhone Xs Max have been developed with new updates on security features and other functions that usually aren’t very flexible to any other user. These products have come a long way in their uses and flexibility compared to other iPhone and iPad series.

These pose a unique allowance to the user such that they can access all the hidden features on their iPhones and pads and also control their devices in the way they wish, one such new launch that we will be talking about is the developer mode.

What is a developer mode on iPhone?

Similar to the android version of how the user becomes the developer, Apple has introduced the same. The developer mode is introduced by Apple in iOS 16 and watchOS 9. This mainly is brought in to save the users from downloading any app or software that is deemed to be harmful to the device. It does not interfere with the usual buying of apps on the Appstore.

Although it comes in with slight risks like reduced functionality of the security services and every time the user wishes to enable this developer mode, it asks for confirmation and a warning sign with the risks that they might face. It gives access and autonomy to the user on special features like USB debugging.

How to enable developer mode on iPhone and an iPad

If you wish to be a developer, and further on to install any kind of third-party apps to play games or anything on those lines, you will have to unlock the ‘developer mode menu’. This does not vary from iPhones and iPad and they can be easily achieved in a few steps.

1. You will have to connect your iPhone be it any version as mentioned above to either your PC or your MAC with a lightning cable.
2. The Xcode scheme might show a message as ‘unavailable device’ since the developer mode is disabled for that device.
3. Now, go to settings and select the privacy and security option.
4. You will see a list of options, select the Developer Mode and proceed to turn on the toggle button ‘Developer Mode’.
5. This will take you to a warning sign saying that this action might reduce the security functions of the device.
6. Now click on the alert’s Restart button.
7. Once the phone completes restarting, a confirmation message for enabling the developer mode will appear.
8. Select turn on the option and proceed to unlock your phone with your passcode.
9. Now, your device is fully ready to install apps from the Xcode and also build and run other functions.

Remember that once you disable that mode, that is following the same steps and turning off the developer mode toggle button, you cannot run any other apps that have been installed by the Xcode and this is the same for both iPhones and iPads.

What can we do using the developer mode on iPhone/iPad?

Developer mode being the latest brought-in feature by Apple this year has been promised to serve a lot of protection services. If a user has enabled the developer mode in their iPhones or iPads, as we have mentioned above, it explicitly asks for confirmation before beginning to assist the user with its functions. It is designed to protect the device from downloading any software that might seem malicious and threatening to the device, hence providing additional protection to the device.

 In case you have downloaded any third-party app, the developer mode will see through any suspicious activity from the software. It also reduces any attacks from vectors. This developer mode can be only accessed on devices that have iOS 16, iPadOS 16, or watchOS 9 and more. It performs several build and run functions in Xcode and allows the user to grant permissions for the locally installed apps along with installing any file with an extension ‘. ipa’ with the help of the apple configurator.