How do I keep my screen unlocked during USB debugging?

Question

Android OS2.2 used to have an option under Settings/Applications/Development to disable screen lock during USB debugging. After upgrading my Samsung Galaxy S to OS2.3.3 this

Answer 1

Use this in your Manifest:

<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.WAKE_LOCK" />

and your screen won't turn off!

Answer 2

You can just set the Screen Timeout to 30 minutes or turn it off. This option is under : Settings/Display/Screen Timeout

Hope it helps.

Answer 3

You can re-enable Developer options, which configurations are now hidden:

1 - Go to Settings > About > Software information > More...

2 - Then touch Build number 7 times, which will give you a count down, and then say “you’re now a developer”.

And Developer Options are back!

Answer 4

Completely automated solution with unlock and screen awake

I solved this problem by combining two answers and then automating them. So basically when you run the app on a physical it might locked and it might keep going into sleep mode while you are actively developing.

The solution is to write a script which unlocks the device if locked and then set the power mode to stay awake on usb power

unlock_keep_device_awake.sh

#!/bin/bash
#Check if device locked
if adb shell dumpsys window | grep  "mDreamingLockscreen=true"; then 
    echo "Locked"
    adb shell input keyevent KEYCODE_WAKEUP # activate 
    adb shell input touchscreen swipe 530 1420 530 1120 # swipe up
    adb shell input text 1234 # <Change to the device password> input password 
    #adb shell input keyevent 66 # press enter, if you keyguard requires it
else 
    echo "UnLocked"  
fi

# 2 = Stay awake on USB, 0 = reset
adb shell settings put global stay_on_while_plugged_in 2

To automate this add it to the app run configuration to run before launch

Step 1: Run -> Edit Configuration

Step 2: create a Shell script configuration by clicking on '+' -> Shell Script

Step 3: Add the configuration run before running the app

That's it, no more unlocking device or waking it up while development.

One small thing, i mostly charge the phone via AC power so I might not need to reset the stay_awake setting. But if you don't want the device screen to be awake while you charge via USB power the run the below command after you are done with development for the day.

adb shell settings put global stay_on_while_plugged_in 0

Answer 5

Tell PowerManager to keep the screen on (it will still dim):

adb shell settings put global stay_on_while_plugged_in 3

The value 3 is the following two types OR'd together:

BatteryManager#BATTERY_PLUGGED_AC and BatteryManager#BATTERY_PLUGGED_USB.

Use adb shell dumpsys power | grep mStayOnWhilePluggedInSetting to see the current value.

To revert to normal behavior set the value to zero like so:

adb shell settings put global stay_on_while_plugged_in 0

Verified working on Android 4.4 through 9.0.

Answer 6

I created simple shell script for my macOS

File Name : cell-screen.sh

#!/bin/sh

echo '`cell-screen on` to keep the screen on during usb debugging'
echo '`cell-screen off` to reset'

echo ''
echo 'your parameter - ' $1

if [[ "$1" = "on" ]]; then
    ~/Library/Android/sdk/platform-tools/adb shell settings put global stay_on_while_plugged_in 2
elif [[ "$1" = "off" ]]; then
    ~/Library/Android/sdk/platform-tools/adb shell settings put global stay_on_while_plugged_in 0
else
    echo '\n[****]Bad Input.'
fi

echo '\nEnd'

Steps:

1. I saved the script to the default use location - /Users/[your username]
2. Given executable access to the file - chmod +x ~/cell-screen.sh
3. Whenever I start my development tasks, I just execute the shell script in terminal - ~/cell-screen.sh on
4. After I complete my development work, I simply execute - ~/cell-screen.sh off

For Windows Users:

Change the shell script for the adb location - %LOCALAPPDATA%\Android\sdk\platform-tools\adb