Looking to enable and disable (toggle) ADB or USB debugging using command line or in app

Question

I'm trying to enable ADB (USB debugging) only when my application is running and disabling it when my application is not. I have full access to the phone and it is rooted, su available, etc., but I cannot find a way to do the toggling.

What I've tried so far:

Process proc = Runtime.getRuntime().exec(new String [] { "su", "-c", "setprop", "persist.service.adb.enable", "0"});
proc.waitFor();
Process proc2 = Runtime.getRuntime().exec(new String [] { "su", "-c", "stop", "adbd"});
proc2.waitFor();

This however causes the phone to enter a reboot loop instantaneously.

Answer 1

The code that works is easy:

Settings.Secure.putInt(getContentResolver(),Settings.Secure.ADB_ENABLED, 0); // 0 to disable, 1 to enable

Edit/Update: Thanks to @MohanT for the following update:

Settings.Global.putInt(getContentResolver(),Settings.Global.ADB_ENABLED, 0); // 0 to disable, 1 to enable

However, the app needs to be a system app to be able to use this. To get out of having to sign it, build a custom rom, etc.. I did the following to get it to be a system app.

First, I installed it regularly using eclipse, then adb shell:

> su
# mount -o remount,rw -t yaffs2 /dev/block/mtdblock3 /system
# cat /data/app/filename.apk > /system/app/filename.apk
# mount -o remount,ro -t yaffs2 /dev/block/mtdblock3 /system
# reboot

Answer 2

You can achieve by following next steps:

1. Check whether ADB is currently enabled. To do that you can use a relevant global constant:

   • Settings.Global.ADB_ENABLED for API 17 and above.
   • Settings.Secure.ADB_ENABLED prior to API 17.

2. Use implicit Intent with Settings.ACTION_APPLICATION_DEVELOPMENT_SETTINGS action to open developers options, where user can enable or disable ADB.

Code example:

Java

public static final int API = Build.VERSION.SDK_INT;
public static final int ENABLED=1, DISABLED=0;

public static boolean adbEnabled(Context context){
    if(API>16)
       return ENABLED == Settings.Global.getInt(context.getContentResolver(), Settings.Global.ADB_ENABLED,DISABLED);
    else 
       return ENABLED == Settings.Secure.getInt(context.getContentResolver(), Settings.Secure.ADB_ENABLED,DISABLED);
}

public void checkAdb(Context context){
    //if ADB disabled
    if(!adbEnabled(context)){
        //open developer options settings 
        Intent intent = new Intent(Settings.ACTION_APPLICATION_DEVELOPMENT_SETTINGS);
        context.startActivity(intent);
    }
}

Kotlin

val API = Build.VERSION.SDK_INT
val ENABLED = 1
val DISABLED = 0

fun adbEnabled(context: Context): Boolean {
    return if (API > 16)
        ENABLED == Settings.Global.getInt(context.contentResolver, Settings.Global.ADB_ENABLED, DISABLED)
    else
        ENABLED == Settings.Secure.getInt(context.contentResolver, Settings.Secure.ADB_ENABLED, DISABLED)
}
fun checkAdb(context: Context) {
    //if ADB disabled
    if (!adbEnabled(context)) {
        //open developer options settings
        val intent = Intent(Settings.ACTION_APPLICATION_DEVELOPMENT_SETTINGS)
        context.startActivity(intent)
    }
}

Just for reference:

Prior to API 3 (probably no longer relevant) Settings.System.ADB_ENABLED was used.