ANDROID SECRET CODES REVIEW

13 Secret Codes That Unlock Hidden Features on Your PhoneThe USSD protocol allows you to access hidden features you didn't knowabout right from your smartphone's dialer. But there is some trickiness you'll need to know about.Field Mode: *3001#12345#*Type*3001#12345#*into your phone's dialer and then press the green call button to access "Field Mode," which can give you access toinfo about local networks and cell towers.You'll probably never ever have to know about your local cell tower's"Measured RSSi," but it's fun to look around for a bit.The USSD protocol allows you to access hidden features you didn't know about right from your smartphone's dialer. But there is some trickiness you'll need to know about.Rememberthat sceneinWar Gameswhen the socially broken code monkeys were explaining to aspiring hacker Matthew Broderick all about "back doors" (i.e. secret pathways planted by programmers)? Well, that's actually a thing.Coders have a storied tradition of baking in secret passageways (or sometimes, justfun little Easter eggs) that can only be accessed by inputting a special "key." And so that tradition continues in the mobile age.Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD)—sometimes known as "quick codes" or"feature codes"—is an extra-UI protocol, which allows people to access hidden features. This protocol was originally created forGSM phones, but can be found onCDMA devicesas well (if that's a bunch of acronym gibberish to you,here's a quick primer).READ:14 Cool Tricks You Didn't Know Your Phone's Camera CouldDoThese publicly available backchannels allow users to directly communicate with their service provider's computers and/or access back-end features in their device. They are accessed by inputting them into the phone'sdialer (the screen you use to start a phone call) and usually begin and end with the * or # keys with asequence of numbers in between (there's close-to-zero chance that anyone would accidentally accessthem).They're not terribly practical. Mostpeople don't really need to know how their local cell towers are performing or what theirIMEI numberis (more on that later). Still, it can be fun to play around and see what unexpected functionality your phone is hiding beneath the surface.We would LOVE to provide you with a comprehensive list of the dozens of codes out there, but that would be an exercise in futility. These codes seldom work across different carriers, OSes, or phone models (or even on generations of the same model).If you really want to try them out, your best bet may be to Google your phone's make and carrier +"USSD" for a tailored, comprehensive list. I attempted a number of codes using aniPhone SE(while trading out numerous carrier SIM cards) in addition to aGalaxy S5andGalasy S7 Edgerunning on AT&T. Some of them worked! Click through our slideshow for 13 codes that I can confirm worked on at least one device. Good luck

Note:YOU MISUSE AT YOUR OWN RISK