Did you know that your smartphone had hidden menus?

Hidden menus and codes on cell phones are anything
but new. Back in the days, even the old-school brick phones had these,
allowing people who knew about them to access service options and
software information. Today, a "secret" menu exists on most (if not all)
popular smartphones, and to get to it, you just need to input the right
code.



What code, you ask? Well, you've probably heard of *#06#
which you type in your dialer, as if you were about to "call" it. When
this particular code is entered, and it should work on any cell phone,
the device's identity number (IMEI) is displayed. A smartphone's hidden
menu can be accessed with a code that looks pretty similar to this one.



On
iPhone, for example, you enter *3001#12345#* in the Phone app and then
hit the call button to get to the field test menu. There's not much
going on there, however, unless you're a technician. You can view SIM
card information, details on the cell network's status, and all sorts of
other cryptic numbers. It is interesting that signal strength in
displayed in decibels while in this menu, not represented by circles.



Hidden
menus and codes on Android phones may differ, depending on the device's
make and model. This one, however, should work on most – *#*#4636#*#*
(or *#*#INFO#*#*). It takes the user to a testing menu where network
information is displayed, along with details on battery status and app
activity. Be warned: don't change anything and don't press any buttons
in this menu unless you know what they do! On a side note, this
particular menu was used to "enable" 4G LTE in Canada on the Nexus 4.

And
if you own a Nokia Lumia smartphone, try dialing ##634#. This will take
you to an on-device diagnostics tool where the phone's hardware can be
tested from. It will also let you see your phone's battery consumption
in real time.