Yes, AT&T prevents sideloading on the Dell Streak

Jenn K. Lee August 13, 2010 AT&T, Dell Streak

I know you were just starting to feel warm and fuzzy about AT&T since the Dell Streak isn't being bogged down by carrier bloatware, but let's get back to reality.

Just as we feared, AT&T has indeed removed the setting on the Dell Streak that allows non-Market apps to be installed. On the left, the UK Streak (locked to O2); on the right, the US Streak (locked to AT&T). As you can see, the "Unknown sources" option that allows sideloading has been removed. Along with it, (un)surprisingly, is the "Running services" options that lets you control—you guessed it—running services.

You know how to get around the sideloading restriction, of course, but you shouldn't have to use a third-party solution and a computer to do something that Android phones on every other carrier can do out of the box and directly from the device.

About the Author

Jenn K. Lee is the founder and editor-at-large of Pocketables. She loves gadgets the way most women love shoes and purses. The pieces in her tech wardrobe that go with everything are currently the HTC EVO 4G LTE, Samsung Galaxy Tab 2, Sony Tablet P, and Samsung Galaxy Note, but there are still a couple of vintage UMPCs/MIDs in the back of her closet.

14 Comments

Joel August 13, 2010 at 4:03 pm - Reply

I can’t get ADB (an essential part of the side loader) to recognize my Streak (AT&T new today). I do have the Dell Suite installed, and Device Manager on my PC (XP) shows “Android ADB Device” all nice and happy. But “ADB Devices” says nothing there (and yes USB debugging is on). I even tried pointing the driver for that ADB device at the driver folder contained in the Streak software, it churned for a while, said I had to reboot, but still no joy.

I’ll play around a bit more, see if any other AT&T users figure it out…any ideas?
The Jack of Clubs August 13, 2010 at 4:21 pm - Reply

im sure someone will fix this soon.
geek65535 August 13, 2010 at 5:08 pm - Reply

It may be that the phone is just a bit too new, and ADB doesn’t have the right ID for it yet. I had a similar issue with my MyTouch when I first got it (but I was working in Linux, so things were a bit different).
Jeff August 13, 2010 at 6:20 pm - Reply

Uninstall Dell PC Suite, go install the PDANet client for Windows, and watch as PDANet puts a magic driver on that ADB can talk to. I’m scratching my head too, but it works for me.
Joel August 13, 2010 at 6:52 pm - Reply

No luck. I uninstalled the PC suite, installed PDANet (which told me it was going to replace my “Google driver”) and it DID install PDANet on my Streak, but I still can’t get ADB to “see” my Streak.

I think this PC may be borked, I’ve done a lot of Android and iPhone USB tinkering on it. I’ll try a clean machine over the weekend.

Thanks for the help anyway…
ssmotor August 13, 2010 at 8:05 pm - Reply

Thanks, worked perfectly
Charlie August 14, 2010 at 7:07 am - Reply

Jenn – do you have a subsidized phone? Unknown Sources shows up on mine and after turning it on, I sideloaded a couple of apps without any problems. My phone is a full priced one.
Jenn K. Lee August 14, 2010 at 8:40 am - Reply

No, mine is unsubsidized too. Either you got lucky or I got unlucky!
lizzle August 20, 2010 at 10:03 am - Reply

I cannot get SWM to see my streak either. I uninstalled dell pc suite, installed pdanet successfully. When I run SWM the loader is still not seeing the streak device. What gives?
Larry August 20, 2010 at 12:32 pm - Reply

Not sure if this is the exact sequence, since I was playing around a bit with different installs, but I got it to work eventually (sorry about not having exact paths, but I’m away from the computer that I did this with):

1) Install the Dell Windows software for the Streak (Dell Manager?)
2) Copy the ADB files (I think there were 2, not sure if they were both needed) from the install directory to the SWM directory (and remove/save the old one, just in case)
3) Now run SWM and you should see the serial number when you install an app
Rehza19 February 6, 2011 at 7:53 am - Reply

I just got my Dell Streak a couple of days ago and wanted to know; how do I get the “Running Services” option under my settings and applications. I have managed to get the “Unknown Sources” on my streak to enable third party apps and sideloading, but I can’t seem to find anything on how to get that option.

My Specs:
Firmware: 1.6
OEM Version: GAUSB1A111231
Build: 6601
US AT&T Version from Best Buy
Not Rooted

Thanks
peterstreaker February 8, 2011 at 5:52 pm - Reply

I have a AT&T Streak that I unlocked and upgraded to 2.2. Last night I made the mistake of trying to install this so I can sideload apps. Unfortunately my phone will not boot up. It just hangs on the Dell logo. Will be trying some things including going back to 1.6 and then back to 2.2. So far no luck at all.
Rehza19 February 13, 2011 at 5:46 pm - Reply

This worked for me, I hope this works for you:

http://dellstreakhacks.com/how-to-sideload-apps-on-stock-att-dell-streak-without-root-adb-or-sideload-wonder-machine.html
Andy February 13, 2011 at 7:24 pm - Reply

That site is a blatant rip-off of StreakSmart!

Here is Jenn’s original article that the site you linked to stole from: http://www.streaksmart.com/2010/08/how-to-sideload-apps-on-stock-att-dell-streak-without-root-adb-or-sideload-wonder-machine.html

Thank god it looks like that site has been abandoned. I hate rip-off sites.