If you have a Xiaomi phone, you have MIUI, the Chinese manufacturer’s customization layer. Is about one of the most complete customizations in Android territory, with a lot of hidden and little-known features. With MIUI 13, the latest version, the possibilities are further expanded, since it comes with important new features.
We are going to tell you what they are the best tricks, tips and functions to master MIUI. The goal is that, after reading this guide, you know everything that can be done with the customization layer to get the most out of its functions.
1. Modify the look of the desktop
The first thing is to configure the desktop of our Xiaomi. To access its settings menu we have to make a long press on any empty space on the screen, to click on ‘settings’. From here we can choose the transition effects, remove the labels of the applications, configure the provider of the search bar and even configure the double tap to block, a very useful option.
2. Discover the new widgets
With this long press on the desktop, before opening the settings menu, we will also see the widget option. MIUI 13 comes loaded with new widgets, very visual and in the style of the iPhone. Just select the one you want and take it to the home screen. The ROM is specially optimized to process these widgets, so they hardly consume any battery.
3. Change the look of multitasking
By default Xiaomi comes with multitasking arranged vertically. It’s a neat way to see more apps in less space, though we may want to use the classic look. Within the launcher settings menu that we have mentioned there is a somewhat hidden option called “organize items in recent”. if you click there you can change multitasking to a horizontal interface, in the style of the Pixel or iPhone.
4. Take advantage of multitasking options
And, speaking of multitasking, Xiaomi comes loaded with options that should be familiar with. From multitasking we can activate the cleaner, perform a security scan, deep clean or manage system apps. Similarly, we have a button to create floating windows, very useful to use any app in a small window.
5. Control the behavior of apps from multitasking
To finish with the multitasking section, which is loaded with options in MIUI, we have the functions that emerge when long pressing an app. Here we can block the app so that never remove yourself from multitasking until we want to do it manually. We can also open the split screen, to use two apps at the same time, as well as quickly access the app’s information menu.
6. Customize the control center
MIUI 13 comes with the new control center by default, a system similar to that of iOS with quick accesses. There is a little button to customize it in the top right corner. From here we can add the shortcuts we want, to be able to leave this control center to our liking. If we slide to the left, we will access the notification panel, a useful trick to save us from lowering the notification bar twice.
7. Control your notifications
Following with the notification bar, if we make a long press on a notification we will have several options. We can allow or disallow notifications from the app, postpone it or directly open the notification settings menu. This is a quick way to configure this section without navigating to the full path in the phone settings.
8. Configure notification effects
Some Xiaomi mobiles, especially those with an AMOLED screen, come with some effects when receiving notifications. For example, when you receive any message and you have the screen locked, the sides of the device light up. If you don’t like this design, you can delete it or, as in my case, set the screen to light up every time a notification arrives, as in iOS. The route is quite simple.
- Settings.
- Always active screen and lock screen.
- Notification effect.
9. Activate or schedule dark mode
The dark mode is one of the best features that Android has, and it is that it can protect our eyes when the light begins to fall. From the screen settings, if you click on “schedule dark mode”, you can select the time it will turn on and off. The most comfortable is to leave it in automatic mode so that at dusk it turns on, and at dawn it turns off.
10. Put the refresh rate to the maximum
Most of the latest generation Xiaomi mobiles have a high refresh rate. In the display settings you will find this setting, and we recommend setting it to the maximum. It is true that a little more battery is spent, but what is gained in fluidity is remarkable. Surely this rate moves between 60, 90 and 120 Hz, you will notice a big difference when you raise it.
11. Turn off system sounds
If, like me, you are desperate that the mobile makes sounds for everything (when locking the device, charging it, taking screenshots, when pressing keys), there is a somewhat hidden option to remove it. this is the route.
- Settings.
- Sound and touch.
- Additional settings.
- Deactivate everything you want.
12. Adjust the sound of apps separately
A spectacular function of MIUI is that of adjust multimedia sound in various applications, separately. That is, you can set PUBG Mobile to play at full volume and Spotify to play at low volume, to have the music in the background. This is configured from the sound and touch menu, in the “sound assistant” section.
13. Customize your notifications
In settings, notifications and control center, you have one of the most complete menus to customize notifications. You can choose how they look on the lock screen, floating notifications, icons, and even customize how they look in the notification bar. In the same way, you can return to the notification bar of a lifetime if you don’t like the new Apple-style control center look.
14. Configure the status bar
In this same menu, at the bottom, there is an option called “status bar”. The status bar is the bar where the phone icons appear, such as the time, battery, coverage, etc. In MIUI can be customized, to put the colored icons, show the connection speed, edit the operator name and change the battery indicator. If our mobile has a notch or hole, we can also hide it, by a black bar.
15. Bring the notification drawer back to life
By default MIUI does not have an application drawer, a very useful function that we can miss. If we make a long press to go to the launcher settings, we will find the “home screen” option. By default it comes in classic, but we can change it to “application drawer”.
Also, in MIUI 13 we can customize the categories of this app drawer, to have all the apps ordered to our liking. The interface remains the same, except for a small arrow that indicates the presence of the app drawer.
16. Activate high performance mode
By default your Xiaomi comes in balanced mode, to use the low consumption cores of its processor in the usual tasks and only jump to the most powerful ones when games or heavy tasks require it. However, if we want the mobile to fly, from the battery settings there is an option to jump to high performance mode.
We will know that we are in high performance mode because the battery icon turns blue. In this mode we will spend more battery, but your mobile will fly, since the processor will work at its maximum.
17. Enable Optimized Charging
Optimized charging is one of the best features of MIUI 13. Allows the device to charge slowly from 80%. This is especially important if we take into account that almost all Xiaomi phones have a fast charge of at least 33W. By activating this option, your battery will last much longer and you will protect it from its inevitable degradation over the years. You will find this option as soon as you open the “battery” settings, clicking on “battery”, not on the default mode, “battery saving”.
18. Clean the speaker of your Xiaomi
MIUI is one of the few ROMs that allows clean the speaker from the system settings. Through a 30-second audio we can expel particles and water from the speaker to leave it as new, an important maintenance that should be done on any phone. This option is very easy to find, since it is within Additional Settings.
19. Learn What Extreme Battery Saver Does
Extreme battery saving It is the most beastly function of MIUI to save battery. If we activate it, almost all phone functions are restricted, we can only use calls, receive messages and some other app that we select manually. It’s a great solution when we’re down to 10% and just need basic phone functions.
20. Change the sky in your photos
The Xiaomi gallery app has a more than interesting function: that of being able to change the sky of any photo. You just have to go to the gallery, click on ‘edit’ the photo and click on the sky option. You will find downloadable effects on your phone, so you can select the sky and change it to your liking.
21. Improve your Wi-Fi
If our Xiaomi is mid-high or high range, we will find additional settings to improve WiFi. We just have to access this address.
- Settings
- Wifi
- Wi-Fi assistant
- Intelligent network acceleration
- Dual Band WiFi Speed ​​Boost
with this function we increase the speed of the WiFi combining the 2.4 GHz network with the 5 GHz network. It is a rather curious feature that allows you to improve performance.
22. Increase RAM virtually
The new Xiaomi devices with MIUI 13 allow you to increase RAM virtually. We will find this setting in “additional settings”, in the “Memory extension” section. All you have to do is activate the option to increase the RAM memory by a few gigabytes by virtualizing physical memory.
23. Prevent music from being turned down when other notifications come in
A classic Android function is to make the multimedia volume is lowered when we are listening to music or playing video. The objective of this is that we listen to the notification, but it can be quite annoying. In MIUI, luckily, we can skip this limitation.
- Settings
- sound and touch
- sound wizard
- Multiple audio sources
