MIUI: tips and tricks to make the most of your Xiaomi

Xiaomi started developing its software called MIUI long before starting to produce smartphones (and any other gadget). MIUI has now reached its tenth version and is more captivating than ever. Do you have a Xiaomi smartphone? You can not miss out on these tricks and tips.

Warning: Some features may not be present on all Xiaomi smartphones and on all versions of MIUI. As a reference we used Xiaomi Mi 8 and MIUI 10 because of their completeness.

A world of themes awaits you

One of the most entertaining and enjoyable aspects of MIUI is the ability to customize the smartphone in a deep way, without losing the style and attention to detail that Xiaomi has put in its software and without resorting to external applications.

To change the theme of your smartphone you will first have to download new ones. To do this, just open the application Themes you find on your home. You will immediately be sent back to the online shop where you can search, download or purchase new aspects for your smartphone.

You can then decide to apply the whole theme or just some parts of it (for example if you like only the icons or the font used) and this brings the personalization to the highest levels allowing you practically to create your own theme by mixing the various themes downloaded.

You can check the packages you have downloaded also in Settings> Themes.

The display is able to do much more

True, no display is perfect. But what we can do thanks to MIUI is to customize its appearance in order to satisfy us as much as possible. Going to Settings> Display you will have access to a large number of screen customizations:

Reading mode – Reduces the blue light on the display to prevent eye strain. It is possible to program the activation and deactivation of the function at specific times or after sunset.
Contrast and colors – Here you can change the white temperature and the intensity of color saturation.
Always on mode – By activating this switch you can see the time, date and icons of the notifications even with the “off” display. A useful feature especially if the smartphone has an AMOLED display.
System Fonts – The font type and its size can be customized from this section.
Double tap screen to wake – Turn on this item to wake up your smartphone with a double tap on the off screen instead of pressing the power button.
Raise to wake – Similar to the function implemented by Apple on its iPhone, allows you to activate the display when lifting the smartphone.

A status bar full of useful information

The MIUI has specific options that will allow you to show extra information in the status bar (the bar that changes color depending on the application at the top of the display, where there are the “notches” of the telephone signal, WIFI, the Bluetooth icon and etc).

Go to Settings> Notifications and status bar, from there you can customize some items:

Notification folders – The MIUI will group notifications you have reported as unimportant into a separate folder.
Show connection speed – To see the speed of the data or WIFI connection to which you are connected in real time.
Edit carrier name – Do you want to call the first SIM “Private” and the second SIM “Work”? This is the option for you.
Battery indicator – The remaining battery charge can be represented graphically or as a percentage.

Unlock the smartphone without touching the fingerprint reader

If there is a function that I find really comfortable is the presence of the release with the recognition of the face, also called unlocking with a smile. Thanks to this method of biometric unlocking you can make sure that the smartphone is unlocked by recognizing your face, speeding up the operation of access to the smartphone. On some Xiaomi the function is faster than the fingerprint reader!

To do this go to Settings> Unlock screen and Password> Add face data.

One version of the app for you and another for work

Are you often forced to use multiple accounts in social or messaging apps because of your hobby or your job? Many applications allow you a quick change of accounts but not all. Xiaomi has the solution for you, you can split the applications that interest you to use with two different accounts simultaneously!

Find the Dual App function at the bottom of the Settings by scrolling down. This item you can choose which apps to split in a simple and intuitive way.

Keep apps with more personal content safe

The MIUI also winks to privacy with many features designed for app and data security. In the App lock in the Settings you can choose to lock some of your apps to prevent them from being opened by the curious eyes in case you happen to lend your smartphone to someone. No one will be able to do your own business anymore!

Now the time has finally come to relax

Now that you have calibrated the display, customized the smartphone and secured your app you can finally breathe a sigh of relief. Did you know that the MIUI watch app has a function designed for meditation and relaxation? Just open the app, go to the Timer and under the duration selector you can choose between various relaxing sounds: