Notch Display per App
If one app stretches its content behind the notch while another leaves a black bar around it, the per-app notch setting is likely mismatched with that app's layout. This shows up mostly in games or video apps that were not built with a notch in mind. The fix depends on a setting Xiaomi lets you configure separately for each installed app.
Bedtime Mode: Turn On or Off
If your Xiaomi phone keeps buzzing with notifications late at night or the screen stays distractingly bright while you try to fall asleep, Bedtime mode is probably not set up yet. This feature is supposed to mute the device and dim the colors automatically, but only if you pick the right trigger - a fixed schedule or charging at night. Choosing the wrong option is the usual reason it never kicks in when you actually need it.
Hide the Full Screen Indicator (Gesture Bar)
With gesture navigation active on a Xiaomi phone, a thin bar stays visible at the bottom of the screen at all times. It sits on top of apps, videos and games, and some people find it distracting during full-screen use. This line is a system indicator tied to gesture navigation, not a bug.
Change Camera Photo Frame Ratio
Photos taken in the default 4:3 frame show black bars when you stream them to an HDTV or play them back on a widescreen display. Switching to a 16:9 ratio matches modern screens and avoids the letterboxing, while a 1:1 crop works better for square social posts. The frame setting sits in the camera menu and is easy to miss if you never open it.
Move Photos or Videos into an Album
Photos and videos pile up in one long Gallery feed until finding a specific shot means endless scrolling. When you try to sort them into an album, Gallery stops you with a choice between moving or copying the file, and picking the wrong option can leave duplicates behind or remove the original from where you expected it.
Customize Camera Feature Layout
If your camera app only shows modes you never use while Night or Pro mode stays buried under More, the feature layout on your Xiaomi is still set to default. You can add, remove or reorder quick-access modes like Portrait, 48M, Panorama, Documents, Slow motion or Time-lapse directly in the camera settings. Which modes are available depends on your specific device model.
Double Tap to Wake or Sleep Screen
Waking your Xiaomi phone only works by pressing the power button, and double-tapping the display does nothing. This happens when 'Double tap to wake or turn off screen' is switched off in the lock screen settings, so a quick glance at the clock or notifications requires a full button press instead.
Add Extra Contact Details
Only a phone number and name saved for a contact leaves out useful extras like birthday, nickname, or a website link. On Xiaomi phones, MIUI hides these optional fields behind the standard edit screen, so you never see them unless you go looking. Without filling them in, calls and messages only ever show the bare minimum information for that person.
Set a Custom Notification Sound
If you pick a full song as your Xiaomi notification tone, only the first few seconds usually play before the sound gets cut off or overlaps with the next alert. MIUI lets you use almost any audio file stored on your phone as a notification sound, no matter which folder it sits in, but long tracks feel out of place for a quick alert. Trimming the file first keeps notifications short and easy to recognize.
Turn Floating Notifications On or Off
Every pop-up banner that slides over your Xiaomi lock screen or current app comes from the floating notifications feature, and not every app should get that permission. If a messaging app keeps interrupting your screen with banners while a quieter app never shows up at all, the per-app floating notification setting is usually the reason.
Switch Between Navigation Buttons and Gestures
If your Xiaomi phone shows on-screen Back, Home, and App Toggle buttons but you expected full-screen swipe gestures - or swipes stopped registering and buttons appeared instead - the system navigation mode has switched. This setting decides whether MIUI runs on three buttons or edge-to-edge gestures, and mixing up the active mode leads to missed taps or swipes that do nothing.
Set a Default Launcher on Xiaomi
Installed a new launcher on your Xiaomi phone but the home screen still opens with the MIUI launcher? Android keeps using the previous launcher until you tell the system which app should manage your home screen, widgets and app shortcuts. Without changing the default app assignment, your new launcher stays installed but inactive.
Set Up Screen Lock with Pattern, PIN or Password
If your Xiaomi phone still opens with a swipe, anyone who picks it up can read your messages, open apps or change settings. Without an active screen lock, accidental taps in your pocket can also trigger calls or purchases. Setting up a Pattern, PIN or Password closes that gap and keeps the phone usable only for you.
Hide or Show Notification Content for Locked Apps
Locking an app on your Xiaomi phone stops others from opening it, but the notification banner can still show the full message text on the lock screen. That means a locked banking app or messenger can leak private content even while the app itself stays protected. Xiaomi lets you control notification previews separately for every app you have locked, without switching notifications off entirely.
Change Preferred Network Type
If your phone shows no or barely any 4G/LTE signal in certain spots, calls drop and data stalls even though older 3G or 2G networks are still available nearby. The Preferred network type setting decides which mobile network your SIM tries first, and the wrong choice can leave you stuck searching for a signal instead of connecting to one that actually works.
Show or Hide Lock Screen Notification Content
If your Xiaomi phone shows full message text on the lock screen, anyone picking up the phone can read private notifications before it is even unlocked. If content stays hidden instead, you only see that something arrived without knowing what it says or who sent it. This behavior is controlled by a single notification format setting in MIUI, separate from each app's own notification permissions.
Assign Google Assistant to the Power Button
On some Xiaomi phones a short press of the Power button opens the power menu instead of Google Assistant, even though full screen gesture navigation is active. This happens because the button shortcut for Google Assistant sits in a separate settings section and stays off by default. Without enabling it, you still need the home button gesture or voice command to wake the Assistant.
Set Default Reminder Time for Calendar Events
Every new event in the Calendar app on a Xiaomi phone gets the same reminder time by default, even when it does not fit the appointment. Resetting the reminder manually for each entry gets tedious fast, especially for recurring meetings. This default value comes from a setting most people never open.
Lock Background Apps
If a chat app or timer keeps getting killed the moment you switch away from it, MIUI's battery management is likely closing it in the background. On many Xiaomi phones the old trick of locking an app from the recent apps overview no longer works. The lock option now lives inside the Security app instead.
Turn Call Waiting On or Off
If you are already on a call and a second call comes in on your Xiaomi phone, a tone and a pop-up usually appear. When Call waiting is switched off, that second caller hears a busy signal instead and nothing shows up on your screen. With Dual SIM, this setting applies per SIM card, so one line can behave differently from the other.
Turn Quick Ball On or Off
If the floating navigation bubble is missing from your Xiaomi screen edge, you probably switched off Quick Ball at some point. This shortcut button gives fast access to actions like locking the screen, capturing a screenshot, or switching between recent apps without touching the physical buttons. When it disappears or starts blocking games and videos, it usually comes down to one setting hidden inside Additional settings.
Sort Contacts by First or Last Name
If your Xiaomi contact list feels out of order, it usually comes down to whether the Contacts app is sorting entries by first name or last name. This becomes a real problem when you are searching for someone by their surname but the list is alphabetized by given name instead. The rule that controls this sits in one setting inside the Contacts app.
Focus & Shoot: Turn On or Off
If tapping the screen on your Xiaomi camera fires the shutter right away instead of just setting focus, Focus & shoot is switched on. Some people rely on this two-tap workflow to keep the phone steady, while others get accidental photos while they are still framing the shot.
Manage the Personal Dictionary
If your keyboard keeps autocorrecting a name, brand term, or slang word you actually want to type, MIUI's personal dictionary is the setting that controls this behavior. Without an entry there, the keyboard falls back to its built-in wordlist and ignores your preferred spelling or shortcut for longer phrases.