Daemon on Xiaomi: The Hidden Processes That Control Your Smartphone

Introduction: The invisible assistants of your smartphone

Have you ever looked into Task Manager on your Xiaomi and seen strange processes called daemon or d at the end? These mysterious services work in the background, even when you haven't run any apps. They don't have a GUI, they don't show up in the app menu, but without them, your smartphone simply wouldn't be able to function.

The term daemon (or “demon” in Russian) came from the world of Unix systems, where the so-called background processes that perform system tasks. MIUI — And in the case of Xiaomi, these processes are responsible for everything from battery management to notification synchronization, but why are they so important, and can they be turned off to save power.

In this article, we will detail what demons work on Xiaomi smartphones, how they affect performance, and what happens if they are forcibly stopped. You will also learn how to distinguish a “useful” demon from a potentially dangerous process masquerading as a system.

What is Daemon and Why is it Needed? MIUI

In the Android operating system, which runs all Xiaomi smartphones, daemon is a background process that is triggered automatically when the system starts or on demand. Unlike conventional applications, demons:

• 🔄 It works continuously, even if you are not interacting with the device;
• 🛠️ Perform system tasks (e.g. checking for updates or monitoring temperature);
• 👻 They do not have a graphical interface (they can not be opened as an application).

Without demons, your Redmi or POCO could not:

• 📶 Maintain a connection to a mobile network or Wi-Fi;
• 🔋 Optimize battery consumption in standby mode;
• 🔔 Show notifications from messengers;
• 📱 Synchronize data with the Mi Cloud.

For example, the rild demon (Radio Interface Layer Daemon) is responsible for communicating with cell towers. If it is forcibly stopped, the smartphone will lose the network until you reboot the device, and the mediaserver demon controls the playback of multimedia — without it, neither music nor video will work.

The main types of demons in Xiaomi smartphones

V MIUI There are dozens of demons working, but we’ll highlight the most important ones that are found on all models, from the Redmi Note 10 to the flagship Xiaomi 14:

Some demons are unique to Xiaomi, such as miui.daemon running proprietary features like Game Turbo or Second Space, and the securitycenter process is responsible for building antivirus and checking apps for malicious code.

Interesting fact: on smartphones POCO (which work on the “lightweight” version MIUI) Some of the demons are off by default. mms_service, if you don't use SMS/MMS.

⚠️ Warning: Some demons may masquerade as system-based but actually be part of malware. If you see a process called com.android.update.d or systemx-daemon that is heavily loading the processor, that's a reason to check the device for viruses.

How to see working demons on Xiaomi

To see the list of active demons, you don't need root rights. You just need to use standard tools. MIUI Or third-party applications. Here are three ways:

1. Through Task Manager: Open Settings → Annexes → Task Manager. Process tab will show all active services, including demons. Look for names with d suffix (e.g. logd, keystore).
2. Through ADB (Connect your smartphone to your PC and execute the command: adb shell ps -A | grep "d$" This will list all processes ending in d (standard demon designation).
3. Termux app: Install Termux from Google Play and type: ps -ef | grep -E 'd$|daemon'

Note that you'll see dozens of processes on the list, but most of them are critical to the system, like ueventd for interactions with the Linux kernel, and healthd for battery status, and stopping them will cause the system to crash.

Check the name of the process on Google|Make sure it’s not a system demon.|Try restarting your smartphone.|Use antivirus to scan|Contact Xiaomi if the problem persists-->

Can you turn off demons on Xiaomi and what it will lead to?

You can technically turn off the demon, but it's almost always a bad idea. Here's what happens if you force the key processes to stop:

• 📵 Mobile phone service will disappear (no calls, no internet);
• 🔕 audiopolicy: The sound will stop working (including the alarm clock!);
• 📱 Surfaceflinger: The screen will go out, but the smartphone will remain on;
• 🔋 Battery: The system will stop tracking the battery.

The only demons that can be turned off without serious consequences are services. MIUI, which you're not using, for example:

• 🎮 com.miui.gameturbo – if you don’t play games;
• 📊 com.miui.analytics – if you don’t want to send statistics to Xiaomi;
• 📷 com.miui.gallery – if you use a third-party gallery.

To disable unnecessary services:

1. Go to Settings → Applications → Application Management;
2. Find the right process (e.g. Analytics)
3. Click Disable (not “Stop”, but turn it off!).

⚠️ Warning: If after the demon is turned off, the smartphone starts to brake, overheat or discharge quickly - immediately return it to work! Some processes are interconnected, and their stopping can cause a chain reaction of failures.

How Demons Affect Battery and Performance

Many Xiaomi users complain that the smartphone is quickly discharged “on standby”, often the fault of the demons – especially those responsible for:

• 🔄 Synchronization (e.g. com.android.email for mail);
• 📍 Geolocation (processes such as locationd);
• 🔔 Push notifications (mtk-pppoe demon on MediaTek processors).

To reduce battery consumption:

1. Turn off autosynchronization for unnecessary accounts (Settings) → Accounts);
2. Limit the background activity of applications (Settings) → Battery → Optimizing the battery);
3. Use the High Performance mode only when necessary.

On the other hand, some demons improve performance, like:

• 🚀 Lmkd (Low Memory Killer Daemon) automatically closes unnecessary processes, freeing up RAM;
• ⚡ Thermald monitors the temperature and slows down the processor when overheating;
• 🔄 Vold controls access to storage, speeding up reading/write of files.

If your Xiaomi is slowing down, don't be quick to blame the demons.

• 🗑️ Completed memory (clear the cache in Settings) → Warehouse);
• 🦠 Viruses (check out Google Play Protect);
• 🔄 Refreshing the old slate (refresh) MIUI In Settings → The phone).

💡

If the mediaserver demon loads the processor, try clearing the cache of Gallery and Music apps. Often the problem is caused by corrupted media files.

Frequent Demon Problems and Solutions

Sometimes demons start behaving incorrectly, like consuming too much resources, overheating, or constantly rebooting, and consider typical situations and ways to fix them.

If the problem persists after the reboot, try:

1. Clear the partition cache through Recovery (does not delete data!);
2. Remove updates if the failure began after the update MIUI;
3. Perform a reset to factory settings (pre-do backup!).

For diagnosis, use the command:

adb shell dumpsys -l

It'll show you the status of all system services (ERROR or CRASH).

⚠️ Note: If you see errors in the logs related to hwservicemanager or vendor.qti.hardware, this may indicate a problem with firmware or hardware.

💡

Most demon problems are solved by rebooting or cache resetting, and forced shutdowns almost always make things worse!

FAQ: Answers to popular questions about demons on Xiaomi