Owners of Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO smartphones often encounter small graphic elements in the status bar that can cause confusion. In particular, many people wonder what the three dots or groups of indicators in the upper right or left corner of the display mean. These symbols are not a system error or a sign of a virus, but are an important element of the interface of the MIUI shell or the new HyperOS, designed to inform the user about background processes.
The emergence of these icons is directly related to the strengthening of privacy policies in modern versions of Android. The operating system now strictly controls the access of applications to sensitive data, such as location, microphone and camera. If you see active indicators, it means that right now some application uses these features. Understanding their purpose will help you monitor the security of personal data and notice suspicious activity in time.
In this article, we will take a look at each type of indicator, explain the difference between notification points and access indicators, and show you how to manage these settings, learn how to distinguish system messages from tracking signals, and customize the interface to your needs, hiding or leaving only the necessary elements.
Privacy Indicators: Real-time Data Protection
Starting with Android 12 and in more recent versions MIUI, Google has implemented strict visual markers to track sensor access. If you see a green dot or a camera icon in the corner of the screen, it means that the app is using your device's camera right now. QR-code.
Similarly, the orange indicator that signals the microphone is working, and even if the app is rolled up but still recording the sound, the icon will burn, a critical feature for detecting spyware or applications that abuse permissions, and in some design themes, these indicators can look like small dots or groups of three elements if displayed simultaneously with other statuses.
⚠️ Warning: If you see a microphone or camera indicator when you are not using the relevant applications (such as a voice recorder or Snapchat), immediately check the list of recently launched programs.
To manage these notifications, you can go to privacy settings. Here you will see a detailed log of which app and when you accessed the sensors. Xiaomi's system also allows you to limit background access, which helps not only protect, but also save battery power.
How to hide the privacy indicators?
“More” Indicator and Hidden Notifications
Often, users understand "three dots" as a standard notification icon that looks like a vertical triplet or horizontal ellipsis, which appears in a status bar when the number of messages or events that have come exceeds the free space in the status bar, a sort of overflow indicator that tells you that there are hidden notifications that need to be disclosed.
To see which apps sent the signals, you just unlock the phone and pull the notification curtain down, and you'll find a full list of events, and if you want to remove that icon, you'll need to clear the notifications, and you can swipe it down the curtain or you can swipe it through the Clear All button.
In some cases, especially on older versions of MIUI, three dots could mean hidden notifications from specific system services, such as a message to sync Mi Cloud or a security update, and the modern interface seeks to minimize such abstract signs by replacing them with understandable application icons.
- 🔔 The badge means that there are unread messages in the curtain.
- 👆 Swipe down will open a full list of events.
- 🧹 Cleaning button will remove the icon from the status bar.
The “Do Not Disturb” Mode and Its Designations
Another reason for the appearance of specific symbols that can be mistaken for dots is the activation of the Do Not Disturb mode, in which the phone blocks sound signals and vibrations when incoming calls and messages. On the screen this is often displayed by the icon of a crossed circle or, in some themes, a group of several dots or lines symbolizing silence.
You can activate this mode through the control center (swipe down from the top right corner). There is a button with a crescent image. This is a useful feature for meetings, sleep or movies when extraneous sounds are undesirable. It is important not to confuse this mode with a complete lockdown, since emergency calls can take place even in this mode, if they are added as exceptions.
Setting up the Do Not Disturb schedule allows you to automate the process, so you can set a time when the phone will go silent automatically, and it eliminates the need to manually turn the function on and off every day.
| Type of indicator | Meaning | User action |
|---|---|---|
| Green dot/camera | Use of the camera | Check the active application |
| Orange dot/microphone | Use of microphone | Stop the recording or the call |
| Threefold status | Hidden Notices | Open the notification curtain |
| Crescent | Do Not Disturb mode | Disable at the control center |
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To quickly turn on the Do Not Disturb mode, press the volume button and select the appropriate icon in the menu that appears if this option is activated in the audio settings.
System indicators MIUI and HyperOS
Xiaomi shells have their own status logic. In MIUI 13, 14 and the new HyperOS, the status bar design has been redesigned. Three dots can appear as part of a multitasking indicator or a floating window. If you use apps in split-screen or floating window mode, the system can tag them with a special icon so you know about the background processes running.
Also worth mentioning is the memory indicator. If your device has memory extension enabled, some firmware versions may have displayed this in a specific way, although more often this information is hidden in the settings. The presence of active background processes, such as downloading updates or synchronizing a gallery, can also generate group icons.
Users often confuse system dots with broken pixels. To rule out a screen defect, try changing the brightness or running a full-screen video. If the dots disappear or change color along with the image, that's a software interface. If they burn the same against any background, it's probably a physical matrix defect.
⚠️ Warning: Do not try to "treat" broken pixels with software methods if they burn bright white or black constantly.
Setting up the status bar display
The flexibility of setting up Android and MIUI allows the user to decide which icons to display. You can hide the battery icon, signal level or notification indicators if they interfere with the view. To do this, go to the settings section, which is usually called “Notifications and Status Bar” or “Screen and Brightness”.
In this menu, you will find switches for each type of indicator. If you turn off the unnecessary ones, you will clear the top of the screen. However, it is recommended to leave the security indicators (camera / microphone), as they are an important element of protection. Full concealment of them may require the use of third-party launchers or super-user rights (Root), which is not recommended for ordinary users.
You can also customize the display style of the battery (percentages inside or outside the icon) and the time format in this section, which helps personalize the device and make reading information from the status bar more comfortable.
☑️ Checking the status bar settings
Diagnostics of Display Problems
If the dots on the screen behave strangely (blink, do not disappear after closing applications, change color chaotically), this can be a sign of a software failure. First of all, try to reboot the device, this will clear the RAM and restart the system processes responsible for rendering the interface.
The second step is to check for system updates. Xiaomi developers regularly release patches that fix interface bugs. Go to Settings → About Phone → MIUI/HyperOS version and click on the system logo to check for updates. If the problem occurs after you install a specific program, try removing it.
In rare cases, the cause may be damage to system files. If the reboot does not help, you can reset the settings to the factory. Before that, be sure to back up important data, as all files will be deleted.
⚠️ Warning: Resetting to factory settings will completely delete all your data, photos and contacts. Make sure you have an up-to-date copy in the Mi Cloud or on your computer.
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Most visual artifacts in the status bar are eliminated by simply restarting or updating the system to the latest version.