Many users of Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO smartphones face a situation where the standard size of screen buttons seems uncomfortable. Too small characters lead to frequent typos, and excessively large input fields block the view in messengers. Fortunately, the Android operating system in conjunction with the shell of MIUI or HyperOS provides flexible tools for personalization.
In this article, we'll take a look at all the ways you can change the dimensions of virtual input, and you'll learn how to adjust the height, width, and even the position of the keyboard on the screen, and make typing as comfortable as possible, regardless of the diagonal of your device.
Standard settings of the Gboard keyboard
The most common solution for Xiaomi devices is Google’s Gboard, which is pre-installed on most modern models and has built-in functionality to fine-tune the look and feel. You don’t need third-party software to start making changes.
Go to the device settings menu and find the language and input section. The path may vary slightly depending on the firmware version, but the logic remains the same. You need to open the keyboard settings.
Inside the menu, select the choice or appearance item, and that's where the sliders are hidden, allowing you to stretch or compress the input area vertically, and that's a basic, but often ignored, optimization tool.
To access the settings, follow the following steps:
- 🔘 Open your smartphone settings and go to the Additional or Advanced Settings section.
- 🔘 Select Language and Enter, then click on Keyboard Management.
- 🔘 In the list of active keyboards, find Gboard and tap the gear icon next to it.
- 🔘 Go to the Settings menu and select Preferences or Settings option depending on the version of the application.
And after you do these steps, you'll see a control panel open in front of you, and you'll notice the keyboard height slider, and you'll see changes in the preview or the active text input field as you move it.
Setting the parameters in the standard Xiaomi keyboard
Owners of MIUI shell devices often use a standard solution from the manufacturer, which is integrated deeper into the system than third-party counterparts and consumes less resources, but its settings interface may be less obvious.
To resize the buttons in your native keyboard, you need to log in to the settings through any text field, call the keyboard in any application, such as in messages or notes, and find the settings icon in the toolbar.
In the menu that opens, select the section that will be responsible for the appearance or theme. Not only color schemes, but also zoom options are often available here. Some firmware versions allow you to change the height of the row with numbers or an emoji bar separately from the main layout.
The main steps to set up:
- 📱 Call the keyboard in any application and click on the Settings icon (usually a gear or four squares).
- 📱 Go to the Appearance or Topics section.
- 📱 Find the keyboard height or button size.
- 📱 Use the slider to adjust the size to a comfortable value.
It’s worth noting that in some regions, the regular keyboard may be limited in features.If you haven’t found the right options, it makes sense to consider installing the full version of the MIUI Keyboard through the GetApps app store.
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If the height slider is inactive, try temporarily disabling the "getting stuck Keyboard" mode in the same settings.
Use of vaping and split screen modes
One of the most useful features for controlling the size of the workspace is the soaring mode, which allows you to untie the keyboard from the bottom edge of the screen and make it float, and it actually changes its apparent size and position.
In this mode, you can shrink or enlarge the input window with a pinch of your fingers, as in zooming photos, giving you freedom that is not available in standard mode, allowing you to adapt the keyboard to any use case, whether it is a game or typing with one hand.
To activate the vaping mode, press and hold the keyboard icon on the control panel (usually a four-square icon or arrow). In the menu that appears, select the appropriate item. After activation, you can drag the window anywhere on the display.
Split mode is also available, where the keyboard shifts left or right, freeing up space to view content, especially for owners of smartphones with large screen diagonals, such as the Xiaomi Mi Note or the Redmi Note series.
Advantages of using a floating mode:
- 🚀 Ability to change the actual size of the keyboard by simple scaling.
- 🚀 Free placement on the screen, not overlapping important elements of the interface.
- 🚀 Comfort of typing with one hand on large screens.
The Secret Scaling Function
Comparison of the possibilities of setting different keyboards
Not all typing applications have the same functionality. If you don't like standard typing tools, you should look at third-party solutions. Different developers offer unique customization approaches.
Below is a table comparing the capabilities of popular keyboards available for installation on Xiaomi, which will help you choose the best tool for your needs.
| keyboard | Altitude change | Floating mode | Font setting |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gboard | Got it (slideer) | There is. | Limited. |
| SwiftKey | Got it (slideer) | There is. | Got it. |
| MIUI Keyboard | Aye (in settings) | There is. | Depends on the topic. |
| TouchPal | Aye (multiple) | There is. | Wide-ranging. |
As the comparison shows, customization flexibility is often dominated by specialized apps like SwiftKey or TouchPal, but these can contain more ads or require more permissions.
The standard solutions from Google and Xiaomi provide a balance between functionality and stability, and for most users, their ability to resize is enough.
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The choice of keyboard depends on the priorities: Gboard for stability, SwiftKey for customization, MIUI Keyboard for integration with the system.
Changes in font size and indentation
Sometimes the problem is not the physical size of the buttons, but the size of the characters or the indentations between them. You can change the visual perception of space by adjusting the fonts, and this is especially true for visually impaired users.
In the settings of Gboard and many other keyboards, there is a Settings -> Preferences section where you can turn on a number of digits separately, which automatically changes the height of the keyboard by adding an additional number of buttons.
Also, in Android system settings, you can change the overall font size, which will affect all interface elements, including the keyboard. Go to Settings -> Screen -> Text size and select the appropriate value.
⚠️ Note: Increased system font may cause text in some applications to appear incorrect or to go beyond the buttons.
You can use themes to fine-tune the indentations, and some Themes have a different geometry of the buttons, and by downloading this theme, you're going to change not only the color, but the proportions of the keys.
If you use custom themes, make sure they are compatible with your version of MIUI. Outdated themes can cause input interfaces to crash.
☑️ Checklist for setting up a comfortable input
Solution and resetting of settings
In the process of experimenting with sizes and themes, glitches can occur. The keyboard may stop responding to touch, appear on top of other windows, or have the wrong size that does not change with sliders.
The first step in solving such problems is to clear the app's cache. Go to Settings -> Apps -> All apps, find your keyboard and choose Clear cache. This is secure and won't delete your dictionaries.
If the problem persists, try resetting the keyboard to factory settings. In the keyboard settings menu, find "Reset" or "Restore by default." This will return all height sliders and themes to their original state.
⚠️ Note: A full keyboard reset will delete your personal vocabulary and input history, and only use this option if clearing the cache doesn't help.
In rare cases, a conflict can be caused by a third-party application that changes the system font or interface scale (such as HiFont or Substratum).Try temporarily disabling them to see if the keyboard will return to normal size.
Also make sure your device has the latest version of the keyboard app from Google Play or GetApps. Developers regularly release updates to fix display errors on newer versions of Android.