Personalizing a smartphone’s interface is not just a way to make a device look more beautiful, but it’s also an opportunity to dramatically improve the efficiency of your daily use. Owners of Xiaomi and Redmi devices often face the need to display important information on the home screen, such as weather forecast, currency rates or quick access to contacts. However, the structure of the MIUI shell or the new HyperOS has its own unique features that distinguish it from standard Android.
Understanding how to properly implement controls into the system allows you to turn the lock screen and desktop into a powerful monitoring tool. Many users mistakenly believe that widgets are only available through third-party applications, ignoring the rich built-in functionality of the shell. In this article, we will discuss in detail all the ways to integrate information blocks, adjust their size and solve typical display problems.
Basic methods of adding elements to the desktop
There are several proven action algorithms that allow you to place the information unit on the screen of your smartphone. The choice of the specific method depends on the version of the firmware installed and the user’s personal preferences for navigation. The standard approach involves using a desktop editing menu, which is activated by a prolonged touch of the free area.
Once you activate the edit mode, the interface changes, and the toolbar appears at the bottom of the screen, and that's where the basic personalization settings are hidden, and you need to find a button that says "Widgets" or the corresponding icon, which is usually located in the bottom row of the menu.
An alternative way that is often overlooked is to swipe, where if you pinch your two fingers on your desktop, or swipe your left to right over an empty area (depending on your gesture settings), you can get directly into the element selection menu, which saves time and makes it easier to find the tool you want.
- 📱 Standard method by long pressing on an empty area of the screen.
- 🖐️ Using the “pinch” gesture for quick access to the editing menu.
- ⚙️ Search through the theme settings in the "Widgets" section for advanced selection.
- 📥 Installation of third-party launchers for a radical change in the logic of work.
⚠️ Note: On some global firmware versions, the widget menu can be divided into two tabs: classic Android widgets and proprietary widgets MIUI. Don’t forget to check both tabs when searching.
Working with widgets in the shell of MIUI and HyperOS
Xiaomi’s modern shells offer two fundamentally different approaches to widget organization. The classic style retains the traditional Android grid, where each element occupies a certain number of cells. The MIUI+ style (or the style of widgets in HyperOS) offers a more modern design with rounded corners and a single visual concept.
To switch between styles, you need to go to the widget settings, usually by long-term clicking on an already installed widget or through the desktop editing menu, and in the window that opens you can choose the preferred look, which is especially true for users who upgrade to HyperOS.
It is important to note that switching to a new style can change the size of the grid. If you are used to a certain arrangement of icons, changing the style of the widgets may require re-configuration of the desktop.
☑️ Checking the compatibility of widgets
The new style also brings with it the feature of smart widgets that can change their size and content depending on the context of use, such as a music widget can expand when playing a track, and a weather widget can show an hourly forecast when stretching.
Size and external design setting
Xiaomi's interface flexibility allows you to customize the size of the information unit to suit any needs. After adding an item to the screen, tap it and hold your finger until the action menu appears. Select the "Resize" option to activate markers at the edges of the widget.
By dragging and dropping these markers, you can increase or decrease the area that an object occupies, but you should keep in mind that not all widgets support arbitrary resizing, some of which are fixed sizes or limited scaling options.
Third-party themes can be used to make it more customizable, and the Themes app offers a huge selection of designs that completely change the graphics of standard blocks, and installing the theme will affect not only icons, but also the design of calendar widgets, clocks and weather.
| Type of widget | Support for resizing | Affordable styles | Impact on the battery |
|---|---|---|---|
| The clock | Tall. | Analog, Digital | Low. |
| Weather. | Medium | Text, Icon, Animation | Average. |
| Calendar | Low. | Month, List of Events | Low. |
| Music. | Medium | Player, Cover. | Depends on the app. |
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Use dark colored widgets on AMOLED-screens to save battery power, as black pixels in such matrixes do not consume energy.
Use of third-party applications and launchers
If standard MIUI functionality isn't enough, you can always turn to third-party developers. Google Play offers thousands of widgets, from simple step counters to complex smart home control panels, and often require free desktop space to install.
Popular widget packages like KWGT or UCCW allow you to create your own designs from scratch, which gives you complete freedom of creativity, but takes time to learn the editor's interface, and you can draw any button, indicator or graph that will be displayed on the screen.
When using third-party solutions, it is important to monitor permissions. Some widgets may request access to geolocation or contacts to work properly. Always check why a simple time indicator needs access to your phone book.
⚠️ Warning: Installing heavy third-party widgets with live animation can lead to increased battery consumption and reduced system performance on older smartphone models.
Also worth mentioning are launchers that completely replace the standard shell. Nova Launcher, Lawnchair or Microsoft Launcher provide their widget mechanisms, often more flexible than in stock firmware. However, switching to a third-party launcher can disrupt some Xiaomi system features.
Solving the Widget Disappearance Problems
One of the most common problems users have is the widgets disappearing spontaneously after a device restart or system update, most often due to aggressive optimization of the memory built into MIUI. The system may consider the widget unnecessary process and unload it from RAM.
To solve this problem, you need to fix the widget-related app in memory, go to the settings of the running applications (the menu of recent tasks), find the desired application and click on the lock, which will prevent the system from closing its background process.
Another reason could be a lack of desktop space, where if the grid is crowded, the new item may simply not find its place and not show up, in which case it is recommended to remove unnecessary shortcuts or move some applications to folders.
Hidden settings of Developer Options
It’s also worth checking the permissions for a particular application. If a weather widget is denied internet or geo-location access, it may stop updating or disappear. Go to Settings → Apps → All apps, find the right one and check the Permissions section.
Optimization and Impact on Productivity
Every element added to the screen is a running process that consumes CPU and RAM resources, especially widgets with frequent updates, such as news feeds or stock quotes, which can lead to noticeable slowdowns in the interface.
To minimize the impact on performance, try not to place more than 3-4 active widgets on one screen. If you want just a decorative element, choose a static watch or calendar that is rarely updated. Dynamic wallpaper combined with heavy widgets is a guaranteed way to reduce autonomy.
Keep an eye on which apps are behind the widgets. If the widget belongs to an infrequently used app, it's best to delete it and call the function through a shortcut, which will free up the system's resources for more important tasks.
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The optimal number of active widgets on one screen is no more than three to maintain a balance between functionality and performance of the smartphone.
Regularly cleaning the widget cache can also help if you notice that it is not working correctly, either in the memory management menu or through the settings of a particular application. In most cases, rebooting the widget (deleting and adding again) solves the problems with the freeze.