How to set up a whitelist on Xiaomi: App management

Modern Xiaomi and Redmi smartphones are famous for their optimization, but an aggressive MIUI or HyperOS system sometimes works too hard. It can kill important applications that you want to keep running in the background, such as messengers or training trackers. At the same time, many programs constantly demand attention when sending spam notifications.

In fact, there's no one whitelist for everything in the system, and it's a set of features that let you either let the program run without restrictions (launch, no power saving), or, on the contrary, deny it access to the network and notifications, and understanding how to set up a whitelist on shaomi will help you turn a chaotic phone into a docile tool.

In this article, we'll take a look at all aspects of application access control, and you'll learn how to create exceptions for vital software and, conversely, how to block unnecessary software, which will significantly extend battery life and eliminate unnecessary noise.

What is a whitelist and why is it needed in MIUI?

Users often confuse two opposing concepts: "Blacklist" and "Whitelist." In the context of the MIUI-based Android operating system, a whitelist is a list of trusted applications that the system allows to do things that others are forbidden to do, usually in the background, accessing the Internet or displaying on top of other windows.

If you don't add an application to the autorun whitelist, the system can force it to close minutes after it's folded, which is critical for smart homes, navigators, or file uploaders, and ignoring these settings causes notifications to fail on time and widgets to stop updating.

⚠️ Warning: Adding more applications to the whitelist can significantly increase battery consumption, the system will stop restricting background activity, and the processor will work more actively.

On the other hand, there is the notion of a “limit list”: by adding an app to this list (actually excluding it from a trusted list), you deny it access to mobile Internet and Wi-Fi. This is the perfect way to combat intrusive advertising in games or hidden mining in questionable utilities.

Setting up the white list of autostart and background work

The most important step in optimizing is setting up autorun, which is the parameter that determines whether an application can start on its own after a phone restarts or activate when a message is sent from a server, and without this step, no messenger will work correctly.

To start settings, go to Settings, then select Apps and find the Permissions. From the menu that opens, select AutoRun. Here you will see the full list of installed programs. Most of them are turned off by default.

Turn on switches only for applications that need to be running all the time, including:

• 📱 Messengers (Telegram, WhatsApp, Viber) – for instant messages.
• 🏠 Smart home applications (Mi Home, Yandex) – for device management.
• ⌚ Activity trackers and clocks – for data synchronization.
• 🎵 Music Services – If You Listen to Music in the Background.

Once you start auto-start, you need to remove the power saving restrictions. Go to Settings → Applications → All applications. Find the program you want, click on it and select Saving Charge. Set No Limits. This is a critical step that is often missed.

Some system services, like Google Play Services or Mi Credit, are better left unnecessarily, and the system knows how to manage them, and excessive interference with system processes can lead to interface instability.

How to ban Internet access (Reverse Whitelist)

Sometimes, by "whitelisting," users mean creating a list of apps that are allowed to use the Internet and everyone else is not allowed to use it, and MIUI takes the opposite approach: by default, access is open to everyone, and you can create a blacklist for the network by blocking access to specific programs.

To do this, open the Security app (green zipper icon). At the bottom of the screen, find the Speed section or go straight to Data Transfer. Next, select Limit Traffic (or Traffic Limit). At the top of the screen, make sure that you have selected SIM-Wi-Fi or card for which the restriction applies.

You'll see a list of all the apps with the switches. Red cross or switch off means no access.

• 🚫 Games that require online regularity for advertising only.
• 🚫 Calculators and voice recorders that do not need a network by definition.
• 🚫 App stores so they don’t update programs without your knowledge.

This feature is also useful for parents: By blocking Internet access in a browser or YouTube, you will limit the ability of a child to sit online without installing complex parental control programs.

Managing notifications and pop-ups

Another aspect of the whitelist is the permission to display notifications. MIUI has a powerful tool called Notification Manager that allows you to flexibly configure which apps may be bothering the user and which should be silent.

To access these settings, go to Settings → Notifications and Status bar → Notification Manager. You can turn off notifications for selected applications completely or make them priority. Apps that are not on your personal permission list will not display banners on the screen.

You should also look at the Display on Other Applications feature, which allows windows to hang above the desktop, which is for video calls in messengers or for picture-in-picture functions. This option is located in Settings → Privacy Protection → Special Features (or Special Access Rights) and only enable this option for trusted programs.

The right combination of these settings allows you to create the perfect environment: the phone will not slow down from unnecessary processes, but important notifications will never be lost.

Use of Do Not Disturb as a Filter

Notable is the Do Not Disturb mode, which, although it's not a whitelist of apps in the literal sense, acts as a filter for incoming events, and when you activate it, you block all calls and notifications except those on the exclusion list.

You can set exceptions in the Settings menu → Sound and vibration → Do not disturb. Here you can allow repeated calls (if the person calls a second time within 3 minutes, the call will pass) or select specific contacts that can be reached even in silence.

This is especially useful during meetings, sleep or movies: you won’t miss an emergency call from a loved one, but spam calls and notifications from games won’t disturb your peace of mind.

⚠️ Warning: Do Not Disturb mode may block alarm clocks on some firmware versions. Always check alarm settings separately to avoid sleeping over an important event.

Hidden opportunities through engineering menu and ADB

For advanced users, there is the possibility of more in-depth configuration of access lists via computer and debugging over USB. Using ADB (Android Debug Bridge) commands, you can force applications to freeze or change their behavior at the system level, which cannot be done with conventional settings.

To do this, you need to turn on Developer Mode (7 times click on the build number in About Phone) and activate Debugging via USB. Once connected to a PC, you can use commands to change permissions. For example, the command to revoke permission to use the network looks like this:

adb shell pm revoke com.example.app android.permission.INTERNET

However, using such methods requires caution: A bug in the name of the package can cause the system application to stop working and the phone to be reflashed. For most users, standard MIUI tools are quite enough.

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Expert advice: Before you ban an unknown application from the Internet, look for its name on the Internet, which may be a system component needed for GPS or Bluetooth to work.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

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The right whitelist setting is a balance between autonomy and functionality, so don't try to resolve everything, but don't block systemically important processes.