Buying a new Xiaomi smartphone is always an exciting moment, but the first inclusion often brings disappointment due to the abundance of pre-installed garbage and intrusive advertising. Many users do not know that the MIUI operating system or its new counterpart HyperOS has a huge potential for customization, which is hidden behind seven locks by default.
In this guide, we will not recapitulate the official manuals, but will take a look at the real steps needed to live comfortably with the device. You will learn where the engineer's hidden menus hide, how to permanently get rid of pop-ups, and what battery settings are really worth changing. Deep system setup will take no more than 20 minutes, but save you hundreds of hours of nerves in the future.
Before we get to specific actions, it's important to understand the shell philosophy, which is focused on maximizing user engagement in the ecosystem, which often leads to aggressive data collection and content display, and your job is to take back control of the device, and we'll go through all the key sections, starting at the most annoying moment for most users.
Advertising and Systemic Garbage Removal
The first thing that catches your eye when you unpack is the banner ads in the system applications, which is not a bug, but a feature that the manufacturer allows you to turn off, but hides these settings deep enough, and the main culprit is the MSA service (MIUI System Ads), which is responsible for targeting advertising throughout the system, and without it, you will see store and game offers even on the Security menu.
First, you need to disable ad personalization. Go to Settings → Passwords and Security → Privacy → Advertising Services and deactivate Ad Personalization. However, this is only a half-measure: the ad will remain, just become less relevant. To remove it completely, you need to find and disable the MSA service itself. Go to Settings → Apps → All applications, search in the list of “MSA” and click “Disable.” The system will insist on waiting 10 seconds and confirm the action – this is a security mechanism that you just have to endure.
In addition to the MSA service, the ads are generated by separate system applications: Music, Themes, Explorer, and Downloads, each of which requires you to go to the settings (usually through three dots or a gear) and find the Receive Recommendations or Show Ads switch, and then turn it off. Only a comprehensive approach guarantees a clean interface.
⚠️ Attention: When the service is disconnected MSA The button can turn gray and inactive on the first try. That's OK. Repeat the action. 2-3 Once in a row, until the system completes the process.
Also worth looking at is the Tools folder where Xiaomi puts its service apps, many of which, like Mi Video or Mi Browser, can be easily removed or replaced with Google Play counterparts if you don't use them, which will make room and reduce the load on RAM.
- 🚫 Shut down the service. MSA via the Application Management Menu for Global Ad Removal.
- 🔒 Uncheck the “Personalization of Ads” box in the privacy section.
- 🧹 Go through the built-in apps ("Themes", "Music") and turn off "Recommendations" in their individual settings.
- 🗑️ Remove or hide unnecessary system utilities that you do not plan to use.
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Use ad-blocked DNS (such as AdGuard DNS) in your Wi-Fi and mobile network settings to filter traffic at the connection level, which will complement your system settings.
Optimization of battery autonomy and operation
The second critical aspect that requires intervention is an aggressive energy-saving system that helps your smartphone live through the evening, and can completely kill the functionality of messengers by cutting off notifications, balancing savings and performance is a key user task.
There are several levels of power control in the MIUI/HyperOS shell. The first is the general mode. Go to Settings → Battery and select the Balanced profile. Energy Saving mode often restricts background processes too much, leading to delays in receiving messages. For most use cases, Balanced mode is the optimal choice, ensuring stable operation without sudden power surges.
The second level is application-specific settings. The default system can kill background processes of Telegram, WhatsApp, or email clients. To avoid this, go to Settings → Apps → All apps, select the desired messenger, click Battery, and set “No Limits” – a critical step for stable notifications.
☑️ Optimizing the battery
You can also look at the Security section → Battery → Settings (cogs) and turn off Sleep in your pocket if it doesn't work properly, or set up automatic tasks, for example, you can create a scenario that will include Do Not Disturb mode at night, which will also have a positive effect on charge.
| Setup parameter | Recommended value | Impact on the system |
|---|---|---|
| Energy saving regime | Balanced | The optimal balance between the time of operation and the speed of response. |
| Background activity | No restrictions (for messengers) | It guarantees instant messages and calls. |
| Interface animation | 0.5x (through advanced settings) | Visually speeds up the interface, creating the illusion of speed. |
| Facial recognition | Included with screen lifting | Speeds up unlocking, but requires lifting the device to the face. |
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The main secret of long battery life on Xiaomi is not so much the shutdown of functions as competent management of the background processes of important applications.
Interface and navigation settings
Xiaomi’s standard launcher is functional, but often overloaded, and the first thing to do is to decide on the type of navigation. While many people are used to having three buttons at the bottom of the screen, switching to control gestures allows more usable space and makes using a smartphone with one hand much more convenient. → Desktop → Navigation.
The special thing about Second Space is that it's a unique MIUI feature that allows you to create a completely isolated environment inside the same phone, you can have two different Google accounts, different sets of apps, different passwords, and it's perfect for separating work and personal life, or for handing the phone over to your kids so they don't get to your personal photos and emails.
For those who like minimalism, it will be useful to know about the possibility of hiding application names on the desktop and changing the grid. Go to the desktop settings and select a large grid to remove excess empty space. You can also turn off the Widget Ribbon (swipe to the left) if you do not use Google Discover or Yandex services, which will slightly speed up the launch of the desktop.
Remember to set up Quick Actions by pressing volume or shutdown buttons for a long time, such as double-pressing the turn off button for the camera launch, and long-pressing for calling Google Assistant or paying through NFC, which significantly speeds up access to frequently used features.
Camera: hidden features and settings
Xiaomi’s regular camera app does more than just take auto shots. For those who want to get the most out of the matrix, you need to activate hidden capabilities. First of all, turn on the framing grid in the camera settings, which will help you follow the rule of thirds and keep your horizons flat.
The important parameter is to save settings. By default, the camera can reset zoom or shooting mode after each launch. In the settings, find Save the latest settings and activate it. Now, if you switch to a wide-angle lens or turn on night mode, the camera will remember this and next time it opens in these settings.
For advanced users, there's a professional mode (Pro) that you can manually set ISO, shutter speed and white balance, but even in normal mode, there's a secret: if you press the down button, the camera goes into serial shooting, and if you put two fingers together on the screen, you turn on Hands Off mode for shooting with a timer by gesture.
⚠️ Attention: "Improving Photos" function» (AI Camera) often overdoses with color saturation, making the grass unnaturally green and the sky blue. For realistic shots, it is recommended to turn off this slider in the top panel of the camera interface.
The format of the save should be mentioned separately. If the storage capacity allows, enable HEIF shooting (in format settings), which takes up half the space at the same quality, which is critical for models with a small amount of internal storage.
Notification and access control
Xiaomi’s notification system has historically been divided into “Important” and “Unimportant” notifications, which often confused users. In new OS versions, logic has been simplified, but control has remained strict. In the Settings → Notifications and Status bar menu, you can customize the behavior of each application in detail.
A special role is played by Formatted Style notifications, which allows you to turn on this option, you get large, beautiful pictures from apps that support this format, which makes the notification curtain more informative and aesthetic, and you can also set up the display of Internet speed in the status bar, which is useful for monitoring the quality of communication.
To protect against spam and fraud, the Security app has a powerful call filter built in. Go to it, turn on Antispam and be sure to activate the database of updated numbers. The system will automatically block known numbers of telemarketers and scammers, marking them in red when you call.
- 🔔 Set notification priority for each application separately so that important ones don’t get lost in noise.
- 🎨 Enable Formatted Style for visual readability.
- 🛡️ Activate the spam filter in the Security app and update your databases.
- 👁️ Turn on the Internet speed display in the status bar to control the connection.
How to remove the headphone icon if they are not?
Extended Developer Features and Menus
For those who want to get the most out of a smartphone, there's a hidden developer menu. To activate it, you need to quickly click on "Version" 7 times. MIUI» or "Version" OS» You'll see a new section in the "About the Phone" menu, and when you say "You're a developer," you'll see a new section in the expanded settings.
In the developer menu, we're primarily interested in animation speed. Find the items "Scale of window animation," "Scale of transition animation," and "Duration duration of animator." Change the values from standard 1.0x to 0.5x. This won't speed up the processor, but the interface will be more responsive, as it reduces the time to render transitions between screens.
You can also turn on the battery percentage display in the status bar if standard settings do not allow it, and adjust the behavior of the screen when charging. However, be careful: changing unknown parameters in this menu can lead to unstable system operation. Change only what you are sure.
adb shell settings put global window_animation_scale 0.5
adb shell settings put global transition_animation_scale 0.5
adb shell settings put global animator_duration_scale 0.5These commands can be executed via ADB (Android Debug Bridge) from a computer if you want to scale the animation globally and guaranteed, bypassing the GUI, and this is especially true for older models, where every millisecond of response matters.
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The developer menu is a powerful tool, but changing the parameters associated with the operation of the kernel or Bluetooth codecs without understanding the consequences can lead to malfunctions in the work of sound or communication.