Desktop design on Xiaomi: from standard to unique

The desktop of a smartphone is the owner's business card. On Xiaomi with a shell MIUI The possibilities of customization are almost limitless, from changing wallpaper to deep flashing themes, but most users do not even realize that 80% of the features for design are hidden in non-obvious menus or require the installation of third-party applications. This article will help turn a chaotic screen with a bunch of icons into a stylish and functional space - without root rights and complex manipulations.

Many people mistakenly think that a beautiful desktop requires design skills or premium subscriptions. MIUI So you can create a unique interface if you know where to look, and with the right apps from Google Play, your Redmi Note 12 or whatever. POCO X5 It will look like a flagship for 100.+ The key is to understand the logic of the system and not be afraid of experimentation.

Today we're going to take a look at:

• 🎨 How to change wallpaper and themes through standard settings and third-party services
• 📱 Hidden functions MIUI, which are not mentioned in the instructions
• 🔧 Top.-5 widgets for productivity and aesthetics
• 🔄 How to get back to the classic look if you experimented»

Basic desktop settings: what can be done without applications

Let’s start with the simplest: built-in tools. MIUI. Even if you've never set up a smartphone, these options are available in two taps. The basic settings are hidden in the Settings menu. → Desktop, you can do it here:

• 📏 Change the size of the icon grid (from 4×5 before 5×6)
• 🔄 Enable/disable automatic application alignment
• 🖼️ Change the style of folders (transparent, colored, with shadow)
• 🌓 Activate Dark Mode for Icons (not working on all themes)

Pay special attention to the section Style of icons. MIUI 14: Adaptive Icons are available, and the system automatically matches the shape of the icons to the theme it selects, but here's the caveat: if you're using a third-party launcher (like Nova Launcher), this feature may conflict with its settings, so you'd better turn off the adaptability manually.

Don't forget to make gestures. MIUI can be tuned:

• 👆 Swipe up to open the application menu
• 👇 Swipe down for search (not working on all models)
• ☝️ Double touch to lock the screen

⚠️ Attention: POCO F5 and the new Redmi with MIUI 14 Double-touch gesture is disabled by default. To activate it, go to Settings. → Additionally. → Gestures.

2. Topics and wallpaper: where to take and how to install

The standard wallpaper from Xiaomi Gallery is quickly boring. Fortunately, the brand has its own theme platform — MIUI Themes, to get there:

1. Hold an empty space on the desktop
2. Select "Themes" (icon with brush)
3. Click on “Online Topics” (Internet Requires)

There are over 10,000 free and paid themes in the catalog.

• 🌅 AMOLED-Themes - save battery power on screens with dark pixels
• 🎮 Game - Stylized as Cyberpunk, Genshin Impact, etc.
• ⚡ Minimalism – for lovers of cleanliness and spacious screens

But there's a pitfall: many themes are changing not only wallpaper, but also system icons, fonts, animations. If you only need to change the background, you'd better use third-party services:

• 🌄 WallpapersCraft – wallpaper with resolution up to 4K Xiaomi
• 🖼️ Backiee - animated live wallpaper (requires an app)
• 🎨 Unsplash – High Quality Photos (Free)

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To prevent wallpaper from stretching and cropping, choose images with an aspect ratio of 9:19.5 (for most Xiaomi with a camera cutout).

3. Widgets: which to choose and how to configure

Widgets turn the desktop from a boring list of icons into an informative dashboard. MIUI They're divided into three types:

1. Systemic – weather, clock, smart home management
2. Applications - Spotify, Google Keep, Yandex.Weather
3. Third-party – from Google Play (for example, KWGT)

To add a widget:

1. Clutch the empty space on the screen
2. Select "Widgets"
3. Drag the desired element to the desktop

Top.-5 useful widgets for Xiaomi:

• 🌡️ Weather from AccuWeather – accurate forecast with animation
• 📅 Google Calendar – Events on the Home Screen
• 🎵 Poweramp – Music control without opening the player
• 📊 Battery Widget Reborn - detailed battery statistics
• 🏠 Google Home – Quick access to smart devices

For advanced users, we recommend KWGT Kustom Widget Maker. It's a widget designer that you can create from scratch, add your fonts, animations, sensor data, and you can use a complex interface and pay for premium templates.

Make sure there is a free space on the screen|Check the permissions for widget applications|Disable battery optimization for widgets (in battery settings)|Reboot your phone after installing new widgets-->

4. Hidden functions MIUI customize

Xiaomi hides some design options in the developer or deep settings.

1. Change of the font system

V MIUI You can install any.ttf font:

1. Download the font (for example, from Google Fonts)
2. Place the file in the MIUI/theme/fonts folder (create it if not)
3. Go to Settings. → Display. → Font and choose a new one

2. Customization of animations

To speed up or slow down the transitions between screens:

1. Activate Developer Mode (7 taps by build number in About Phone)
2. Turn on USB Debugging.
3. In the section For developers, find the animation parameters and install 0.5x speed up

3. Hiding unnecessary icons

If you are disturbed by standard applications (Mi Video, Mi Music), they can be hidden without root:

1. Open the app menu (swipe up)
2. Tap it on three points. → «Hide applications»
3. Choose unnecessary and confirm

⚠️ Note: Changing system fonts can cause crashes in some applications (e.g. banking).Before experimenting, back up to Settings → Additionally. → Backup.

5. Alternative launchers: when standard MIUI few

If built-in capabilities MIUI Not enough, try third-party launchers. They completely replace the system interface, adding new gestures, themes and customization options.

Top.-3 launcher for Xiaomi:

• 🚀 Nova Launcher is a flexible setup of icons, gestures, folders. There's a free version.
• 🎨 Lawnchair – Minimalist design with support for Android 12+ style.
• 🔧 Hyperion Launcher – for fans of animations and dynamic wallpaper.

To set up the launcher:

1. Download it from Google Play
2. Open the application and follow the instructions
3. Assign it as the default launcher in the window that appears

The main advantage of alternative launchers is cross-platform. For example, if you are used to Nova Launcher on Samsung, after switching to Xiaomi, you can restore all settings from the backup.

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Third-party launchers may conflict with some features MIUI, For example, with navigation gestures or always an active display (AOD). Check compatibility on forums before installing (e.g., check compatibility, 4PDA).

6.Optimizing productivity after customization

The more widgets, animated wallpapers, and themes you install, the more performance suffers, especially on budget models (Redmi). 10A, POCO M4). To avoid lags:

• 🔋 Turn off animations in Settings → For developers
• 🗑️ Clean the launcher cache once a week (Settings) → Annexes → Launcher → Warehouse)
• ❄️ Use “Light Mode” in the battery settings to save resources
• 🚫 Remove unused themes in Settings → Topics → My subjects.

If after installing a new theme, the phone started to brake, try:

1. Switch to a standard topic MIUI Default
2. Turn off animated wallpaper
3. Reduce the number of widgets on the main screen

For advanced users, there is a radical way to disable MIUI Optimization: This will free up to 15 percent of RAM, but it can cause some functions to function in an unstable way. ADB:

adb shell pm disable-user --user 0 com.miui.optimization

⚠️ Attention: Disconnection MIUI Optimization can disrupt gestures, always active display (AOD) You can get it back by command: adb shell pm enable com.miui.optimization

7. Backup and reset settings

Before experimenting with themes and launchers, be sure to save the current settings. MIUI It's done this way:

1. Go to Settings. → Additionally. → Backup
2. Select "System Backup"
3. Check the boxes "work table" and "themes"
4. Click on “Create a backup copy”

The copy file will be saved in MIUI/backup/AllBackup. To restore the settings:

1. In the same backup menu, select the desired date.
2. Mark "Work Table" and "Themes"
3. Press "Restore"

If after experiments the desktop began to look chaotic, you can reset the launcher settings:

1. Go to Settings → Applications → Application Management
2. Find the "Lawnchair" (or "Lawnchair" if you use it)
3. Select "Storage» → «Clear the data»

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The launcher data reset will delete all your desktop settings, but will not affect installed apps and personal files.

FAQ: Frequent questions about the design of the desktop