Xiaomi smartphone owners often experience visual noise on the lock screen, when two dials are displayed at once instead of one time. This can occur for various reasons, from specific theme settings to software failures in the MIUI shell or the new HyperOS. Duplicating time not only distracts, but also covers part of the wallpaper, creating a feeling of cluttered interface.
The solution lies in deep customization settings or widget management. In some cases, double clocks are part of the functionality of the "Second Space" or display the time zone of another country, which is relevant for travelers but interferes with everyday use. Understanding the nature of these elements will quickly return the screen to its usual appearance.
In this article, we will look at all possible causes of duplicate time and provide step-by-step algorithms to eliminate them, learn how to manage system widgets, adjust lock screen settings, and correct interface rendering errors without losing personal data.
The reasons for the appearance of duplicate time on the screen
The first step to solving a problem is to pinpoint the source of the problem, and most often, the second watch is due to the activated dual time zone time display feature, which is useful for those who often communicate with relatives or partners in other regions, but by default it can be enabled in some global firmware.
Another common reason is the use of third-party themes: Theme writers at MIUI Themes often introduce their own time widgets that may conflict with standard system clocks, resulting in two different elements overlapping the lock screen: one from the system, the other from the theme.
Also consider the possibility of software failure: After updating the operating system or installing a heavy application, the graphics shell cache may get damaged, this leads to incorrect display of interface elements, including duplication of widgets. In rare cases, the problem lies in the settings of the Second Space, when the system tries to show the time of both profiles at the same time.
⚠️ Note: If the double clocks are created immediately after you install a new theme, the problem is 99% of the time that the theme is the problem.
Setting up time zones in the system menu
The most likely scenario is an active double time function. To verify this, you need to go to the date and time settings. The system allows you to display the current time and time of the second selected city. If this feature is enabled, you will see two dials or two text time values.
To disable this option, follow the following steps:
- 📱 Open your smartphone settings and go to the Additional section.
- 🕒 Select Date and Time to Access Time Settings.
- 🌍 Find the Double Clock Switch or Display the Time in Two Time Zones and Deactivate It.
- 🏙️ Make sure that no extra location is selected in the City field if the option remains active.
After these steps are done, the lock screen should update and the extra numbers will disappear. If the changes are not applied immediately, it is recommended to restart the device. It is important to note that the path to these settings may vary slightly in different versions of the MIUI shell, but the keywords "Double watch" remain unchanged.
In some cases, even after the switch is turned off, the visual bug can persist until the GUI is fully rebooted, which is because the time widget on the lock screen is cached for quick loading.
Managing themes and block widgets
If system time settings are in order, you should pay attention to the theme store. Third-party developers often create complex lock screens that include multiple time sources. One can be system, and the other can be part of the graphic design of the theme.
To resolve the conflict, you need to go to the Topic app. In your user profile, select My Themes. You need to switch to a standard Classic or Default theme temporarily, and if the double clock is gone after the theme change, then the design problem was.
You can continue to use your favorite theme, but with one condition: change the lock screen inside it. Go to the theme settings, select the lock screen and try to replace it with the standard system option, which will preserve the visual style, but remove custom widgets that cause duplication.
Also check the list of installed widgets. In newer versions of HyperOS, widgets can be added to the lock screen separately from themes. (long press) on the empty space of the lock screen (if the version allows), or through wallpaper settings, you can see a list of active widgets. Remove any additional hours from this list.
☑️ Verification of the subject of registration
Setup of Second Space and Profiles
Second Space allows you to create two isolated profiles on the same device, as if you have two different phones. Sometimes the time settings may not sync correctly, showing the clocks of both spaces on the main profile lock screen.
To check this setting, go to Settings → Special Options → Second Space. If this feature is active, try temporarily disabling it or checking the space-switching settings. In some MIUI builds, there is an option to "Show Second Space Time" that you need to deactivate.
Also, check the notification and widget settings for each space separately, and log into the Second Space and make sure that it doesn’t have its own watch widgets installed, which can “show through” or conflict when you return to your main profile.
| Parameter | Main space | Second space | Effect on the clock |
|---|---|---|---|
| Time zone | Automatically. | Maybe different. | High (makes a difference in time) |
| Theme of the design | Systemic | Separate | Medium (style conflict) |
| Widgets | Active. | Could be duplicated | High (double display) |
| Don't disturb mode. | Tune in. | Tune in. | Low (affects icons) |
If you don't use the Second Space feature, the best solution is to completely disable it and clean up the associated data, which is guaranteed to remove any artifacts associated with the profiles.
Resetting lock screen settings and fixing bugs
When the software settings don’t help, there may have been a crash in the cache of the system application responsible for the lock screen and status bar. In the MIUI shell, this is often the responsibility of the system component associated with Keyguard or theme services.
Try resetting the lock screen settings. Go to Settings → Lock screen → Lock screen settings. Try changing the style of the watch (e.g., from analog to digital and back), and then return the desired option. This action will force the time widget to restart.
If the problem persists, you can try a more radical method, which is to clean the theme cache. Go to Settings → Apps → All apps. Find the Themes app (or Themes). From the app menu, select Clear → Clear cache. Don't confuse it with Clear Data, as this will remove all downloaded themes.
⚠️ Warning: Before clearing any system applications data, make sure you remember passwords from your accounts, although this is not usually required for the theme.Cache clearing is safe for personal files.
The Hidden Method Through ADB
Frequent questions and additional solutions
Even after completing all the steps, nuances can arise depending on the specific smartphone model or Android version, for example, on models of the Redmi Note or Poco series, unique bugs of the MIUI version can be encountered.
If nothing works, check for system updates. Often Xiaomi releases patches that fix interface rendering errors. Go to Settings → About phone and click on the shell version to check for updates.
As a last resort, if the double watches appeared after installing a particular application (such as a launcher or a weather app), delete it and check the result. Third-party launchers often take control of the lock screen and make their own adjustments.
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Save screenshots of your settings for global changes. If you decide to reset your phone, the photos will help you reset your configuration faster.
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In most cases, the problem is solved by disabling the function "Double clock" in the date settings or changing the theme of the design to the standard.