How to change the background of the keyboard on Xiaomi Android: the full guide

Personalizing a smartphone’s interface is one of the most popular ways to make a device unique, and owners of Xiaomi gadgets are no exception. When the standard design of a MIUI or HyperOS shell is already studied back and forth, users often pay attention to the elements that they see most often – the keyboard. Changing the background of the keyboard allows not only to diversify the visual range, but also to create a single style concept, choosing a theme for the wallpaper or color scheme of the interface.

The question of how to change the background of the keyboard on Xiaomi Android is relevant for anyone who wants to add personality to their Redmi or POCO. Fortunately, modern Android operating systems provide ample opportunities for customization without the need to obtain superuser rights (root).

In this article, we will discuss in detail all available ways to change the appearance of a virtual keyboard. We will consider the regular features of the most popular Gboard keyboard, discuss the nuances of working with proprietary shells and touch on the topic of installing third-party solutions. You will learn how to use live wallpaper, GIF-animation and even your own photos as a background, turning the typing process into a visually pleasing action.

Selecting the main keyboard for personalization

Before you start changing the background, you need to decide which type of application you use. Xiaomi smartphones often preset several options by default, but the de facto standard for most users is Google's Gboard. It is this keyboard that offers the most flexible visualization settings and stable operation in conjunction with the MIUI shell.

If you've never changed your input settings, you're likely to have a standard keyboard activated, however, to access advanced background change features, including support. GIF-Transparency images and themes, it is recommended to make sure that the system is activated specifically Gboard. In some regions or older versions of firmware, the default may be a simplified keyboard. MIUI, function.

You can check and change the active keyboard through system settings. You need to go to the Settings menu, then find the Additional section and select Language and Enter. Here, in the Current Keyboard section, you can select the desired application from the list of installed ones. If Gboard is missing, it is easy to download from the Google Play store.

⚠️ Note: Installing third-party keyboards requires permissions to access the typed text. Use only verified apps from well-known developers such as Google or Microsoft to avoid leaking personal data.

Once the application is activated, the system can request confirmation to use the new keyboard. Accept the terms, switch the switch to the active position and select the new keyboard in the default list. Now, when you call the input field, the interface of the selected application will appear on the screen, ready for deep tuning.

It is important to understand that the ability to change the background directly depends on the functionality of the chosen application. Android standard tools do not allow you to change the background of the system keyboard globally for all applications without using specialized software.

Setting up theme and background in Gboard

The Gboard app provides users with an extensive library of themes that can be set in one click. To get into the look settings menu, call the keyboard in any app (like notes or messenger) and click on the gear icon located in the top toolbar. If there is no icon, click on the four-square icon or smiley to reveal the additional menu where the settings button is located.

In the menu that opens, select Topic, which will open a catalog of available designs, and you can scroll through the options that are divided into categories: light, dark, color and thematic. Each theme changes not only the background of the keys, but also the color of the characters, as well as the shade of the hint bar on top, which allows you to quickly find an option that will harmonize with your current Xiaomi design theme.

But standard themes are just the tip of the iceberg, and at the bottom of the screen, in the My Themes section, or just in the options list, you often have a custom theme button, and you click on that, you get access to your device's gallery, and you can choose any saved photo, screenshot, or specially downloaded high-resolution image.

When you select your own image, the system will suggest you adjust the display. You can move the image by choosing the best area for the background, and also adjust the brightness level. Brightness is a critical parameter: if the background is too bright or colorful, the characters on the keys will become poorly distinguishable, which will lead to errors in typing. Optimally darken the image or choose a photo with a uniform dark background.

Also available in the Gboard theme settings is Dynamic Keyboards, which, if you activate the switch, automatically changes the background of the keyboard depending on the application you're typing in or the time of day, such as the theme may get darker in the evening and lighter in the morning, which reduces eye strain.

Use of the GIF-animation and transparency

One of the most interesting features of Gboard is the support of animated backgrounds in GIF format. This allows you to make the keyboard “live”: the background can move, shimmer or show short video loops. To activate this feature in the theme selection menu, you need to find the “Gifs” section or select the appropriate category in the theme store.

In choosing GIF-It is important to consider the performance of your Xiaomi smartphone. Constant rendering of animation on the screen can consume additional battery power, especially on models with a high-end battery. AMOLED-While modern Snapdragon and Dimensity processors are easy to do, budget devices (Redmi C or A series) are better off using static images to maintain autonomy.

Another notable feature is transparency. In some versions of Gboard and when using certain MIUI themes, the option is "Transparent Keyboard," which when you turn on, the background of the keyboard becomes translucent, and your main desktop wallpaper shines through it, which creates a depth effect and makes the interface more airy.

⚠️ Note: Transparency may not be displayed correctly in applications that use their own themes or that do not support window transparency.

To activate transparency, you need to find a version called Transparent or Opacity on the themes menu, and you can get the level of translucence you want to move around, but remember that the readability of the characters in a transparent background depends on the contrast of your main wallpaper, and if the wallpaper is colorful, the text on the keyboard will merge with them, which is inconvenient for fast printing.

Using animation and transparency is a matter of taste and priority. If you're more interested in maximum typing speed and clarity of characters, you'd better stay on classic static themes with high contrast. If aesthetics and wow effect are more important, then experimenting with the best of them all. GIF-backgrounds will be a great way to diversify interaction with a smartphone.

Alternative keyboards: SwiftKey and others

If standard Gboard functionality doesn’t suit you, Google Play offers a variety of alternatives, with Microsoft SwiftKey being one of the most popular, famous for its powerful predictive input and flexible theme system. Unlike Gboard, SwiftKey allows you to upload your own images directly from the theme menu without unnecessary transitions, and provides a built-in editor to add filters and effects.

Other popular options include Facemoji or Kika Keyboard, which are primarily visually focused, and offer thousands of artist-made themes, including 3D themes, pressed audio and complex animations. For Xiaomi users who like to change the look of their smartphones often, these keyboards can be a real gift.

However, installing a lot of third-party keyboards has a flip side: Each additional application takes up space in memory and can run in the background, consuming RAM. On smartphones with a small amount of memory (4 GB or less), this can lead to more frequent downloading of applications from memory and slowing down the system.

When choosing an alternative, pay attention to the feedback and permissions that the app requests. Some “beautiful” keyboards can be overloaded with advertising or collect excessive amounts of user data. Security of passwords and banking data should be a priority, so it is preferable to use products from large technology companies.

Subtleties of working with the shell MIUI and HyperOS

Xiaomi smartphones run on proprietary shells that make adjustments to system components. The latest versions of HyperOS and MIUI 14 improve the integration of system fonts and themes with input applications. If you use a third-party theme for the entire system (through the Themes app), it can automatically offer compatible themes for the keyboard.

Sometimes users encounter a problem when the keyboard remains standard or does not display correctly after changing the system theme, in which case you need to go to the Themes app, go to the user profile (human icon) and select Settings, and check whether the wholesale "Apply theme to system interfaces" or similar settings affecting the keyboard are enabled.

Also worth noting is the One-Hand Mode feature or changing the size of the keyboard. Xiaomi’s display settings (often called by a swipe over a space button or through keyboard settings) can change the height and width of the input panel. This does not change the background, but affects how the background will look: when the keyboard is reduced, there may be bars on the sides, the color of which depends on the chosen theme.

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If you have reset your keyboard settings after updating your firmware, don’t rush to reset everything. Go to your Google account in the Gboard settings and enable synchronization — many settings can be restored automatically.

Owners of older Xiaomi models (such as the Redmi Note 8 or MI 9) that have not received updates to newer versions of Android may not be able to access a number of visual features. In such cases, installing updates for the keyboard application itself through the Play Market may add missing features, as many features depend on the version of the application, not just the Android version.

Elimination and optimization

Users may face a number of common problems during the setup process, such as the image that is set may be stretched or cropped in the wrong place, and the solution lies in pre-setting the image: it is best to use pictures with an aspect ratio close to the screen (usually 19:9 or 20:9 for modern Xiaomi), or to give a margin at the edges when framing.

Another common problem is the keyboard “brakes” or slugs when printing after installing a heavy animated background, which is a signal that the CPU or graphics accelerator resources are not enough for smooth rendering, in which case you should return to static images or reduce the quality of animation in the developer settings (window animation).

If the keyboard stops showing at all or the black screen, try clearing the app's cache. Go to Settings → Apps → All apps, find your keyboard (like Gboard), select Memory and click Clear Cache. Important: clearing the data (not cache) will reset all dictionaries and personal keyboard settings to factory.

⚠️ Attention: When using "live" backgrounds and complex animations, battery consumption can increase by a factor of 5-10% If you notice a quick discharge, check the statistics of screen usage.

Also worth remembering is compatibility. Some applications (e.g., banking or enterprise messengers) can block third-party keyboards from being used in password fields for security purposes, at which point the system automatically switches you to a standard, secure Android keyboard, the background of which cannot be changed.

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The optimal balance between beauty and performance is a high-quality, high-dimming static image that doesn’t distract from text or overload the processor.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)