Xiaomi, Redmi and Poco smartphone owners often want to personalize their device, starting with the appearance of the interface. The standard shell of MIUI or HyperOS offers ample opportunities for changing the visual style, but the function of changing the color of the letters in the system menus is hidden from direct access. This is done to preserve the readability and uniform style of the system, but enthusiasts find workarounds.
There are several proven methods to achieve the desired result, from using the built-in theme store to installing specialized fonts. In this article, we will discuss each of the methods in detail, assess their safety and impact on the operation of the gadget, you will learn how to safely implement custom graphics without losing the guarantee or stability of the operating system.
Before you start taking action, it’s important to understand that the color of text on Android systems often depends on the active theme and the font you choose. Simply changing one setting may not work if other design elements block this change, so the approach should be comprehensive, affecting screen, theme and font settings simultaneously.
Standard capabilities of the MIUI and HyperOS shell
To start with, the manufacturer itself offers: the basic settings of the Xiaomi smartphone do not have a separate slider “Font Color”. However, the system allows you to change the overall color gamut through themes. The MIUI shell uses the engine to replace the graphic resources of the system, including icons, wallpaper and, importantly for us, text stylization in some applications.
To access the basic design settings, you need to go to the Settings → Wallpaper and personalization menu. Here the user can choose one of the preset themes where the font color has already been changed by the developer. Often, the standard themes have variations of "Light" and "Dark" that invert the color of the letters from black to white or gray, but do not allow you to choose an arbitrary shade like red or blue.
⚠️ Warning: Trying to modify system files without using standard theme tools can lead to a smartphone bootloop (cyclic reboot.
Importantly, in the new versions of HyperOS, the color selection algorithm has become more adaptive, and the system can automatically adjust the hue of headers to the dominant color of desktop wallpapers, which does not give full control, but allows you to indirectly influence the interface palette, making it more harmonious.
Using the “Themes” app to change the style of text
The safest and most effective way to change the color of letters is to install a third-party theme from the official store.Themes store contains thousands of designs created by independent designers who often experiment with bright and non-standard font colors.
The process of finding the right topic requires careful attention. Not all topics change the color of text in the system menus, many only affect the lock screen. To find the right design, follow the algorithm: open the Topics app, go to the Profile section or search for keywords.
- 🎨 Type in searches like “Neon,” “Color Text,” “Black Font,” or «RGB».
- 👁️ Be sure to open the theme preview and look at desktop screenshots and settings menus.
- 📥 Download only those topics that have high ratings and fresh reviews.
- 🔄 After applying the theme, it may be necessary to restart the device to correctly display all elements.
It’s worth considering that some interface elements, such as settings or standard Google apps, can ignore the theme stylization and stay in standard black and white.This is an Android security limitation that prevents the entire interface from breaking down when installing an incorrect theme.
☑️ Checking before setting the topic
Installation of custom fonts for color change
A more advanced method to achieve a unique look is to install special fonts. Unlike standard fonts, which are just a set of characters, custom files can contain color information (if the format supports) or be specially colored graphic characters.
This method often requires superuser rights (Root) or the use of special launchers, but there are simpler ways to implement it in the Xiaomi ecosystem. Many users have successfully used the method of replacing the font through an engineering menu or third-party utilities that do not require deep intervention.
| Method of installation | I need a Root. | Difficulty | Risk to the system |
|---|---|---|---|
| Official theme store | No. | Low. | Minimum |
| Annex zFont 3 | No. | Medium | Low. |
| MiXplorer + Root | Yes. | Tall. | High-pitched |
| Third-party launcher | No. | Low. | Minimum |
One popular typeface application on Android is zFont 3, which allows you to download fonts from the network, apply them to the system through backup and recovery, or use the built-in MIUI mechanisms to swap out the system font file. Color Fonts do not work in all applications, but in supported launchers the effect will be noticeable immediately.
Where do you get colored fonts?
Application of third-party launchers for customization
If MIUI system constraints don't allow you to get what you want, third-party launchers come to the rescue, these are shell programs that completely replace the desktop and application menus, giving you access to deep look settings, including the color of icons, backgrounds and, of course, text.
Popular launchers like Nova Launcher, Microsoft Launcher or Smart Launcher have their own rendering engines, and in their settings, you can often find the “Look and Feel” or “Appearance” section, where you can fine-tune typography, and here you can choose not only the font, but also its shade, if the launcher theme allows it.
But there's a nuance to be made, because third-party launchers only change the way you look at your desktop and your app launch menu, and inside your system settings, your phone or your message, the color of the letters will remain standard, because those windows are painted by the Android system, not the launcher, a compromise that users make for a beautiful face.
💡
For maximum effect, combine a third-party launcher with a theme that has transparent elements, which will allow the launcher widgets to harmoniously fit into the overall style created by the theme.
Reading modes and setting up special features
Sometimes users are looking for a way to change the color of letters not for beauty, but for the sake of improving readability. For such cases, Xiaomi has special features. In the Settings section → Additional settings → Special features you can find tools for people with visual impairments.
Color Inversion or High Contrast Text radically changes the way the information is displayed on the screen, the text can turn white on a black background or vice versa, and also get bold outline and increased indentations. This does not give you a choice of a specific color (for example, green or purple), but solves problems with the perception of standard black text on a white background.
Also worth mentioning is Reading Mode, which adds a warm yellow filter to the entire screen, which changes the color perception of the letters, making them softer for the eyes, and you can activate it through the notification curtain or in the screen settings, which is a temporary solution that is convenient to use in the evening.
⚠️ Attention: Constant use of color inversion or high contrast modes can quickly tire the eyes in bright daylight.
Possible problems and solutions
In the process of design experiments, users may encounter artifacts, such as when color fonts are installed, squares or question marks may be displayed instead of letters, meaning that the font chosen does not have the Cyrillic or Unicode characters encoding.
Another common problem is the theme’s “meeting” after the system update: Xiaomi periodically updates the interface components, and old themes may stop being properly applied, returning the standard black text color, in which case you need to find an updated version of the theme or temporarily return to the standard design.
If you notice that the phone started to work slower or applications began to fly out after installing custom font, it is recommended to immediately delete the suspicious file. You can restore the standard font through the menu recovery or simply by removing the application through which the modification was made, if it provided such a rollback function.
💡
It is safest to change the color of the text by installing ready-made themes from the official store, as they are tested for compatibility with the system.