How to change the screensaver on Xiaomi devices: TVs and smartphones

The screensaver (or screensaver) on Xiaomi devices is not just a background element, but a full-fledged personalization tool. It can display time, weather, gallery photos or even animation, but the standard options often seem boring. If you want to replace the screensaver on a Xiaomi Mi TV or a smartphone with MIUI, this guide will help you understand everything from basic settings to hidden features.

Unlike other brands, Xiaomi offers several ways to change the screensaver depending on the model and firmware version. For example, on PatchWall TVs, the algorithm differs from devices on Google TV, and on smartphones with MIUI 14+, new customization options have appeared. We will look at all current methods, including bypassing restrictions for older models.

Important: some features may be blocked depending on the firmware region. If your menu does not contain the described items, check the version of the software in Settings → About Phone / About TV.

1. How to change the screensaver on the Xiaomi TV

Xiaomi TVs (Mi TV A Pro, P1, Q2, etc.) use two main shells: PatchWall (for India/China) and Google TV (for global versions).

For PatchWall:

1. Open the settings → Display and sound → Screensaver.
2. Choose the type of screensaver: Watch, Photo or Color.
3. For a photo screensaver, click Gallery and select the folder with images.

For Google TV:

• 📺 Go to Settings. → Screen and sound → Standby regime.
• 🖼️ Select Photo Gallery and connect your Google Photo account.
• ⚙️ Enable the option to display information for time and weather.

If there is no “Savenger” item on the menu, then your model uses a hardware screensaver at the firmware level that can only be changed through ADB or custom firmware, which is true for budget Mi TV 4A TVs 2018-2020.

2. Replacement of the screensaver on Xiaomi smartphones (MIUI 12-15)

On Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO smartphones, the screensaver is activated when you lock the screen or connect to charging. The latest versions of MIUI 14/15 have support for dynamic screensavers with paralax effects.

Step-by-step:

1. Open the Settings → Lock screen.
2. Select Screensaver (or Screensaver in Global Firmware).
3. Activate the switch and set up: 🕒 Startup time: when locking/charging/always. 📸 Source: gallery, wallpaper system or Google Photos. ⚡ Effects: panorama, zoom or static image.

In the models with AMOLED-screens (e.g. Xiaomi 13 Ultra or POCO F5 Pro) Always-On Display option available (AOD), It can run in parallel with the screensaver, so to avoid conflict, turn it off. AOD In Settings → Screen. → Always-On.

Check the MIUI version in About Phone | Connect to Wi-Fi to download wallpaper | Download photos to gallery | Disable Always-On Display (for AMOLED)

-->

3. Hidden screensavers features on Xiaomi

Many users are unaware that Xiaomi devices have hidden screensaver options that don’t appear in the standard menu.

For Xiaomi TVs on Android TV 11/12, you can activate the demo mode, which shows promotional videos instead of the standard screensaver.

Settings → Applications → Special features → Demo mode (enable)

4. Solving screensaver problems

Sometimes, after a screensaver change, there are bugs: black screen, lack of animation or constant failures. Here are the typical reasons and ways to fix them:

⚠️ Note: If after updating the firmware screensaver stopped working, check the permissions for the application com.miui.screensaver in Settings → Annexes → Permissions. Often resetting the rights helps restore functionality.

• 🖥️ Black screen instead of screensaver: Check if the power saving mode is turned off in Settings → Battery → Energy saving regime.
• ⏳ Screensaver does not start automatically: Set a sleep timer in Settings → Display. → Sleep timer.
• 📵 No "Savenger" item in the menu: Update your firmware to the latest version or install MIUI EU (firmware).

For Xiaomi TVs with PatchWall, a common problem is that the screensaver only shows time without a background. This is due to the disabled service com.mitv.weather.

1. Open Settings → Applications → All applications.
2. Find the weather.
3. Enable auto-start and notifications.

💡

If the screensaver brakes on the TV, try to reduce the resolution of the original images to 1920×1080 – this will reduce the load on the processor.

5. Third-party applications for screensaver customization

If standard options are not enough, you can use third-party tools.

• 📱 Daydream (Google): An Android-built plugin-enabled solution (e.g. Photo Table for slideshows) is activated in Settings → Display. → Dream (Daydream).
• 🎨 KLCK Kustom Lock Screen: Allows you to create screensavers with weather widgets, batteries and notifications. Requires Kustom Live Wallpaper.
• 🖼️ Muzei Live Wallpaper: Automatically changes screensavers by uploading images from the internet (e.g. Unsplash).
• 📺 Screensaver for Android TV: Especially for TVs – supports video screensavers and RSS-ribbon.

To install third-party screensavers on the Xiaomi TV, you may need to turn on the developer mode:

1. Go to Settings. → On TV.
2. Press 7 times on the Assembly Number.
3. Go back to Settings → For developers and enable Installation of Unknown Apps.

⚠️ Attention: Installation APK Unknown sources on TV may lead to the blocking of Netflix and Disney services+ due to breach of Widevine policy L1. Use only verified apps from APKMirror.

6. Guide to the creation of its screensaver

If you want to use a unique screensaver (such as family photos or art), follow these rules:

• 📏 Permission: For smartphones: 1080×2340 (Full HD+) or 1440×3200 (QHD+). For TVs: 3840×2160 (4K) ratio 16:9.
• 🎨 Format: JPG (up to 10 MB or PNG (transparently). GIF Supported only on Google TV.
• 🔄 Optimization: Use TinyPNG or Squoosh for compression without loss of quality.

To create an animated screensaver:

1. Download CapCut or Adobe Premiere Rush.
2. Create a video that is 10–30 seconds long with a resolution of 1920×1080.
3. Save it in MP4 format (H.264).
4. Place the file in the Movies/Screensavers folder on your TV.

💡

For Xiaomi TVs on Google TV, the maximum size of a video saver is 50 MB. Exceeding the limit will lead to a download error.

7. Frequent mistakes and how to avoid them

When setting up screensavers, users often encounter typical errors that are easy to prevent:

On smartphones Xiaomi with AMOLED-Long-term use of static screensavers can cause pixel burnout to avoid this:

• 🔄 Change the screensaver every 1-2 weeks.
• ⏱️ Set a screen shutdown timer for 1-2 minutes.
• 🌑 Use dark topics (for example, use themes, AMOLED Black in wallpaper settings).

FAQ: Answers to popular questions