How to change the screensaver on Xiaomi 12: the complete guide

The modern smartphone is not just a means of communication, but a personal digital space that we see hundreds of times a day. That is why the visual component of the interface, in particular the screensaver, plays a key role in the usability and aesthetic pleasure of owning a device. AMOLED-screen with a high refresh rate, requires high-quality visual design to unlock its potential.

Users often confuse the concepts of “savenger”, “wallpaper” and “theme”, although in the shell of MIUI (or HyperOS) these elements have a clear distinction. The screensaver usually refers to the image that appears when the screen is turned on or on the lock screen, whereas the wallpaper is the background of the desktop. In this article, we will discuss in detail all the available ways to personalize your Xiaomi 12, from standard settings to advanced thematic features.

You don't have to be a tech person to change the look of a smartphone. It provides intuitive tools to replace a boring standard image with a vivid photo, a dynamic landscape, or even a video. We'll look at both the basic techniques available out of the box and the hidden capabilities that will make your gadget truly unique.

The main ways to change wallpaper through settings

The easiest and fastest way to change the visuals is to use the built-in settings menu, which doesn't require an internet connection (if you're using your photos) and works consistently on all versions of the firmware. To get started, unlock the device and find the Settings icon on your desktop that looks like a gear.

In the menu that opens, you scroll down to Wallpaper and personalization. In some versions of the shell, this item may be simply called "Wallpaper." Clicking on it, you'll be taken to a gallery of preset images that are divided into categories: nature, abstraction, city, and others. The choice is quite large, but it's limited to what the manufacturer has put in place.

However, if a standard gallery doesn’t suit you, the system lets you pick any image from your personal photo gallery, which is especially true for owners of the Xiaomi 12 with its powerful camera that takes stunning pictures that you want to admire all the time.

Once you select an image, the system will ask you to adjust the display, so you can move the image, zoom in, or apply blur effects. It's important to correctly define the display area, because the aspect ratio may vary. There'll be a preview on the screen showing how the screensaver will look on the lock screen and on the desktop.

⚠️ Note: When installing very dark static images on AMOLED-screens have a minimal risk of an impression retention effect with prolonged display of immutable interface elements.

The final step is to choose the application area, and the system will ask you whether you want to place the image on the lock screen, the main screen, or both, and this flexibility allows you to create an interesting combination, such as leaving a large-date watch on the lock screen, and setting a minimalist background for icons on the desktop.

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Use the wallpaper stirring feature in the lock screen settings so that images change automatically each time you wake up the phone.

Using the “Themes” application for enhanced features

The theme store is the heart of the MIUI ecosystem, where the real potential for customization lies, and you can find not just static pictures, but entire packages that change icons, sounds and unlock animations. To access this richness, click on the Themes app icon on your desktop or search for it.

At the bottom of the app screen is the navigation bar, and we're interested in the Wallpaper tab, and here the content is divided into categories: Popular, New, 4K, Animated. The 4K filter is especially important for Xiaomi 12 owners, because the device's screen resolution is 2400×1080 pixels, and low-quality images will look blurry.

If you choose the image you like, you will see the button “Download” or “Apply.” If you choose animated wallpaper (live wallpaper), the phone can warn of increased battery consumption. This is a fair warning, since the constant rendering of graphics loads the processor. However, on the flagship Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, installed in Xiaomi 12, work with such graphics goes smoothly and without delay.

One of the interesting things about the theme store is that you can create your own themes or edit existing ones, so you can take a finished theme, replace it with your own wallpaper, and save it as a new configuration, which takes a little longer, but the result is worth it, and in addition, the Profile section often stores the wallpaper you previously downloaded, which is convenient for reuse.

Setting up live wallpaper and super wallpaper

The AMOLED technology used in the Xiaomi 12 display is perfect for live wallpaper. Deep black and high contrast make the animation incredibly juicy. There is a special class of wallpaper called Super Wallpapers in the MIUI shell. It's not just a video background, but an interactive environment that responds to touch and tilt.

To activate the super wallpaper, go to Settings → Wallpaper and Personalization → Super Wallpaper. Here you will find several scenes, such as "Earth", "Mars" or "Saturn", the feature of these screensavers is that when you unlock your phone, the camera can effectively "dive" from the orbit of the planet directly to the surface, creating a sense of depth.

Keep in mind that using such complex graphics requires resources. If you're an avid gamer and running heavy games, you might want to turn off the super wallpaper in favor of a static image to reserve RAM, but in everyday scenarios, the difference in autonomy will be barely noticeable due to system optimization.

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Super-wallpaper is not just a picture, but a full-fledged interactive widget that is loaded into memory at the start of the system, so do not abuse their number.

Also on the theme store, you can find third-party live wallpaper that mimics rain, flowing water, spaceship flight or abstract color gushings. When choosing, pay attention to the rating and downloads: popular themes are usually better optimized and less likely to cause launcher disruptions.

The "Wallpaper Carousel" function for automatic change

For those who can’t decide on a single image or like constant variety, the Xiaomi 12 features a “Glance” feature, which automatically uploads and shows new images on the lock screen every time you turn on the screen.

You can activate this feature through the Topic app. Click on the profile icon (humans) in the lower right corner, then select Settings and find the Wallpaper Carousel, where you can turn on the service and select categories you're interested in: cars, nature, technology, sports or art.

The main advantage of the carousel is that it doesn't have to manually search for content. Images are uploaded over the web and often contain news blocks or ad integrations that can be turned off in settings, leaving only clean pictures, which turns the lock screen into a news feed or a high art gallery.

⚠️ Warning: Wallpaper Carousel consumes mobile traffic. If you charge every megabyte, it is recommended to connect to Wi-Fi or limit background load in mobile network settings.

Users can also create their own collections for the carousel, by adding selected photos to a special album in the gallery and listing it as a source for the carousel, a great way to create slideshows of family, pets or travel that will delight you throughout the day.

Advanced customization and third-party applications

If standard MIUI tools aren't enough, the market offers a host of third-party solutions, such as the Wallpaper Engine (which requires a PC installer) or the Google Play Store's Live Wallpapers 4K, which offer thousands of unique screensavers that can display time, weather, currency rates, or even run mini-games right on the desktop.

To install these apps, just download them from the Play Market. Once installed, you will need to give permission to display on top of other windows and access to storage. The process of installing a screensaver through a third-party application usually occurs in a single click within the player application itself.

It's important to keep security in mind. When you download wallpaper change apps, check the permissions they ask for. If a simple picture viewer requires access to your contacts or if you want to see them. SMS-You're not going to be able to get any more information, but you're going to have to use high-rated apps that you've tested.

Also worth mentioning is the ability to create your own live wallpaper from video. There are converters that turn any video file into a format that is understandable to Android. You can shoot beautiful video on the main camera Xiaomi 12 in 4K resolution and put it on the screensaver, making the phone truly unique.

Solution: Reset and Display Problems

Sometimes, after a system update or a new theme is installed, the screensaver may fly, stretch, or appear with black fields. This is a common problem with launcher cache or permission conflict. If you notice that the image looks incorrect, the first thing you should do is just reboot the device.

If the reboot didn’t work, you can reset the theme to factory settings. To do this, go to Settings → Wallpaper and Personalization → Theme and select a standard theme “Classic” or “Default” that will return all visual elements, including fonts and icons, to the original state, which often solves the problem.

If the problem lies in a particular image file (for example, it is too heavy or has a non-standard format), the system may refuse to install it. The optimal format for static wallpaper is JPG with a quality of 90-100%, and for live ones - optimized MP4. Avoid using files weighing more than 10-15 MB for static images, this is redundant for the smartphone screen.

⚠️ Before resetting your theme settings globally, make sure you remember passwords from important apps if the theme has changed the look of the keyboard or password screen to avoid losing access to the device.

It’s also worth checking for system updates. Xiaomi regularly releases patches to fix graphics rendering bugs. Go to Settings → About phone and click on MIUI to check for new versions of the software.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)