How to watch screen time on Xiaomi Redmi Note 8: the complete guide

Xiaomi smartphone owners often face the need to control the duration of use of the gadget to optimize charge consumption or simply reduce the digital load. On the Redmi Note 8 model, running the MIUI shell, this task is solved in several ways, each of which gives a different picture of activity. Standard Android tools and the Chinese manufacturer’s custom add-ons offer different metrics that it is important to be able to interpret correctly.

Understanding how much time you spend in apps helps not only in productivity issues, but also in diagnosing autonomy issues. If the battery runs out too quickly, screen time analysis often points to the culprit — an application that is not working properly in the background or consuming display resources even in standby mode. We'll look at all the available methods for obtaining this information on your device.

Using the built-in application Digital Well-being

The main tool for tracking activity in modern versions of Android, including those installed on the Redmi Note 8, is the system service Digital Well-being. This component is deeply integrated into the operating system and provides the most accurate data about the time spent with the display turned on. To access statistics, you need to go to the settings menu and find the corresponding section, which can be called differently depending on the firmware version.

In the interface of this app, you'll see a pie chart showing the distribution of time between different categories of applications. Social networks, instant messengers and video services are usually the leading ones. Detailed statistics allow you to see not only the total time, but also the number of launches of each application per day, which gives a complete picture of the digital habits of the user.

• 📊 Exact time of use of each application by minute.
• 🔔 Possibility of setting time limits for specific programs.
• 🌙 Do Not Disturb and Sleep Time to Limit Function at Night.
• 📈 Weekly activity schedules to track changes.

It's important to note that the data in this section is not updated instantly, but with a small delay, usually a few minutes, and this is done to save CPU and battery life, because constant monitoring in real time would require more frequent access to the system. If you just closed a heavy application, it may appear in the statistics a little later.

⚠️ Note: Digital Well-Being may be hidden in older firmware versions MIUI. If you don’t find it in your settings, your smartphone may need to upgrade or install Google services in full.

For users who want to delve deeper into the analysis, a detailed viewing mode is available, which shows what time of day the phone was most used, and helps to identify behavioral patterns, such as aimlessly browsing social media feeds in the early morning or late evening, which often interferes with quality sleep.

Analysis of statistics through the Battery menu

An alternative and often more informative way to check activity is the section on energy consumption. Unlike digital well-being, which focuses on time, the Battery menu shows which apps have the most impact on battery power. On the Redmi Note 8, this tool is especially useful because it correlates screen time with real energy consumption.

Going down the Settings → Battery → Consumption path, you'll see a list of applications sorted by the impact on charge. Here you'll notice applications that seem to have been under active use, or a significant amount of energy, which often indicates background activity, which is also worth monitoring to extend autonomy.

This section also shows the total screen time of the last day or since the last full charge, which may differ from the data in Digital Well-being, since the calculation algorithms can take into account different parameters of the processor activity.

• ⚡ Display the percentage of charge spent by each application.
• ⏱ Screen time in active and sleep mode.
• 🔋 Information on the charging and discharging time of the device.
• 📉 The ability to see applications that work in the background.

If you notice that an app consumes a disproportionate amount of power relative to the time it’s used, it’s a signal to check its settings.It may be worth limiting background activity or disabling auto-update for that particular service to extend the battery life of your Redmi Note 8.

Checking the screen time in the display settings

A third way to get time information is directly related to screen settings: In some versions of MIUI, there is a separate counter that shows how long the display has been active, which is useful for estimating the wear of the matrix, especially if it is AMOLED or IPS panels that have a limited glowing resource of pixels.

To find this data, go to Settings → Screen, and there may not be a detailed breakdown by application, but the total backlight glow time is often available, and it's raw data that doesn't go through the digital well-being filters and shows the actual hardware component.

It is worth considering that on different versions of firmware, the location of this item may change. Xiaomi engineers periodically change the structure of the menu, so if you do not find the counter in the specified place, try searching by settings, typing in the request “screen” or “display”.

Controlling the display time is important not only for the battery, but also to prevent pixels from burning out on older screens. If you see that brightness is always at its maximum and the use time is long, it makes sense to include autobrightness to save the matrix life.

Hidden functions and engineering menu

For advanced users who don’t have enough standard reports, there is access to deeper statistics through hidden menus. However, be careful: changing the parameters in these sections can lead to unstable operation of the Redmi Note 8. Here you can find data on the wake cycles of the processor (wakelocks), which often cause the discharge in standby mode.

One way to get into the advanced statistics is to use special codes in the Phone app. Entering the combination ##4636## (not working on all firmware) opens the testing menu, where you can see detailed information about the operation of components in the "Usage Statistics" section, which shows the time when the screen was turned on and the time when the device was in deep sleep.

Using an engineering menu requires care. A random change in the radio module settings or the CPU frequencies can lead to overheating or loss of communication. It is recommended to only review the statistics without making changes if you are not 100% sure of your actions.

⚠️ Note: Signing into the engineering menu and changing hidden settings may void the device warranty. Use these tools only for diagnosis, without changing the default values.

Third-party applications for detailed monitoring

If Xiaomi’s built-in tools aren’t enough, Google Play offers a variety of alternatives: apps like ActionDash, QualityTime, or YourHour provide more flexible reporting settings and can synchronize data across devices, often providing more visualizations than standard MIUI tools.

The main advantage of third-party solutions is the ability to set complex restriction scenarios, for example, you can block access to games at certain hours or after reaching a time limit, which the standard system does not always efficiently.

• 🛡 Blocking access to applications on schedule or limit.
• 📊 Compounding data and exporting data to CSV.
• 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Parental control and remote monitoring.
• 🎨 Flexible configuration of the appearance of reports and widgets.

However, it is worth remembering that installing a third-party tracker requires broad permissions, including access to usage history and sometimes even screen content, a personal data security issue that each user must decide for themselves, weighing the risks and benefits.

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When installing screen time trackers, give them the minimum permissions they need. Often, access to Usage History is enough to work, and file or contact access is not required.

Optimization and management of screen time

With your time, it makes sense to optimize, and the Redmi Note 8 has an in-built tool called Application Limiter, which allows you to set a daily limit for specific programs, and when time runs out, the app icon turns gray, and you can only run it on additional request, which creates a useful barrier.

Also effective is using black and white (read mode), a visually less attractive interface reduces dopamine dependence on bright colors and notifications, and you can turn it on via Settings → Screen → Read mode by choosing Black and White, which radically changes the perception of content and helps to put the phone down faster.

Regularly reviewing installed apps also helps, and often we don't even notice how long it takes for games or news aggregators, which we rarely use for their intended purpose, and removing time eaters is the easiest way to get our hours back.

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The integrated use of built-in MIUI tools and third-party applications gives the most complete picture of digital habits and helps to effectively manage time.