Modern smartphones like the Xiaomi Redmi 5 Plus are becoming an integral part of our lives, consuming a huge amount of time. Users often wonder how many hours a day they spend looking at their gadget screens. This information is critical for those who want to create a digital balance and understand the real picture of the device use.
The Android operating system that runs the MIUI shell has built-in tools for monitoring activity, but their location and functionality may vary depending on the firmware version installed on your Redmi 5 Plus. Sometimes standard tools are not enough and you have to resort to third-party solutions.
In this article, we will take a look at all the available ways to get statistics: you will learn where to find hidden menus, how to interpret complex graphs, and which applications will help you get the most accurate data. The accuracy of the data in the system log may differ from real-time use due to the peculiarities of the background MIUI processes.
System statistics in Android settings
You should start looking for information from the basic operating system settings. In the newer versions of MIUI firmware that you can install on Redmi 5 Plus, the digital well-being functionality is already integrated, you need to open the main menu and find the Settings icon.
Next, scroll down to Digital Well-Being and Parental Control, where you collect basic telemetry about your actions, and the system automatically categorizes the apps and shows the time spent on each of them.
If you don't find this item in the main menu, try searching by settings, type "screen" or "time" into the search bar, and the system will suggest the desired section, which is especially true for users who rarely change the standard layout of items.
⚠️ Note: On older versions of Android (below 9.0), this partition may be missing or hidden by the shell manufacturer.
Inside the statistics menu, you'll see a pie chart showing the time distribution for the day, and if you click on a specific application, you can get details on launches and notifications, and it gives you an idea of which programs are the main absorbers of your time.
Use of the Battery section to analyze activity
An alternative and often more informative way is to analyze the energy consumption: The battery section contains data on which applications have discharged the device most since the last full charge.
To access this data, go to Settings and select Battery and Performance (or simply Battery) and it shows a list of processes sorted by percentage of charge consumed. Although it's not direct screen time, the correlation is very high.
Click on the menu icon (three dots or gear) in the top right corner of the screen. In the drop-down list, select Battery Use. A detailed graph will open where you can see activity over the past 24 hours or the last 10 days.
- 📊 Chart discharge: shows peaks of screen activity and processor operation.
- 📱 List of applications: Displays how much percent of the charge went to each application.
- ⏱️ Screen time: often shown at the bottom of the battery statistics screen.
This method is especially useful if you need to understand why Xiaomi Redmi 5 Plus is running out quickly.High screen time combined with low percentage in statistics can indicate a non-optimized app.
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Pay attention to apps with high percentage of consumption in the background – they can work even when you are not using the phone actively.
Security appendix and MIUI statistics
The MIUI shell is known for its deep system integrations, and one of the key elements is the Security app, which not only protects against viruses, but also collects extensive statistics on device usage.
Run the Security app (green icon with shield). At the bottom of the screen or in the menu (three bars), look for Statistics or Data Use, and you can see not only traffic, but also activity times.
Data Use is often covered by the Statistics tab, which shows the screen time since the last reboot or reset, a convenient way to monitor short-term activity.
| Parameter | Where to find out. | What shows |
|---|---|---|
| Screen time | Settings -> Battery | Total active use time |
| Consumption | Settings -> Battery | Percentage of charge per application |
| Traffic. | Security -> Traffic | Volume of data transmitted |
Therefore, the data may not coincide with the calendar day.
Why are the data in different sections different?
Third-party applications for detailed control
If Xiaomi’s built-in tools aren’t enough, you can always turn to proven solutions from the Google Play store. Third-party developers offer tools with more flexible customization and beautiful visualization.
One of the most popular solutions is Google’s ActionDash or Digital Wellbeing app (unless preinstalled), which asks for special permissions to access usage history, allowing them to build very accurate reports.
Another powerful tool is QualityTime, which is not just a time-storage app, but also a behavioral analysis tool that can send reports to emails or show notifications when a limit is reached.
- 🚀 ActionDash: a complete analogue of system digital well-being with advanced features.
- ⏳ QualityTime: Deep Analytics and the Ability to Block Applications.
- 📉 YourHour: Focus on Addiction and Motivational Tweets.
When installing such applications on Redmi 5 Plus, be sure to provide all the permissions requested, including access to usage history and on top of other windows.
⚠️ Warning: Installing third-party trackers may slightly increase battery consumption due to constant monitoring of process activity.
☑️ Setting up a third-party tracker
Engineering menus and hidden codes
For advanced users, there is an option to access information through the engineering menu, a hidden part of the system designed to test hardware and software components.
To get there, open the Phone app and enter the code ##4636##. If the code works, the Testing menu will open. Select Usage statistics.
This is a list of all the running processes with the last time stamps, which is not really "screen time" as we know it, but it's the raw data that all the graphs are built on.
##4636##This menu shows the last time used and the number of launches, which is useful for diagnosing the hanging apps that may not be displayed in the standard statistics.
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The engineering menu provides access to raw system data that is not filtered by the MIUI interface, which allows you to see absolutely all running processes.
Data analysis via ADB (for experts)
The most accurate and complete way to get information about the time of use is using the Android Debug Bridge debugging bridge (ADB). This method requires connecting the smartphone to the computer through USB-cable.
First, activate the developer mode. Go to Settings -> About Phone and quickly click on the MIUI build number seven times. Once you have become a developer, go back to the settings menu.
Find Advanced Settings -> Developers. Turn on USB Debugging Toggle. Connect your phone to your PC and execute the command in the terminal:
adb shell dumpsys usagestatsThe result is a huge text log containing the history of all events, and filters (such as Notepad++ or grep) can isolate packets and their activity times, and this is the most reliable way to audit them.
⚠️ Warning: Be careful when changing settings in developer mode. Non-key changes can lead to unstable system operation.