Xiaomi’s smartphones are famous for their flexible personalization system, which allows you to turn the standard interface into a unique tool. One of the most noticeable details that users are eager to change in the first place is the time widget on the lock screen. The standard font or layout may not match your aesthetic taste or just become familiar. Fortunately, the MIUI shell and the new HyperOS offer many built-in ways to change this element without the need for superuser rights or deep interference with the system.
The setup process is not as obvious as it might seem at first glance, as the company often changes the logic of the menu in different versions of the firmware. Sometimes the desired option is hidden in the topic section, and in other cases requires activation through third-party apps or style settings. The lock screen is the first thing you see when you unlock a device, so its appearance directly affects the overall perception of the smartphone. In this article, we will discuss all known methods, from official to advanced, that will help you set the desired format of the dial.
It's worth noting that the outcome depends a lot on the specific model of your gadget. The budget Redmi series and the top flagships of the Mi or Xiaomi series may have slight differences in the interface "Tem". However, the basic principles remain the same throughout the ecosystem. We will consider how to use the store, how to work with widgets and what to do if standard methods failed to achieve the desired result.
Use of the official MIUI theme store
The easiest and safest way to change the look of a watch is to use the built-in Themes app, which is an official tool from developers, which contains thousands of design options created by both the company and independent designers. To get started, find an app on your desktop with a brush icon or the title of Themes and run it. In the lower right corner of the interface, there is a Profile button, which hides the settings that we need.
When you go to your profile, look at the Settings (usually the gear icon) section that opens up, you need to find the section associated with the lock screen, which can be called the Lock Screen, Lock Screen, or Wallpaper Carousel, and there's often a switch that allows you to use the styles of the watches from the downloaded themes, even if you don't change the wallpaper completely, which is a critical point that many people forget.
⚠️ Note: When installing a new theme from the store, read the description carefully. Some themes can only change app icons without affecting the time widget on the locked screen. Look for the "Custom Lock Screen" mark or see screenshots in the theme gallery.
If you want to just change the font of numbers without changing the whole theme, there's a separate category called "Fonts" in the theme store, and once you install the new font, it's going to apply throughout the system, including the lock screen clock, if the current theme supports system fonts, which is a great way to refresh the look without drastic changes to the interface.
Configure through the application "Always on the screen"
Owners of smartphones with AMOLED-The screens have an additional advantage – the function AOD (Always On Display: This technology allows time, date and notifications to be displayed even when the screen is formally off, and it gives even more freedom in the choice of watch style than a standard lock screen. Go to your device’s Settings and find the Always on Screen and Lock screen section.
Inside this menu, you'll find a switch to activate the function. Once you turn on the preview or the "Set up" button to open the editor. Here, Xiaomi offers a few tabs: "Style", "Format", "Schedule" tab, "Style" tab allows you to choose from dozens of preset designs, which often look much more interesting than the standard ones.
- 🕰️ Classic: Simple dials that mimic a hand clock.
- 🎨 Artistic: Time inscribed in a picture or animation.
- 📊 Informative: Watch with the addition of pedometer, battery charge or weather.
- 👤 Personal: The ability to put your photo, where time will be neatly inscribed in the composition.
The highlight of this is the "Glow When Raising" feature, which, if activated, will light up every time you pick up your phone, which is convenient, but can use up the battery faster than expected, and it's recommended that you set your AOD schedule to shut down at night or during hours when your phone is in your bag.
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For maximum battery savings, use black and white AOD styles and set a daytime schedule only, such as 08:00 to 23:00.
Working with widgets and lock style
Recent versions of the MIUI 13, 14 shell, and especially HyperOS, have the ability to more deeply customize widgets. The lock screen can now contain not only time, but additional elements such as weather, step counter or music player. To access these settings, press your finger on the empty space of the lock screen (if the feature is enabled in the security settings) or use a long press on the time widget if the system allows you to do so in the current theme.
Often users are faced with a situation where the downloaded theme does not apply fully, but only partially. In this case, resetting the cache of the Themes application can help. To do this, go to Settings → Apps → All Apps, find in the list of Topics and click Clear → Clear Cache. This will not delete your downloaded themes, but can correct the display errors of interface elements.
| Interface element | Where to set up | Potential for customization |
|---|---|---|
| Time (numbers) | Theme Store/AOD | Font, color, size, animation |
| Date (day of the week) | Lock screen settings | Format (DD.MM or DD MM), language |
| Background image | Gallery/Themes | Photo, video wallpaper, carousel |
| Additional widgets | Editor of AOD | Battery, steps, weather, calendar |
Remember that some elements can overlap, for example, a time widget that is too large can make a missed call notification unreadable, and experiment with combinations to find a balance between beauty and functionality.
Application of third-party applications for customization
If standard tools are not enough for you, applications from the Google Play Market come to the rescue. The leader in this niche for many years is the application Lock Screen & Notifications - Hi Locker or KLCK Kustom Lock Screen Maker. These programs completely replace the standard lock screen Xiaomi on your own, offering almost limitless possibilities for creating a design.
To use these apps, you’ll need to give them a number of permissions, including the right over other windows and access to notifications. Once installed and initial setup in KLCK, you’ll be able to download a preset from the 4PDA or XDA Developers forum that looks like a native iOS interface or a futuristic interface from a cyberpunk movie.
⚠️ Note: Third-party lock screens may conflict with Xiaomi’s Wallpaper Carousel. When activated, the system carousel will usually be automatically disabled, but in some cases, you may need to manually select the source of the wallpaper.
Kustom takes a while to learn the interface, because it's a full-fledged editor. You can change the color of each digit separately, add layers, graphics and touch reactions, but it's worth remembering that these solutions consume more CPU and battery than native MIUI themes.
☑️ Check before installing a third-party lockscreen
Setting up the time and language format
Often, users are not interested in the design, but in the specific format of the display: 12 or 24 hours, the presence of a second hand or the display of seconds with numbers. These parameters are adjusted in the general settings of the system, not in the themes. Go on the path Settings → Additional settings → Date and time.
Here you will find a 24-hour switch. If it is off, the time will be displayed in AM/PM. Also in this section you can change the time zone if you are traveling, although for the lock screen, network synchronization is most important. Make sure that Auto-Tune in Time is enabled so that the clock never rushes or lags.
The date language (e.g., "Mon, 1 January." or "Mon, Jan 1") depends on the language of the system. If you have Russian localization but the date is written in English, check the region settings. Sometimes changing the region to "USA" or "China" can change the date format on the lock screen, even if the interface language is still Russian.
Why is the time format being reset?
Solving problems with displaying the clock
There are times when the clock on the lock screen simply disappears, turns white on a white background or stops updating. One of the common reasons is aggressive battery optimization. The system can kill the process responsible for rendering the widget to save energy. To fix this, look in the settings of the applications "Themes" or "Wallpaper and personalization" and select Battery → No restrictions.
Another common problem is the conflict between the theme and the widget. If you have installed the theme and the clock is gone, try changing the theme to a standard one ("Classic" or "Untitled") and then reapply the one you want to, sometimes cleaning up the data from the Security app helps, because it also controls some aspects of locking the screen.
If the clock is displayed but seconds or animations are not working, check if power saving mode is on. In this mode, the system turns off all unnecessary animations and frequent screen updates. Also make sure that the lock screen settings do not include the "Show notifications only" checkbox, which can hide widgets.
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In 90% of cases, the problem with the disappearance of the clock is solved by switching the topic to the standard and back, or turning off the energy saving mode.