Xiaomi, Redmi and Poco smartphone owners often face a situation where the app icon does not show the number of missed calls or unread messages, a feature known as a notification icon or badge, critical to quickly visually controlling incoming information without having to unlock the device and open each app separately.
The MIUI shell, or its new version of HyperOS, has flexible settings that can be changed or disabled by default by the user to serve the minimalist interface. The digital display is set up separately for the system phone and for third-party messengers. Understanding the logic of these partitions will allow you to personalize the desktop.
In this article, we will take a look at the algorithms required to activate this feature on different versions of software, where to look for hidden switches and how to get the system to show relevant information directly on the icon, which is especially true for those who use a smartphone in working mode and can not afford to miss an important call.
The main settings of notification icons in MIUI and HyperOS
The first step to activating digital indicators is to address the global settings of the operating system. In the latest versions of the shells from Xiaomi, the management of these parameters was made into a separate subsection, which makes navigation easier. You need to go to the Settings menu and find the Notifications item and the status bar.
This is where the key switch is, which is responsible for visualizing the number of events, and the system offers two options for presenting information: a number that shows the exact number of events, or just a dot that signals the presence of something new.
- 📱 Open the Settings app on the main screen.
- 🔔 Go to the section "Notifications and status bar».
- 🔢 Find the option “Notification icons».
- ✅ Select the display mode: "Number" or "Point».
It is worth noting that once this setting is changed, changes may not take effect instantly for all applications. Some programs require rebooting or re-entering notification settings. System applications usually respond immediately, while third-party software may require additional attention.
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If after turning on the option, the numbers did not appear, try to change the theme to the standard – some third-party themes can block the display of system badges.
Setting up the display of numbers for the system phone
The MIUI phone system application has its own, independent display settings, and even if the general settings of the system include icons, a particular application may ignore this rule, and to correct this, you need to go to the individual settings of the dialer itself.
Find the Phone icon on your desktop, click on it and hold your finger until the context menu appears. In the window that appears, select About or the i icon in the circle. Next, go to Notifications, where you can customize the behavior of the indicators for incoming calls and missed events.
Make sure that the Allow Notifications slider is activated. Below you will find the "Application icon icon" item that needs to be turned on. This is the setting responsible for the appearance of a red plate with a number on the handset icon. Without activation, the system will assume that you do not need to see the number of missed calls on the home screen.
☑️ Checking the phone settings
It is important to distinguish between voice mail notifications and normal missed calls. In some regions or when using operators with visual voice mail, these counters can be separated. However, for standard use in the CIS, the main role is played by the missed call counter, which must be displayed correctly when set up correctly.
Activation of badges for messengers and social networks
The situation with instant messengers such as WhatsApp, Telegram or Viber is often different from system applications, they may not obey the global settings of Xiaomi and require a personalized approach, and the applications themselves have internal settings that can conflict with the system.
To start, check the notification settings inside the messenger itself. Go to the app settings, look for the Notifications section, and make sure there is no restriction on the display of icons, but most often the problem lies in the access rights that the operating system gives.
Go back to the App system settings -> All apps. Find the right messenger (like WhatsApp) in the list. Go to Notifications -> Other notifications (or just a list of notification types). There may be a separate icon switch, if it is turned off, the numbers will not show, even if they are allowed for the system as a whole.
- 📲 Go to the settings of a specific application (WhatsApp, Telegram).
- ⚙️ Find the Notifications section inside the app.
- 🔍 Check if the display of icons in system rights is disabled.
- 🔄 Restart the application after making changes.
Special attention should be paid to Google applications such as Gmail or Google Messages, which use their own notification engines and may require you to enable synchronization or check the connection to the server. If the icon disappeared suddenly, try to clear the app cache, but not the data, so as not to lose correspondence.
Why can’t the icon appear on some apps?
Using launchers to customize icons
If standard methods don’t work well or you want more flexible icon management, third-party launchers can be used.The standard MIUI shell sometimes limits display capabilities, but replacing the desktop with Nova Launcher, Microsoft Launcher or Smart Launcher solves this problem.
When you install a third-party launcher, it will ask permission to manage the desktop. Once you activate the new interface, go to its settings. The Notification Badges section is usually in the Desktop or Appearance category, where you can customize the style (digit or dot), color, font, and even animation of the appearance.
The advantage of third-party launchers is that they often have a higher rendering priority and can "break through" some of Xiaomi's system limitations.
However, it’s worth remembering that using a third-party launcher can increase RAM and battery consumption. On Redmi’s budget models, this can lead to more frequent downloading of applications from memory.
Solving the Problems of Disappearance of Indicators
There are times when the number icon on Xiaomi Android stops showing for no apparent reason, which may be due to a system update, a notification service failure, or an application conflict, and the first thing to do is check whether Do Not Disturb or Sleep mode is turned on, which may hide the visual indicators.
The problem may also be in a crowded cache of the System UI service. Clearing the cache of this system component often helps to return missing interface elements. To do this, go to Settings -> Apps -> All Applications, find the list "System UI" (may need to enable system processes display) and select "Clear Cache".
⚠️ Warning: Don't confuse cache cleaning with data cleaning.Resetting system applications data can cause desktop settings, widgets, and icon order to reset.
Another common reason is aggressive energy saving: the system can kill the background processes of messengers, which causes them to stop transmitting the current number of notifications to the icon. Go to the battery settings and select No Limits mode for important applications.
| Problem. | Possible cause | Method of decision |
|---|---|---|
| No number on the phone. | Disabled in the application settings | Include “Icon icon” in the rights of the application |
| No number on WhatsApp | Settings conflict within the application | Check notification settings in WhatsApp itself |
| There's a badge, but the number 0 | Synchronization error | Clear the app cache or restart the phone |
| No numbers anywhere. | Global outage in the system | Check “Notifications and Status Line” in Settings |