Users of Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO smartphones often face the need to change the appearance of the interface to improve usability. One popular request is to change the color or appear a white strip at the bottom of the display, which serves as an indicator of navigation. This detail is not only aesthetic, but also functional, allowing you to quickly understand what type of control is activated at the moment.
With the current versions of the MIUI shell and the new HyperOS, the customization process has become more flexible, but standard settings do not always allow you to simply turn on a strip if gestures are activated. You will need to understand the subtleties of switching between classic buttons and modern swipe management. It depends on the chosen method whether the desired line appears on your screen.
In this detailed guide, we’ll look at all the ways you can activate the white navigation bar, and we’ll look at the system’s standard tools, hidden developer settings, and third-party solutions for cases where standard functionality seems inadequate. Follow the steps Step-by-step to personalize your smartphone.
Differences between buttons and gestures in MIUI
Before you start changing the way you look at navigation, you need to understand the difference between the two main ways you manage the interface in Xiaomi smartphones. This fundamental choice is how you visually display the elements at the bottom of the screen.
The first option is classic control buttons, which are three virtual keys that are constantly displayed at the bottom of the screen: Back, Home and Application Menu. In some themes or when Full Screen Mode is enabled, these buttons can hide, leaving only a thin white bar indicator that interests many users, which signals that the control panel is active but hidden to save space.
The second option is gesture control, where physical or virtual buttons disappear completely, giving way to a thin horizontal line at the bottom of the screen, and the white bar in this context acts as a home indicator, and the swipe up from this line returns to the desktop, and the swipe pauses opens the multitasking menu, and the side swipes replace the back button.
⚠️ Warning: Enabling full-screen gestures automatically hides classic buttons. If your goal is to have exactly three buttons but with a white dividing line, you need to look for the Full-screen Mode settings inside the button menu, rather than switching to gestures.
Choosing between these modes affects not only the appearance but also the speed of the device. Gestures allow you to cover large screens with one hand, while buttons give a clear visual understanding of the available actions. For many users, having a white stripe is a compromise that allows you to maintain the aesthetic of minimalism without losing the usual landmarks.
Instructions: Include white stripes through standard settings
The safest and most appropriate way to change the view of the navigation bar is to use the built-in system settings menu, which does not require super-user rights (Root) and ensures that the interface works smoothly. The algorithm may vary slightly depending on the version of MIUI, but the overall logic remains the same.
To start, you need to get to the main settings menu of your smartphone. Find the gear icon in the notification curtain or desktop and click on it. Next, proceed to the section responsible for additional system settings. In newer versions of firmware, this path may look like Settings → Additional settings.
Inside the menu, find the navigation item, which can be called "Fullscreen Mode" or "System Navigation." That's where the switch between buttons and gestures happens. If you want to see the white bar as a gesture indicator, select the appropriate item. If you want a bar above the buttons, select "Buttons" and activate the option of hiding or changing style.
☑️ Checklist of navigation activation
After choosing the navigation type, the system can offer a short tutorial tour. Don't ignore it if you encounter gestures for the first time. Also note the possibility of changing the order of the Back and Menu buttons if you choose the button mode. The white stripe splitter often appears automatically when selecting certain themes or when you activate the "Hide keys keyboard" function.
Setup via the menu "Advanced settings" and themes
Sometimes a standard switch isn’t enough to get the visual effect you want, especially if you want the strip to be more visible or have a specific style. In such cases, the Themes app, Xiaomi’s proprietary customization tool, comes to the rescue.
Go to the Themes app and search for queries like “White Nav,” “Navigation Bar,” or “White Strip.” There are many free themes that change system icons and interface elements, including the navigation bar, and installing a theme can change the look of the bar to make it more contrasting or add additional elements.
However, be careful: using third-party themes can affect not only navigation, but also application icons, fonts and lock screen. To apply only the desired element, use the Mix function within the Theme application. Select the Navigation Bar from the other theme component, leaving the rest of the interface unchanged.
| Interface element | Where to change | Impact on the strip |
|---|---|---|
| Type of navigation | Settings → Full-screen mode | Determines the presence of a strip (gestures) or buttons |
| Theme of the design | Appendix Topics → Profile | Changes the color and style of navigation icons |
| One-hand mode | Settings → Additional | May temporarily hide the strip |
| Third-party launchers | Settings → Applications | It can also block system navigation. |
Using themes is a great way to personalize your device without deep system interference, but remember that some themes may not show correctly on screens with notch or camera holes. Always check the preview before installing.
What to do if the topic is not applied?
Using Developer Mode for Fine Customization
For advanced users who are not afraid to experiment, there is access to hidden features of the system through the developer menu, and you can find options that affect the rendering of the interface, although direct tuning of the color of the stripe is rare here, but this menu allows you to debug the sensor and gestures.
To activate the developer menu, go to Settings → About the phone and find the line "Version" MIUI" (or "Version". OS"). Press it quickly. 7-10 Once in a row, until the notice "You became a developer" appears, and then a new item will appear in the "Additional Settings" menu - "Developers".
Inside this menu, scroll through the list to the section related to input or drawing, and you can find options like "Show touch" or "Position pointer." Although they won't make the strip white, they will help you understand how the system responds to your actions at the bottom of the screen, which is useful for calibrating sensitivity if the gesture bar is not working properly.
⚠️ Note: Do not change the settings in the developer menu unless you are sure of their purpose. Including some experimental functions (for example, disabling hardware acceleration) can lead to a decrease in interface performance or unstable system operation.
Also on the developer menu, you can find the option “Inactive Items” that visually obscures the interface elements that are not currently in use, which can indirectly affect how the navigation bar is displayed in various applications, making it more or less noticeable depending on the context.
Problems with displaying stripes in apps and games
Often users notice that the white bar disappears or changes color when running certain applications, videos or games. This is normal system behavior designed to immerse the user in content. Full screen mode for individual applications can hide navigation elements so that they do not overlap the image.
To return a bar or change the behavior of the system for specific programs, you need to go to the full-screen settings. The Settings menu → Additional settings → Full-screen mode (or “Manage full-screen applications”) provides a list of all installed programs. Here you can manually turn on or off the display of the cutout and navigation bar for each application separately.
If a strip is disturbing your view in a game or video, the system automatically hides it. To temporarily trigger navigation, just swipe from the bottom of the screen. If the strip disappears in normal applications (browser, social networks), check whether Do Not Disturb mode or specific energy saving settings are turned on, which may limit the background activity of interface elements.
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Tip: If the navigation bar covers important elements in the game, try to turn on the Full Screen mode in the game settings or change the aspect ratio in the Xiaomi display settings.
In some cases, the problem lies in the application itself, which is not optimized for 19:9 or 20:9 aspect ratio screens. Here, only waiting for an update from the application developer or using third-party utility to change the DPI screen can help, which is a more complex procedure.
Third-party applications to replace navigation
If Xiaomi’s standard tools don’t work, Google Play apps come to the rescue. There are many programs that replace the system navigation bar with a custom one, such as Navigation Bar, Fluid Navigation Gestures or Assistive Touch.
These apps allow you to create your own white strip, adjust its thickness, transparency, color and behavior, and you can make it visible all the time, even in games, or program complex gestures. However, for the full operation of such programs often requires a connection through a computer using ADB (Android Debug Bridge for special permissions.
The installation process usually looks like this: you download an app, connect your phone to your PC, run the command prompt, and type in a special command that the app developer provides. For example, the command may look like an adb shell pm grant com.package.name android.permission.WRITE_SECURE_SETTINGS. After that, the application gets full control over the bottom of the screen.
adb shell pm grant com.jndapp.navbar android.permission.WRITE_SECURE_SETTINGSUsing third-party navigation gives you maximum flexibility, but it has its drawbacks. These applications consume additional battery power, as they constantly monitor the position of the finger at the bottom of the screen, and they can conflict with MIUI system gestures, causing delays in response.
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Third-party navigation panels require careful tuning and can consume more power, but give full control over the look of the bottom of the screen.