The modern smartphone has long since ceased to be just a means of communication, becoming a personal gadget that reflects the style and preferences of the owner. One of the first things that falls into the eye when you turn on the display is the clock on the lock screen. Owners of Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO devices often wonder how to change the standard look of the dial or enable the feature of permanent display of time without activating the entire screen.
The MIUI shell and its current version of HyperOS offer users a wide range of options for customizing the interface. You can choose from classic analog style, minimalistic numbers or even animated widgets that come to life when you touch. However, to make the watch truly functional, you need to understand the intricacies of AOD (Always On Display) customization and the work of the design theme. In this article, we will detail all the available ways to personalize time on a locked device.
It should be noted that the presence of the function of permanent display of time depends on the type of matrix of your smartphone. If your device has a screen made by AMOLED technology, you get access to advanced features without the risk of burning out pixels or excessive energy consumption. For owners of models with IPS matrixes, there are also solutions, although they work on a different principle, requiring periodic awakening of the screen to show time.
Enable Always On Display to be permanently displayed
Always On Display is a key feature for those who want to see time without touching a smartphone. On Xiaomi devices, this option is implemented with enough flexibility to select activation modes. To activate it, you need to go to the settings menu and find the section responsible for the lock screen, where you can choose whether the display will burn constantly, turn on on on on on schedule or respond to touch.
It's important to understand that AOD requires your smartphone to support AMOLED technology to work properly. In these screens, each pixel is individually lit, allowing you to display time in black pickles (actually off), leaving only the right segments active. This ensures minimal power consumption. If you have a budget screen model, the system may offer an alternative mode where the screen lights up periodically, but this is no longer a classic AOD.
⚠️ Continuously running Always on Display, even on AMOLED-The screen increases the battery consumption by approximately 5-10% To save charge, it is recommended to use schedule mode or activation by touch.
Customizing activation modes allows you to find a balance between convenience and autonomy. You can set a time interval, for example, from 8:00 to 23:00, so that the clock is visible only during waking hours. You can also turn on the screen when you raise your smartphone or receive a notification. All these options are in the Settings menu → Lock screen, where you can customize the behavior of the system in detail.
Customize styles and time formats through the theme store
The standard look of a watch that's pre-installed on the system may sound boring, but fortunately, the Xiaomi ecosystem offers a huge library of themes. Theme Store is the control center for the look and feel of your interface, including the lock screen. There are thousands of design options where the watch is the centerpiece of the composition. To access this functionality, you just need to open the Themes app on your desktop.
The theme store search bar recommends you type in queries like "AOD," "Clock," or "Always On," which will filter content and find exactly the styles that specialize in displaying time. Many authors create complex dials that display date, pedometer, battery level, and even moon phase, and install this style takes a few seconds and is applied instantly after confirmation.
- 🎨 Open the Topics app and go to the profile or section "My Pages».
- ⏰ Select the category “Block screen” or use the search for keywords.
- 📥 Click the Download button and then Apply to activate the new watch style.
Note that some premium themes may be paid or require you to view ads to unlock. In addition, third-party styles can sometimes conflict with system widgets or incorrectly display on screen notches ( bangs).
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Use a search by tag "Super Wallpapers" in the theme store - some live wallpapers have their own unique watches that integrate into the overall picture and change color depending on the background.
Creating your own watch design in MIUI and HyperOS
For those who want to be creative, the system offers a built-in lock screen designer, which allows you to create a unique design of the watch by choosing font, color, location and even adding personal photos. Unlike ready-made themes, here you act as a designer, customizing each element to suit yourself, and this is especially true for users who value minimalism or want to see specific information on the screen.
The process starts with choosing a basic template. The system will offer several options for the dial: center, corner, or widget. You can change the color of the numbers by choosing any shade from the palette or taking the color from the uploaded image. Moreover, in new versions of the shell, the Magic Lock or Video Wallpaper feature is available, where the clock can be part of a dynamic scene.
| Setup parameter | Description of the opportunity | Impact on the system |
|---|---|---|
| Font of the watch | Selection of style of numerals (italics, bold, handwritten) | Visual perception, readability |
| Positioning | Change of position coordinates on the screen | Comfort of the eye, risk of burnout (on AMOLED) |
| Additional widgets | Add date, steps, weather next to time | Increased information content, a slight increase in load |
| Animation. | Enabling the effect of the appearance when unlocking | Aesthetics, minimum processor resource consumption |
When creating your own style, it is important to balance beauty and functionality. Too small fonts or low-contrast colors can make time unreadable in bright sunlight. It is also not recommended to place important elements (like the time numbers themselves) in the same area of the screen constantly if you use AOD mode to prevent uneven wear of the matrix, although modern technology minimizes this risk.
☑️ Check before installing a new block theme
Use of widgets and third-party applications
If standard features aren't enough, third-party apps from the Google Play store come to the rescue. AMOLED Custom AOD They provide advanced functionality that is not available in standard firmware. They allow you to customize complex scenarios, use them. GIF-animations as a background for watches and even display notifications from messengers in the style of retro displays.
However, third-party software has its own peculiarities: these applications run on top of the system interface and require constant permissions to display on top of other windows. This can lead to a battery consumption increase significantly more than with the use of native Xiaomi tools.In addition, some functions may work unstable due to aggressive optimization of background processes in the system. MIUI.
To install widgets on the lock screen (if the shell version allows it without third-party launchers), you can use the lock screen editing menu. Long tap on the watch area or swipe sideways often opens the widget add menu. You can place not only the time, but also shortcuts to launch applications, activity tracker or music player. This turns the lock screen into a full information bar.
⚠️ Note: When installing third-party applications for AOD be sure to give them auto-start and remove background activity restrictions in the battery settings, otherwise the system will "kill" the process after a few minutes of operation.
Solving problems with display and energy consumption
Users often experience a situation where the clock on the lock screen stops displaying or is not working correctly. One common reason is the power saving mode on. When the battery charge drops below a certain level (usually 10-15%), the system automatically turns off Always On Display to extend the smartphone's life. You can check the settings of the shutdown threshold on the battery menu.
Another problem can be the proximity sensor or case. If you use a tight case with high sides or a magnetic fastener, it can overlap the sensor, which prevents the screen from lighting up when the phone is raised or, conversely, burns constantly in your pocket, in such cases, calibrating the sensor or temporarily turning off the "lift to turn on" function is recommended.
Hidden Developer Settings
If the clock is displayed but goes out quickly, check the screen timeout. In some themes, the screen burn time after touch is limited to 5-10 seconds. You can increase this in the basic display settings, but remember that this directly affects autonomy. The optimal value is 15-20 seconds, which allows you to comfortably look at the time without holding your finger on the button.
Features of AOD on different models Xiaomi
The implementation of the always-on screen function is highly dependent on the particular device model and year of its release. The flagship Xiaomi and Redmi Note series usually feature full 120Hz AOD support (although on locking, the frequency is often reduced to 1Hz or 60Hz for savings). Budget models can have a stripped-down version where the watch only appears when notified or charged.
Owners of devices with AMOLED-It's important to know about the mechanism of protection against pixel burnout, and it periodically, unobtrusively to the user, slightly shifts the image of the watch by a few pixels, which is a normal behavior that prolongs the life of the display. If you notice that the numbers are floating, don’t panic – this is the work of optimization algorithms.
- 📱 Xiaomi 13/14 Series: Fully-fledged AOD Supported by Always On Retina Display and complex animation.
- 📱 Redmi Note 12/13 Pro: Support AOD with the ability to download video wallpapers for the lock screen.
- 📱 POCO F/X Series: Often have limited AOD or require a theme to be set to activate the function.
On the old models with IPS-screen-work AOD It's technically impossible in the classical sense, because the backlight of the matrix burns entirely, and for these devices, the manufacturer offers a "lock screen in your pocket" function, or a time display when double tapping, but the screen lights up completely, illuminated with white backlight. This should be taken into account when choosing a personalization method.
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The functionality of Always On Display depends on the type of matrix (AMOLED) and the capabilities of the processor. on IPS-screens, full AOD is impossible due to the design features of the backlight.