How to get Alice to work in the background on Xiaomi: the complete guide

Voice assistant Alice from Yandex has long been an integral part of the ecosystem of smartphones, but on Xiaomi devices with a shell MIUI Users often face a problem: the assistant stops listening to commands 5-10 minutes after locking the screen, the reason lies in the aggressive optimization of the battery and background processes that Xiaomi uses by default. MIUI and make Alice work in the background without constant restarts, including hidden settings, ADB-teams and alternative methods.

It's important to understand that the problem is not with Yandex and Alice, but with MIUI's energy saving policy. Even after manually adding an application to the exclusion, the system can force it to close after a few hours. We tested the solutions on Redmi Note 11 Pro+, Poco X5 Pro and Xiaomi 13 Ultra models — all methods work, but require accurate execution of instructions. If you are willing to spend 10-15 minutes setting up, Alice will respond to commands even with the screen off.

Why Alice is not working in the background on Xiaomi

The main reason is the Deep Sleep battery optimization mechanism, which MIUI applies to all applications except system ones. When the screen goes out, the system puts the background processes into sleep mode to reduce charge consumption, Alice in this case loses access to the microphone and network. Even if you manually allowed autostart and removed the restrictions, MIUI can ignore these settings after rebooting or updating.

The second problem is the limitations on the background for third-party applications. Since MIUI 12, Xiaomi has tightened the rules: apps are not allowed to keep processes active without the explicit permission of the user. Alice is not a system application, so it falls under these restrictions. In addition, new versions of MIUI (13-14) have added the App Battery Saver mechanism, which automatically suspends applications if they have not been used for a while.

• 🔋 Deep Sleep Mode – forced “sedation” of applications when blocking the screen.
• 🚫 Limitations MIUI — ban on background work for non-system applications.
• ⚡ App Battery Saver – Automatic suspension of underutilized applications.
• 🔄 Resetting settings - after updating MIUI All exceptions can fly.

Another nuance: on some models (for example, Redmi). 10C POCO M4 Pro) even after all the settings, Alice can turn off after 1-2 hours. This is due to hardware limitations - on budget Xiaomi smartphones, a less powerful processor is used, which can not simultaneously process background tasks and save battery. ADB-A command to disable optimization (more on this below).

Preparation: What to do before setting up

Before you start changing your settings, follow a few mandatory steps to avoid crashes and make sure that the problem is in optimizing MIUI, not in the application itself.

1. Update the Yandex app to the latest version via Google Play or APKMirror (if you don’t have Google services).
2. Check permissions: go to Settings → Applications → Application Management → Yandex and make sure all permissions are enabled (microphone, auto-start, display over other windows).
3. Disable any “battery optimizers” from third-party manufacturers (such as Greenify or AccuBattery).
4. Reboot your smartphone – sometimes it helps to reset the MIUI time limits.

If Alice is still not working in the background after these actions, go to the basic methods of setting. Note: on some firmware (for example, MIUI Global), some menu items may be missing or called differently.

Update the Yandex application to the latest version

Check all permissions (microphone, autorun, notifications)

Disable third-party battery optimizers

Reboot your smartphone

Make sure the developer mode is turned on (if you use it) ADB)-->

Method 1: Manual addition of Alice to MIUI exceptions

The easiest way is to add Yandex to the battery optimization exception list, which works on most devices, but may require reconfiguration after the MIUI update.

Instructions:

1. Open Settings → Battery and Performance → Battery Management
2. Select Applications (or Apps with offline launch on new versions).
3. Find Yandex in the list and turn on the switches: 🔄 Auto-start (allows start when the smartphone is turned on). 🔋 No restrictions (disable battery optimization). 📱 Background activity (allows work in the background).

Optimizing the battery

Sleep regimen

Yandex

No restrictions.

After that, restart your smartphone. If Alice still doesn't respond to commands with the screen off, move on to the next method. On some firmware (e.g. MIUI EU), menu items may be called differently:

💡

If your version of MIUI does not have a Background Activity option, try to enable Background Lock, which is an alternative name for the same function.

Method 2: Using ADB to Disable Optimization

If manual settings do not help, you will have to use ADB-This method is guaranteed to turn off optimization for Alice, but requires you to connect your smartphone to your computer. MIUI The procedure will need to be repeated.

Step-by-step:

1. Turn on Developer Mode: Go to Settings → About Phone. Click 7 times on MIUI until the notification "You're a developer" appears.

Activate debugging over USB

• Back to Settings → Additionally. → For developers.
• Turn on USB debugging and confirm the permission.
• Connect your smartphone to your PC and install ADB drivers (if not already installed).
• Open the command line (Windows) or terminal (macOS/Linux) and type:

adb devices

If the device appears in the list, enter the following command (replace ru.yandex.searchplugin with the current package of your version of Yandex):

adb shell dumpsys deviceidle whitelist +ru.yandex.searchplugin

Then turn off battery optimization:

adb shell cmd appops set ru.yandex.searchplugin RUN_ANY_IN_BACKGROUND allow


adb shell cmd appops set ru.yandex.searchplugin RUN_IN_BACKGROUND allow

After you've done the commands, restart your smartphone. Now Alice has to run in the background without restrictions. If the commands don't work, try the alternative:

adb shell settings put global hidden_api_policy 1

This command unlocks hidden APIs that MIUI can use to limit background processes.

Method 3: Alternative solutions (if nothing helps)

If neither manual settings nor ADB work, try one of the alternative methods, which is less reliable, but can work on individual Xiaomi models.

• 🔄 Using Tasker or MacroDroid: Create a task that will wake up the Yandex app every 30 minutes. To do this, add the Launch App action to indicate Yandex. This is not the perfect solution, but will help keep the process active.
• 📱 Installation of modified firmware: LineageOS or Pixel Experience-based firmware does not have aggressive optimization MIUI. However, this requires unlocking the bootloader and may deprive you of the guarantee.
• 🔊 Voice Launch via Bixby or Google Assistant: Set up Google Assistant to launch Alice on a voice command (e.g., "OK Google, launch Alice"). This is a workaround, but it works more stable.
• ⚡ Power Saving Disconnect: Put your smartphone into High Performance Battery Settings.This will increase charge consumption, but will allow Alice to work without interruption.

On some devices (for example, Xiaomi Mi). A2/A3 on pure Android) there are no problems with the background work of Alice - this confirms that the shell is to blame MIUI. If you are ready to sacrifice some functions for the sake of stable work of the assistant, consider switching to custom firmware.

💡

ADB-commands are the most reliable way to disable optimization, but require re-execution after resetting or updating. MIUI.

Frequent Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

Many users make the same mistakes when setting up Alice on Xiaomi, which leads to unstable work.

⚠️ Note: If you have enabled AutoRun for Yandex but have not added it to Without limitation in battery settings, Alice will close in 30 to 60 minutes.

• ❌ Previous articleUnrenewed application Yandex: Old versions of Alice may not work properly with the latest updates MIUI. Always use the current version from Google Play or official website.
• ❌ Uses the "Light" version of Yandex: Yandex Lite does not support Alice's background work.
• ❌ ADB-Instructions are entered with errors: Check the correctness of the application package (ru.yandex.searchplugin for the standard version.
• ❌ Not rebooted after changes: Optimization settings only apply after reboot.

Another common mistake is using third-party “battery optimizers”: apps like Greenify or AccuBattery can conflict with MIUI settings and force Alice to close, and uninstall or disable such programs before setting up.

⚠️ Attention: On devices with MIUI China, part of the battery settings can be hidden, and that's where it's going to help. ADB or switching to the global/European version of the firmware.

Comparison of methods: which to choose

Each of these methods has its pros and cons, and in the table below we compared them in terms of efficiency, complexity of setting up and stability of operation.

For most users, the best solution is a combination of manual settings and ADB. If you are not ready to deal with the command line, try the exception method in MIUI first, and if it does not help, use Tasker to periodically “wake up” the application.

On devices with MIUI 14 and later, the manual settings are becoming more aggressive in closing the background, and ADB is the only reliable way to do this, unless you consider switching to custom firmware.

FAQ: Answers to Frequent Questions