Owners of modern smartphones Xiaomi, Redmi and Poco often face the situation when the display lights up every time a new message or call arrives. While for some it is a useful feature that allows you to instantly see the importance of the event, others it is annoying, especially at night or while watching videos. Constant activation of Ambient Display not only distracts, but also contributes to faster battery discharge, which is critical when you use the gadget actively.
The MIUI shell and the new HyperOS offer a lot of customization options, but finding the right option is difficult because of frequent changes in the structure of the menu by the company's developers. To stop the screen from lighting up on its own, you need to change the lock and notification settings. In this article, we will discuss in detail all available methods for solving the problem, from standard switches to hidden system functions.
Before we make any changes, it’s important to understand what triggers the display response, which can be either a system function called “Raise to Activate” or customization of specific applications like Telegram or WhatsApp. Disabling the “Lighting at Notification” function in the global settings of the system is a priority, since it blocks requests from most applications. Let’s look at a step-by-step algorithm for fully deactivating this feature.
Configure the “Lift to Activate” function in MIUI
The main culprit behind spontaneously turning on the screen is often an accelerometer that responds to the movement of the device. In Xiaomi settings, this feature can be called differently depending on the firmware version and region. Most often it is the item “Raise to activate” or “Enable when lifted.” This option is designed to quickly access information without using the power button, but it often works falsely.
To find this option, you need to open the main menu of your smartphone settings. Scroll down to the Lock Screen section. This is where the main parameters for display behavior in sleep mode are concentrated. Note that the path may differ slightly on different versions of MIUI, but the logic remains the same: look for partitions associated with lock or screen.
Inside the Lock Screen menu, find the switch that activates the display when you move, which can be called "Lift to Activate" or "Live to Activate." Put the slider in an inactive position, and then the smartphone will stop responding to your movements in space, and the screen will remain black until you press the power button or touch the display (if double tap mode is on).
- 📱 Open the settings of your Xiaomi device.
- 🔒 Go to Lock Screen (or Screen Lock).
- 🚫 Find the item to activate and turn it off.
- ✅ Check the result by holding the phone in your hands – the screen should remain off.
💡
If you can’t find this item in the main settings, try searching by settings: type the word “raise” or “activate” in the search bar at the top of the settings menu.
Control of notification illumination (Breathing Light)
Another important feature that is often confused with screen turn on is the notification indicator or “breathing backlight.” In modern models without an LED indicator, this role is taken by briefly turning on the display or part of it. If your screen lights up at the moment of arrival of the message and immediately goes out, we are talking about setting notifications on the locked screen.
To manage this, you should go to the notification settings section. In current Xiaomi shells, this section is often called Notifications and Status Bar or simply Notifications. This is a global switch that allows or prohibits the display of notification content on a locked screen, disabling this feature will make the screen completely black when any signals arrive.
However, if you want to leave the ability to see who wrote to you, but remove the bright glow of the entire screen, it is worth digging deeper into the settings. Some versions of MIUI allow you to choose the style of displaying notifications. For example, you can leave only an application icon or text, not including the matrix backlight, and it is also worth checking the settings of the particular application that most often bothers you with turning on the screen.
Importantly, there is a difference between “notification backlight” and “advanced notifications”: the first function simply turns on the screen for a short time, the second one shows the text of the message, and by turning off the display on the locked screen, you increase your privacy, because outsiders will not be able to read your messages just by picking up the phone.
Disable Always On Display and its settings
Technology Always on Display (AOD) It's designed to display time and notifications on a screen that's turned off without turning it on. AMOLED-Xiaomi smartphone screens when a new notification arrives AOD It can go into full brightness mode or show a preview of a message that visually feels like turning on the screen. If you don't need a constantly burning screen, it's best to turn off this feature.
You can find the AOD settings in the "Screen is always on and locking" section or by searching the settings. Here you can turn off the function completely or adjust its schedule. For example, you can set the "10 seconds after touch" mode so that the screen does not burn constantly and react with activation to every incoming event, which will save a lot of battery power.
In some cases, users encounter a bug where AOD doesn’t turn off even after setting up, which is a situation where resetting screen settings or updating the system helps, and it’s also worth checking if Pocket Mode is turned on, which may misinterpret the phone in your pocket as a wake-up call when you receive a notification.
☑️ Checking settings AOD
Note that on different models, such as the Xiaomi Mi 11, Redmi Note 10 or Poco F3, the location of points may vary. In newer versions of HyperOS, AOD management is made in a separate Wallpaper application or integrated into personalization settings. If the standard path does not help, use the search by settings by typing in the query "AOD" or "Always on".
Setting up specific applications and their priority
Often, system settings are disabled, but the screen still lights up when messages are sent from WhatsApp, Telegram or Viber. This is because the apps themselves have their own notification settings, which can override system limitations, in which case you need to go to the settings of each particular messenger.
Inside apps like Telegram or WhatsApp, you need to find the Notifications and Sound and Vibration section, and there's a lot of pop-up notifications or lock screen notifications, and turning those options off inside the app will prevent it from waking up the phone screen, which is especially true in work chat rooms where messages are very frequent.
In addition, Android has a concept of “priority notifications.” If an application is of high priority, the system will ignore the general screen bans. To fix this, go to Settings → Notifications and Status bar → Application Notifications. Find the desired application in the list and prevent it from displaying on the locked screen.
| Annex | The path to adjustment | What to turn off |
|---|---|---|
| Settings → Notifications | Pop-up notifications | |
| Telegram | Settings → Notifications and sounds | Turn on the screen |
| Viber | More. → Settings → Notifications | Pop-up notifications |
| Settings → Notifications | Push notifications (screen) |
Why are the settings resetting?
Use of Do Not Disturb Mode and Schedules
If you need to temporarily turn off your screen, for example, during a meeting, sleep or a movie, you don't need to dig deep into the settings. Just use Do Not Disturb, which not only blocks the screen from turning on, but also turns off sound and vibration, leaving the phone completely alone.
You can activate this mode through the notification curtain (swipe down from the top of the screen), you need to find the moon icon or the words "Do not disturb." However, a more effective way would be to adjust the automatic schedule. In the "Do not disturb" settings, you can set a time, for example, from 23:00 to 07:00, when the phone will automatically go to quiet mode.
It is important to set the exceptions in this mode correctly. By default, Do Not Disturb can skip calls from favorite contacts or re-calls. If your goal is complete silence and a black screen, make sure all exceptions are disabled. Also check if the tick on Allow Visual Notifications is worth checking if this option is present in your version of MIUI.
⚠️ Warning: Do Not Disturb mode may hide important calls from emergency services or loved ones.Be sure to set up select contact exceptions or Re-Call mode before turning on.
Using automation through scripts (in the Auto Tasks app or third-party launchers) allows for more complex rules to be created, such as the screen may stop turning on when notifying when the phone is connected to a home Wi-Fi or in a specific geolocation, an advanced level of control available to power users.
Problem Solving and Additional Advice
Sometimes all settings are checked and disabled, but the screen keeps on lighting up, in which case it may be a third-party application that intercepts the control of the screen, or a system failure, often the culprits are memory cleanup applications, smart blockers or design themes downloaded from unofficial sources.
To diagnose a problem, try to start your phone in Safe Mode. To do this, press and hold the turn off button, and then press the "Stop" button on the screen for a long time until the prompt appears to go to Safe Mode. If in this mode the screen stopped lighting up at notifications, then the problem is in third-party software. Delete the recently installed applications one by one, checking the result.
Also, keep in mind the physical cleanliness of the proximity sensor: If the top of the screen is contaminated or closed with a poor-quality protective glass, the sensor may mistakenly think that the phone is in your pocket or ear, and turn on the screen at the slightest signal.
💡
If software methods do not help, the cause may be a physical malfunction of the proximity sensor or sticking the power button, which requires contacting the service center.
Rarely, resetting all settings to factory settings helps, but this is an extreme measure. Before you do that, try simply restarting the device or clearing the cache of the Settings system application. Updating the firmware to the latest available version also often fixes software bugs associated with screen control.
⚠️ Warning: Do not use magnetic cables or magnetic fastener cases near the top of the phone. The magnetic field can affect sensors and cause false screen turn on or sensor malfunctions.