How to turn on a dark theme on Xiaomi Mi Play: 5 working ways

Xiaomi Mi Play

AMOLED-screen

saves battery life

MIUI

In this article, you’ll find 5 proven ways to enable a dark theme on Mi Play, including hidden developer settings and bypassing the limitations of older versions of MIUI. We’ll also look at why the theme might not apply to individual apps (like YouTube or Chrome) and how to fix it. If your smartphone is running MIUI 10 or later, you’ll definitely be able to activate the night mode without root rights.

Before you go to the instructions, make sure that your Xiaomi Mi Play has the latest firmware version installed. Check for updates in Settings → About Phone → System Update. On MIUI versions below 10.3.2, dark theme may not be on the menu - in this case, use the 3-5 methods from our instructions.

1. Standard method: through MIUI settings

The easiest method is to activate the dark theme through built-in system options, which works on MIUI 11/12/13 and some MIUI 10 builds (starting with version 10.3.2).

Open the Settings app (the gear icon on your desktop) and follow the following steps:

  1. Go to the Screen section.
  2. Select Dark Theme (or Display Mode in older versions).
  3. Activate the switch to the position VL.
  4. Select an application option: 🌙 Always on – the topic is always active. 🌅 Scheduled - automatically switched on at sunset (uses geolocation data). ⏰ Manually – set the time on / off yourself.

If there is no Dark Theme on the menu, then your version of MIUI does not support this feature at the system level, in which case move on to the following ways.

☑️ Preparing for the inclusion of a dark topic

Done: 0 / 4

2. Through the developer settings (hidden method)

On the Xiaomi Mi Play with MIUI 10, the dark theme can be hidden, but it can be forced to turn on through the developer menu.

First, turn on the developer mode:

  1. Open the Settings. → The phone.
  2. Click 7 times in a row on the MIUI version (you will be notified “You became a developer”).
  3. Return to the main settings menu – there will be a new section Additional → For developers.

Now activate the dark theme:

  1. Go to For Developers → Interface settings.
  2. Find the option Forced to Enable Dark Theme (or Override Force-Dark in English firmware).
  3. Select On and restart the phone.

⚠️ Note: This method may cause some applications to display incorrectly (e.g. white text on a light background).If you encounter a problem, return the setting to off and use method 4 or 5.

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If after turning on a dark theme through the developer, the screen began to flash or the applications are dyeing, reset the settings in For Developers → Reset the settings and try another method.

3.Use of themes from MIUI store

If the system dark theme is not available, you can install a third-party theme from the official Xiaomi store, which works on all versions of MIUI, but requires an Internet connection.

Installation instructions:

  1. Open the Themes app (brush icon on your desktop).
  2. In the lower menu, select the Topics section (or Online in English).
  3. In the search bar, enter the query: dark theme or dark theme.
  4. Choose your favorite theme (we recommend AMOLED Black or Pure Black for maximum battery savings).
  5. Click Apply and confirm the download.

Advantages of this method:

  • 🎨 A wide range of designs – from minimalist to thematic (for example, with accents of blue or green).
  • 🔄 Automatic updates – themes are updated with the store MIUI.
  • 📱 Icon support – many themes change not only the background, but also the icons of the applications.

⚠️ Note: Some topics from the store may contain ads or collect data.Install only high-ranking themes (4.5)+ stars) and a large number of downloads (100K+).

Title of the topicCompatible with Mi PlayFeaturesRatings.
AMOLED BlackMIUI 10–13Clean black background, optimized for AMOLED4.8 ⭐
Pure BlackMIUI 11+Minimalist design, supports icons4.7 ⭐
Dark Mode ProMIUI 12+Customized accents, adaptive lighting4.6 ⭐
Night OwlMIUI 10–12Dark blue tones, suitable for reading4.5 ⭐
📊 What dark topic do you prefer?
System (built-in)
Downloaded from MIUI store
Through the developer settings
Third-party app (e.g. Night Mode)

4 Third-party applications for forced dark theme

If the system methods didn't work, you can use third-party utilities. They work at the overlay level, so they don't require root rights.

Top 3 apps for dark topics:

  • 📱 Night Mode - automatically darkens the screen on schedule, supports exceptions for individual applications.
  • 🌙 Dark Mode for All Apps — enforces a dark filter on all programs, including those that do not support night mode.
  • 🔍 Swift Dark is used by Swift Dark. API Android for correctly displaying dark themes even in older apps.

Instructions for setting up (for example, Night Mode):

  1. Install the app from Google Play.
  2. Open it and grant permission to Overlay over other applications (a window will pop up asking you to go to settings).
  3. In the application settings, select: 🕒 Activation time (for example, from 21:00 to 7:00). 🎛 The intensity of the blackout (recommended 70-80% for the AMOLED). 🚫 Exceptions – add apps that don’t need to be darkened (like a gallery or camera).

Activate the switch in the main window of the application.

Why aren’t some apps getting darkened?
Third-party utilities work via a filter overlay, but some applications (such as banking or games) block this feature for security reasons, and the filter may not apply to system windows (such as keyboards or notifications).

5. Manual editing of settings (for advanced)

This method is suitable for users who are ready to work with ADB or have an unlocked bootloader, and allows you to force the dark theme to be turned on even on older versions of MIUI, where it is not on the menu.

Method 1: through ADB (without root)

  1. Install. ADB-PC drivers.
  2. Connect Mi Play over USB and enable USB Debugging in the developer settings.
  3. Open the command line (or Terminal) Mac/Linux) Enter: adb shell settings put secure ui_night_mode 2 This command is forced to activate a dark theme at the system level.
  4. Please use the following: adb shell settings put secure ui_night_mode 1

Method 2: Edit the build.prop file (requires root)

  1. Install a file manager with root support (such as Root Explorer).
  2. Go to /system/build.prop and open the file to edit.
  3. Add the line at the end: qemu.hw.mainkeys=0 persist.sys.ui.night=yes
  4. Save the changes, restart the phone.

⚠️ Attention: Editing build.prop without backup can lead to bootloop (locked phone turn on). TWRP Or OrangeFox.

💡

Methods with ADB and system file editing are suitable only for advanced users. For beginners, we recommend methods 1-3, which do not require deep technical knowledge.

Solving the dark topic problem

Even after successfully activating a dark topic, you may encounter bugs, and here are the most common problems and solutions.

Problem 1: Dark theme doesn’t apply to some apps (like Google Chrome or YouTube).

  • 🔧 Solution: Update the app to the latest version. Many programs (like Chrome) only support a dark theme from 2020 onwards.
  • 🌐 Alternative: Use Kiwi Browser or Firefox Nightly – they support forced dimming through flags: chrome://flags/#enable-force-dark

Problem 2: After rebooting, the theme is reset to light.

  • 🔄 Solution: Check if there are battery-saving applications (e.g. Security or Greenify) that kill processes. Add a dark theme app to the exceptions.
  • ⚙ For MIUI 10: In the developer settings, disable the option Don't keep activities).

Problem 3: Some menus make text unreadable (e.g. white on a light background).

  • 🎨 Solution: If you used the Override Force-dark method, turn it off and install the theme from the store. MIUI (3-way).
  • 🔍 For specific applications: In their settings, find the option “Dark Theme” and turn it on manually (for example, in Telegram or in the Internet). VK).

FAQ: Frequent questions about the dark theme on Xiaomi Mi Play

🔹 Why My Mi Play Doesn't Have a Dark Theme in Settings?
This means that your version of MIUI is older than 10.3.2. Update the firmware through Settings → About Phone → System Update. If there are no updates, use the 2-5 methods in this article.
🔹 Can I turn on a dark theme on Mi Play without the Internet?
Yes, but the choice will be limited. Use: Method 2 (via developer settings). Method 5 (via ADB or build.prop editing if there is root). To install themes from the MIUI store (mode 3), the Internet is mandatory.
🔹 Will the dark theme save battery power on the Mi Play?
Yes, but only if you have AMOLED-The black pixels are turned off on these displays, which reduces power consumption by 10 to 15 percent when used actively. IPS minimalism.
🔹 Why the Dark Theme Doesn't Work in Some Games?
Most games use their own rendering engine that ignores the system settings of the themes. Solutions: Check the settings of the game itself (sometimes there is an option for Night Mode).
🔹 How to roll back changes if the phone does not turn on after building.prop editing?
If the phone is stuck on the Xiaomi logo (bootloop), follow the following steps: Press Power + Volume up to log in to Recovery. Select Wipe & Reset → Wipe All Data (reset to factory settings). If there is a backup in TWRP, restore it via Restore. In the future, always backup before editing system files!