How to make a smaller screen on Xiaomi: one-hand mode and scale

Owners of modern flagship smartphones Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO often face the problem of ergonomics: the diagonal of the display becomes too large for comfortable control with one hand. Standard interfaces MIUI or HyperOS do not always automatically adjust to a narrow palm, which leads to constant shifting of the gadget. Fortunately, developers have provided several effective ways to solve this problem, allowing you to compress the contents of the display or shift it to the bottom.

There are two basic approaches to visual adjustment: software-based downward shifting (one-hand mode) and physical zooming (DPI change). The first option simply shifts the active area, making the top buttons accessible to the thumb, but does not change the size of the fonts. The second option, known as reduced width or DPI, actually compresses all interface elements, creating a miniaturization effect, which is especially true for people with large hands or low vision.

Before you start to manipulate system parameters in a complex way, you need to understand the difference between secure accessibility settings and hidden engineering menus. Improperly changing the pixel density can cause some controls to become too small to press or, conversely, disappear outside the visible area. In this article, we will look at all available methods, from standard features to advanced settings through the developer menu.

Use of the standard mode "One hand"

The safest and easiest way to adapt a large screen to one-handed control is to activate the built-in One-Hand Mode feature, which does not change the resolution or pixel density, but only shifts the image to the bottom corner of the display, reducing its physical size on the screen. You can activate this feature through the Settings menu by selecting the Additional or Special Features, depending on the firmware version.

Once the function is enabled, the system will suggest you to choose the activation method. The most convenient option is to swipe down the lower horizontal navigation bar (where the Home button or gesture indicator is located). You can also schedule a triply press on the menu button or through a floating button, which allows you to instantly transform a huge 6.7-inch screen into a compact area accessible to the thumb.

⚠️ Note: When activating the mode of one hand in landscape mode (horizontally), the functionality may not work correctly or not be activated at all, since this function is sharpened for portrait orientation.

Importantly, this method doesn’t affect the size of the fonts in apps like Telegram or the browser, it only compresses the window with the operating system. If your goal is to see more content on one screen without scrolling, this method may not be effective enough, and then you need to move to deeper system settings.

Setting the scale and size of the font

For those who find one-handedness uncomfortable because of the black fields around the image, standard scale adjustment is the best solution. Unlike engineering methods, this is officially supported by the MIUI shell and does not require superuser rights. Changing the size of the elements affects how much information is placed on the screen, making the interface denser.

To find these settings, go to the Settings menu and select Screen. You're interested in Text Size or Scale. By moving the slider downwards (usually to the left or to a smaller "A" icon), you force the system to recalculate the indentations and button sizes. This is the first step to creating a "small screen" effect without the risk of interface breakdown.

• 📱 Standard scale slider changes the size of only system elements and supported applications.
• 🔤 Separate font size setting allows you to make the text smaller without touching the icons.
• 🎨 In some design themes, changing the scale can lead to incorrect display of widgets.

Keep in mind that standard limiters don't make elements too small. Xiaomi's shell blocks extreme values so that the user doesn't accidentally make the interface unreadable. If the standard minimum isn't enough, you'll have to go to the hidden developer parameters, which we'll talk about below.

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Before changing the scale, take a screenshot of the desktop so that you can then visually compare the result and understand how much the density of elements has changed.

Change DPI through the Developer Menu

The most effective way to actually shrink the interface to the size of a tablet or compact smartphone is to change the dots per inch (DPI) setting, often referred to as Smallest Width, on the Android developer menu.

To access these settings, you must first activate the developer menu. Go to Settings → About Phone and quickly click 7 times on MIUI Version (or OS Version). Once you have the message "You became a developer", you can move to advanced settings. In the menu Additional → For developers, find the option "Minimum width".

The default value varies depending on the model: for the Xiaomi Mi 11, it can be 392 dpi, and for the Redmi Note 10, about 360 dpi. The safe limit is an increase in the current value by no more than 20-30%. For example, if you have a 360, try to put 400 or 420. A sharp increase to 600-800 dpi can make the interface unusable, and it will be extremely difficult to return everything back without resetting.

Once you enter a new number, the system may blink for a second, and all interface elements will decrease. If you have entered a value that makes it impossible to hit the Back button or menu, don't panic. Try using one-hand mode or voice control to go back to the menu and reset the DPI to the original one.

Use of third-party launchers

If system methods seem too complex or insufficient, a third-party launcher is a great solution. Launcher is a program that completely replaces the desktop, app menu and Xiaomi control panel. Apps such as Nova Launcher, Microsoft Launcher or Smart Launcher have their own, system-independent configurations of grid scale and icon size.

By installing a third-party launcher, you can configure a desktop grid like 6x8 or 7x9 instead of the standard 5x6.This allows you to fit significantly more shortcuts on a single screen. In addition, the launcher settings often have a separate Scale or Zoom slider that compresses exactly the desktop elements without affecting the Android system settings menu.

⚠️ Note: Some global versions of the firmware MIUI When installing a third-party launcher, advertising or an intrusive suggestion to return to the standard launcher may appear.

The advantage of this method is that if you don't like the result, you just delete the app and everything goes back to normal. In addition, many launchers support themes and gestures, which can further improve the ergonomics of using the device with one hand, for example, by adding a bottom bar of search or frequently used applications.

Adaptation of navigation and gestures

Screen shrinkage is not just a visual aspect, it's also a matter of physical availability of controls. Even if you've reduced the DPI by getting to the top corner of the screen with your thumb, it can be difficult. So it's critical to set up the navigation correctly. In today's Xiaomi, it's recommended that you give up the three buttons at the bottom of the screen in favor of full-screen gesture navigation.

Gestures allow you to interact with the interface from anywhere on the screen. Swipe from the bottom up returns to the desktop, swipe from the side performs the action "Back." This eliminates the need to reach for the bottom corners. For users who use one-hand mode, gestures become even more important, because they work even in a smaller window.

• 🖐 Adjust gesture sensitivity in the feature menu if the standard response is too fast.
• ↔️ Use a swipe on the bottom bar (if enabled) for quick switching between apps.
• 🚫 Turn off vibrations when navigating to reduce tactile noise and save battery power.

Also worth noting is the location of the keyboard. Many modern keyboards, like the Gboard or SwiftKey, have a one-hand mode that shifts the keyboard left or right and reduces its size, which perfectly complements the general concept of a smaller screen, making text input comfortable without intercepting the phone with the second hand.

Possible problems and solutions

When you fine-tune the interface, you may encounter artifacts, and the most common problem with changing the DPI is the layout that's gone on in some applications. Where text used to be a line, it can now be cut or blocked by buttons, because app developers don't test their products at extremely high pixel density.

Another problem is that important controls disappear in the settings, so if you increase the DPI too much, the Save or Apply button can be outside the visible area of the screen, which can help turn the screen into landscape mode (if the application supports rotation), which temporarily expands the visible area and allows you to press the desired button.

If the interface has become so small that you can’t do anything, there is an emergency reset method. On most Xiaomi devices, triple pressing the volume button (if configured) or entering safe mode can help bring back standard settings. However, the most reliable way is to completely reset the phone, so always assess the risks before changing system settings.

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The golden rule of DPI modification is to change the value gradually, in 10-20 units, checking the main applications after each change.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)