Personalizing the interface of a smartphone is the first step to making a device truly your own. Owners of Chinese-brand gadgets often look for ways to change the screensaver on a Xiaomi phone to get away from the standard boring images. The MIUI shell and the new HyperOS provide a huge opportunity for customization, far beyond simply replacing a picture.
In this article, we will take a look at all the available methods for changing the background, from standard gallery settings to using specialized themes and installing video as wallpaper. You will learn how to activate the Wallpaper Carousel feature, which turns the lock screen into a dynamic news feed, and how to configure the Always On Display to save battery power while maintaining aesthetics.
Basic installation of the image through the Gallery
The easiest and fastest way to change the visual design is to use the standard Gallery app, which doesn't require an internet connection or download of additional software, because it's built into the default system, so you just open any saved photo you want to see on the screen and click on the three dots in the lower right corner or the "More" button.
In the menu that opens, you need to select "Install as wallpaper." The system will offer two options: set the image on the lock screen or on the desktop. The lock screen is what you see immediately after you turn on the screen, and the desktop is behind the application icons. You can choose one of the options or apply the picture to both screens at once.
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Use images with at least a resolution 1080x2400 pixels to avoid loss of quality and the appearance of "grain" on modern AMOLED-Xiaomi screens.
If you want to be creative, before you confirm, the system will suggest editing the image, filters, framing and depth effects are available. For models that support depth, you can separate the object in the foreground from the time, creating a stylish parallax effect when unlocked.
Use of the Application Topics for Enhanced Opportunities
Xiaomi's official Theme Store is a powerful tool that is often underrated, and you can find not just static pictures, but entire design packages that include icons, fonts and, of course, unique screensavers. To find them, open the Themes app and go to the Wallpaper section at the bottom menu.
Unlike a gallery, it's structured by categories like nature, abstraction, space, minimalism, many wallpapers are dynamic, meaning they respond to touch or time of day, and it may require a stable Internet connection to download them, as some packets weigh tens of megabytes.
Importantly, the Theme Store has a preview feature, so if you click on an image, you'll see how it's going to look on the real screen, given the location of the widgets and the clock, which helps you avoid having beautiful images overlapping with icons of important apps.
Setting up the Glance wallpaper carousel
One of the most popular features in Xiaomi smartphones is the Wallpaper Carousel (formerly known as Glance) which automatically changes the images on the lock screen every time you turn on the screen.This turns the boring process of checking notifications into viewing a tape of beautiful photos.
To activate this feature, go to Settings → Always On Screen and Lock Screen → Wallpaper Carousel. Here you can choose the sources of images: this can be a photo from your gallery, selections from Xiaomi or even news and facts displayed on top of the picture. The user can adjust the frequency of changes in frames and categories of content.
⚠️ Warning: The wallpaper carousel may consume extra battery power as the processor has to process graphics more often and the screen turns on to show a new image. If you notice a fast discharge, try turning off the feature or limiting the sources to only photos from the gallery.
The carousel settings also include Wi-Fi Only, which prevents mobile traffic from being used to download new images, which is critical for users with limited data plans, and allows ads to be displayed on the carousel to unlock access to premium image sets.
☑️ Setting up the wallpaper carousel
Installation of video and live wallpaper
Modern OLED and AMOLED arrays are ideal for video content playback. To install video as a screensaver on Xiaomi, you can use built-in tools or third-party applications. In the standard gallery, when selecting a video file, a “Install as video wallpaper” button often appears.
If the standard player doesn't support your video format, the Video Wallpaper app from GetApps or Google Play will come to the rescue, and it allows you to convert any video into a format that the wallpaper launcher understands. The process takes a few seconds, after which the video will be played in a cycle on the desktop.
It’s worth remembering the technical limitations: Live wallpaper and videophones consume significantly more power than static images, and the use of heavy high-resolution video files can lead to micro-twitching interfaces on older models of smartphones with entry-level processors.
Where to get quality videos for wallpaper?
Comparison of installation methods
To make it easier for you to choose the best personalization method, we have prepared a basic method comparison table that will help you understand the differences in functionality, resource consumption and customization complexity for each option.
| Method | Battery consumption | Demands the Internet. | Difficulty |
|---|---|---|---|
| Static photo (Gallery) | Minimum | No. | Low. |
| Wallpaper carousel | Medium. | Yeah (for new photos) | Medium |
| Video wallpaper | High-pitched | No (after downloading) | Medium |
| Themes from the store | Depends on the topic. | Yes. | Low. |
As you can see from the table, classic static imagery remains the most energy-efficient solution, but if aesthetics is more important to you than a couple of percent of the charge, video and carousel provide a much more impressive visual experience, and the choice depends on your priorities and the device model.
Always on Display (AOD)
The Always On Display feature allows you to display time, date and notifications even when the screen is locked. AMOLED-Xiaomi screens are implemented very competently: only the necessary pixels burn, which minimizes energy consumption.
You can set up AOD through the Settings path → Always on screen and lock screen. There are different styles available here: digital watches, analog, with the image of pets or characters. Some styles are interactive - for example, when a message arrives, the picture can be animated.
⚠️ Note: Do not set a static bright image on AOD for a long time, if you do not have AMOLED-On the screen. IPS-In matrices, this will lead to the burning of pixels and the appearance of “fanomic” traces that cannot be removed programmatically.
New versions of HyperOS have the ability to create your own AOD using your photos, so you can cut an object out of a photo and place it in the digits of a clock, creating a depth effect, which makes the screensaver unique and personalized to your taste.
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The optimal AOD setting is a work schedule. Set up the function to be turned on only during the day or 10 seconds after touching to save the battery by the evening.