Owners of the Xiaomi Redmi 8 smartphone often face a slowdown after a year and a half of active use. This is a natural process for the budget segment, where hardware resources are limited, and the software shell of MIUI is constantly acquiring new features.
In this article, we will not only look at standard cleaning methods, but also the hidden settings available in the developer menu that really affect the responsiveness of the interface. We will not use third-party “accelerators”, which often only consume the battery, but focus on the native features of the system.
Analysis of the current state of the system and memory
Before you start to take action, you need to understand what exactly is “strangling” your smartphone. In the case of Redmi 8, the main bottleneck is often not the processor, but the amount of RAM and the speed of the internal drive. A full system partition leads to severe fragmentation of data, which makes the memory controller work at its limit.
Check the current boot in the Settings → Memory menu. If you are using more than 85% of the total, the system has nowhere to create temporary files for background processes.
The second important parameter is the number of back-end services that are running. MIUI is known for its aggressive policy on background processes, but the applications you install can bypass these limitations. Social media and instant messengers, in particular, often keep their services active to receive notifications instantly, consuming precious CPU resources.
For a detailed analysis, you can use the built-in Security tool. Run the scan and look at the Memory Cleanup section, and here you'll see the apps that are consuming the most resources right now.
⚠️ Warning: Don't install third-party software (Clean Master and the like) on Android, they don't work properly, forcing the process to be shut down, which the system immediately reopens, creating an endless cycle of load on the processor.
Basic cleaning and optimization of storage
The first step to speed up Xiaomi Redmi 8 should be a deep cleaning of garbage files. Unlike the standard quick cleaning, deep allows you to find the remnants of deleted applications and duplicates. Go to the Security → Cleanup application and wait for the analysis to be completed.
Pay special attention to the folders of WhatsApp and Telegram messengers. These applications cache all the photos and videos you viewed, turning the cache into gigabytes of unnecessary garbage. Manually delete the contents of the folders Android/media/com.whatsapp and Android/media/org.telegram.messenger, if you are not afraid to lose the history of media files, or use built-in cleaning tools inside the applications themselves.
It's also worth checking the Download folder, which often accumulates.apk installation files that are no longer needed, and deleting these files will free up space and reduce the load on the system's media indexer.
To systematize the process, use the following checklist:
☑️ Checklist for quick cleaning
After cleaning, reboot the device, which is necessary for the file system to recalculate the indexes and free up blocks previously occupied by deleted files.
Removing Advertising and Disabling System Garbage
One reason for the MIUI’s slowdown is system advertising services that constantly poll servers to download targeted ads, which will not only remove banners, but also reduce network activity and CPU load.
To do this, go to Settings → Passwords and Security → Access to Personal Data. Find the MSA (MIUI System Ads) app and turn off the slider. The system will ask you to wait 10 seconds, then deny access. A similar procedure should be done for Mi Video, Mi Music and GetApps apps if you do not use them.
Next, turn off ad personalization. Follow the Settings path → Passwords & Security → Privacy → Advertising Services and turn off the Personalized Ads option.
You should also turn off autoplay of videos in the Mi Video and Music widgets if they are displayed on the desktop, and these widgets consume resources even in the background.
| MIUI Service | Impact on the system | Recommendation |
|---|---|---|
| msa | Advertising downloads, network activity | Disable access |
| GetApps | Verification of updates, notifications | Turn off auto-update |
| Mi Video | Gallery analysis, online content | Clear the data, disable notifications |
| Analytics | Collection of usage statistics | Shut down. |
⚠️ Warning: When disabling system components through the data access menu, be careful not to disable critical services such as Security or Downloads, otherwise the system may not work smoothly.
What to do if the “Revoke” button is inactive?
Developer settings to increase speed
The most effective way to visually speed up the Xiaomi Redmi 8 is to scale up the animations. By default, the system uses 1x odds, which makes transitions smooth but slow on budget screens. Reducing this value creates the illusion of faster work.
To get to the developer menu, you need to quickly click on the MIUI version number 7 times in the About Phone menu. After the message “You became a developer” appears, go to Additional → For Developers.
Find the section "Drawing" and change the following parameters:
- 📉 The scale of window animation: set the value 0.5x or off.
- 📉 Transition animation scale: set the value 0.5x.
- 📉 Duration of animation: set the value 0.5x.
Also, in this menu, find the item "Background Process." Make sure that there is no restriction "No restrictions" if you have little RAM, but also to set a hard limit (for example, "No more than 2 processes") is not worth it - this will lead to a constant reboot of the desired applications.
Another useful setting is “Data Download.” Make sure that Page Preload mode is enabled if the browser supports this feature through system settings, although in modern versions of Android this is often regulated inside the browser itself.
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Useful tip: After changing the animation settings, be sure to restart your smartphone so that the changes apply to all system processes, not just the current session.
Managing Autoboot and Background Processes
Autoboot control is key for devices with 2 or 3GB of RAM, and many applications are prescribed to boot without the user's knowledge, and MIUI has a built-in tool to manage it.
Go to Settings → Applications → Auto Run. Here you will see a list of all the programs that start with the system. Leave only messengers (for notifications) and antivirus on. Social networks, stores, games and news aggregators safely turn off.
Also, limit background activity for heavy apps. Go to Settings → Apps → All apps, select an app that is unnecessary in the background (like Facebook or AliExpress) and select Saving Charge → Limit background activity.
This won’t stop the app from running at all, but it won’t eat up CPU time until you’re using it, especially for Redmi 8, which doesn’t have a margin of performance.
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Disabling auto-run a dozen unnecessary apps can free up to 400-500 MB of RAM immediately after turning on the phone.
Advanced memory and resetting settings
If software methods don’t work, consider using a microSD card as internal storage (Adoptable Storage), although it’s often hidden in newer versions of Android, but even simply transferring photos and videos to a card will make life much easier for the system.
The most radical, but also the most effective, method is a factory reset, which accumulates registry errors, tails from remote programs and config conflict over the years, and resets the device out of the box.
Make sure to back up before the procedure. Follow the Settings path → About Phone → Resetting → Erase all data. The process will take about 10-15 minutes.
After reset, don't rush to install all the applications at once, install only the ones you need, and watch the system run for a couple of days, and it often turns out that 30 percent of the programs you've used before are no longer needed.