How to Increase Screen Time on Xiaomi: A Complete Guide

Modern Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO smartphones are equipped with high-quality AMOLED and IPS arrays that provide a bright and rich picture. However, standard system settings often limit the time of active use of the display in order to save battery power. Users reading news, books or watching the progress of navigation often face a situation when the gadget suddenly goes out at the most inopportune moment. This is not only annoying, but also causes you to constantly touch the screen or control buttons, which can lead to accidental pressing.

Increasing lock timeouts is the first thing that comes to mind, but there are hidden nuances in the MIUI shell and the new HyperOS. The standard menu offers a limited selection of time slots, usually no more than 5 or 10 minutes. For those who need a longer display glow without going to sleep, you need to use advanced settings or special features that many owners of Chinese equipment do not even know.

It is important to understand that the constant presence of the display in the on state significantly affects the battery life. Lithium polymer batteries used in smartphones are sensitive to discharge cycles and deep discharges that can occur during long-term operation of the energy-intensive screen. Therefore, when setting long intervals, it is worth considering the current health of the battery and the availability of fast recharging during the day.

Standard timeout settings through the system menu

The basic way to change the time before the display is turned off is available in the standard settings menu of any Android smartphone. In Xiaomi devices, this path may vary slightly depending on the version of the operating system and regional firmware. Usually, the user can choose between 15 seconds and 10 minutes. For most use cases, this is quite enough, but if you need more, you will have to look for workarounds.

To change the setting, you go to Settings, then select Screen and brightness. In the list that opens, we look for the option Sleep Mode or Time Out of the screen. When you click on it, you will see an available list of time slots. Selecting 10 minutes is the maximum value in the standard interface without using third-party apps or engineering menus.

It is worth noting that in some models with AMOLED-With screens like the Xiaomi 13 or Redmi Note 12 Pro, when the Always On Display feature (always screen on) is enabled, a timeout may behave differently. The system prioritizes energy saving, so even when choosing the maximum time, the screen can go out faster if the light sensor decides that the device is in the dark and lying motionless.

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If you use a smartphone to read, turn on the screen settings function "Read Mode" or "Paper", this will reduce the load on the eyes with prolonged use of a bright display.

Use the function "Do not turn off the screen when charging"

For scenarios where a smartphone is used as a desktop clock, a smart home control panel, or a navigator in a car, a mode that prevents you from going to sleep while charging is ideal. This feature is built into the developer menu and does not require additional software to be installed. It allows the screen to burn indefinitely while the power cable is connected.

To activate this option, you first need to unlock the developer menu. To do this, go to Settings → About Phone and quickly press 7 times on the MIUI Version (or OS Version). Once you notice that you have become a developer, you can move to advanced system settings.

In the Additional → menu, developers should scroll down to the debugging section, where the Do Not Turn Off Switch is located, and activating this slider ensures that the display will remain active as long as the charging process is underway, regardless of the timeout settings in the regular menu.

⚠️ Attention: Abandonment AMOLED-If you turn on a static image for many hours, you can burn out your pixels. Use this mode with caution and change the screensaver if you plan to keep the screen on for a long time.

Advanced settings through the engineering menu

There is a deeper level of settings available through Xiaomi’s engineering menu, which allows you to change settings hidden from the average user, including detailed settings for display behavior. However, be extremely careful: changing the parameters in this section can lead to system instability.

To enter the engineering menu, you use a special code in the Phone app. Dial the combination ##6484## (CIT). In the test list you need to find the section associated with the display (usually marked as Display or LCM). Here you can calibrate or check for broken pixels, but direct timeout change through this interface is not available on all models.

An alternative way to get into hidden settings is to use the Settings app with a direct start of activity. This will require ADB rights or a special application to run shortcuts. The command to run the hidden hardware testing menu is as follows:

adb shell am start -n com.android.settings/.HardwareInfoActivity

If you can’t use a computer and ADB, you can try looking for a “Testing” or “CIT” label in the phone settings. In some versions of HyperOS, access to these features is limited, and the system may require authorization through a Mi Account or the presence of a special engineering cable.

Application of third-party applications for screen management

When the built-in capabilities are not enough, Google Play apps come to the rescue, and there are many utilities that can force the screen to be on schedule, battery level, or when running certain programs, and that's the most flexible way to do this.

One popular solution is the Keep Screen On app, which allows you to create profiles: for example, the screen does not go out when the navigator or video player is running; another option is to use alarm apps with a constant glow function, which is convenient for using a smartphone as a night watch.

When installing these programs, Android will ask for special permissions, such as permission to “display over other windows” and access to battery use, without granting these rights, the application will not be able to intercept the control of the system’s timeout.

Optimizing your work always on display

The feature is Always on Display (AOD) On Xiaomi devices, you can display time, date and notifications on a screen that's off. While this doesn't increase the time of the main interface, it creates the illusion of a constantly running display. AMOLED-In matrices, this is implemented energy-efficiently, since only individual pixels glow.

In the AOD settings, you can choose to work: Always, 10 seconds after touch, or Schedule. The Always mode actually increases the visual activity time of the screen, although technically it is not a full-fledged interface. To activate, go to Settings → Wallpaper and Personalization → Always on screen.

It’s important to consider that watch style and background affect energy consumption. Static images and simple fonts consume less charge than animated wallpaper or complex dials. New versions of MIUI and HyperOS add a smart feature that turns off AOD when the phone is down screen or in your pocket, which helps save resources.

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The Always On Display feature is only available on smartphones with AMOLED-The owners of the devices with the screens IPS-Matrices (most Redmi budget models) will not be able to use this option.

Impact of Update Frequency and Authorization on Autonomy

By increasing screen time, you inevitably face the question of autonomy. Xiaomi’s current flagships support high refresh rates of 90, 120 Hz and even 144 Hz. The higher this parameter, the more power the display consumes per unit time.

If your goal is to keep the screen on as long as possible from a single charge, it makes sense to reduce the refresh rate. From the Settings menu → Screen → Update, you can choose the Standard (60 Hz) option. This action will not increase the timeout, but will allow the screen to last longer until the battery is discharged.

Also worth mentioning is the screen resolution. Some models allow software to reduce resolution to save energy, although in practice on small diagonals of smartphones the difference in consumption between FullHD+ and HD+ is not as critical as the difference in brightness of the backlight.

⚠️ Warning: Prolonged screen operation at maximum brightness in a well-lit room can cause the case to overheat.If the smartphone starts to warm, the system will automatically lower the brightness or frame rate, which may disrupt your plans for using the device.

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