Owners of Xiaomi, Redmi and Poco smartphones often face the need to make the interface more readable, which may be due to age-related changes in vision, a desire to make it easier for older relatives to use the gadget, or simply a habit of large controls. Standard MIUI and HyperOS settings allow you to flexibly manage the size of all visual elements without installing third-party programs.
Xiaomi’s Android operating system has built-in zoom tools that not only affect app icons, but also text messages, menu items, and system notifications, and fine-tuning these settings greatly improves the comfort of your daily use.
In this article, we will take a look at all the ways to resize icons, learn how to use standard settings, hand paralysis mode (one hand) and special topics, and explore nuances that will help avoid visual distortion on the screen.
Setting the font size and screen elements
The most effective way to increase icons on Xiaomi is to change the global size of the system elements, which affects all applications at once, making the interface uniform and large, and these settings do not require superuser rights or complex manipulations.
You need to go to the settings menu of your smartphone. The path may vary slightly depending on the version of the shell, but the logic remains the same. Find the section that is responsible for the appearance and display of information. Here you will see a slider, the movement of which changes the size of the font and icons proportionally.
- 📱 Open Settings and select Screen.
- 🔍 Find the font and text size section or screen element size.
- 📏 Move the slider to the right to zoom in or to the left to scale down.
As the scale increases, the system automatically recalculates the layout of the elements. It is important to note that on high-resolution screens (Full HD+ or 2K), even the maximum size may look acceptable. However, on budget models with HD+ matrices, the icons can become too large, occupying almost half of the display.
💡
If text in some apps is cropped after enlarging the font, try changing only the font size without touching the scale of the screen elements, or vice versa, to find the perfect balance.
The changes are instantaneous, and you can experiment with the settings in real time, going back to the desktop to evaluate the results, so you can find the best option that you can use without having to reboot the device.
Use of the “Hand Paralysis” (One Hand) mode
There is a unique feature in the MIUI shell arsenal that was originally designed to control large smartphones with one hand, but users often use it for the other, to temporarily or permanently increase all interface elements, which in Xiaomi’s settings can be called “Hand Paralysis” or “One Hand Mode”.
Activating this function reduces the screen's useful area, but all the icons and text within that area become much larger, and this is achieved by zooming the content and compressing it into the corner of the screen, and for people with low vision, this can be a lifeline in situations where standard magnification is not enough.
To activate this mode, follow the following steps:
- Go to Settings → Additional → One-hand mode.
- Turn on the activation switch of the function.
- Select the call method: swipe down the bottom navigation bar or triple press the Home button.
Once you activate, the screen will shrink, and all the icons inside it will become larger. You can move this smaller one around the screen by choosing the right angle of view. Although this is not a direct increase in resolution, the visual effect is comparable to using a magnifier.
⚠️ Note: In Hand Paralysis mode, part of the screen remains black, which can be uncomfortable when watching videos or web pages, as the useful area of the content is physically reduced.
Change the theme for major icons
Xiaomi's standard launcher allows you to change the look of the system through the Themes app. Some developers create custom themes where the default app icons are larger or designed in a style that makes them visually more visible. It's a great way to personalize the device without digging deep into the system settings.
To find the right design, open the Themes app. In the search box, type in queries like “Large icons,” “Big icons,” or “Big icons.” The system will suggest options where graphic elements take up more space. When you install such a theme, not only does the size change, but the style of the rendering changes, which can refresh the interface.
| Type of topic | Impact on badges | Impact on text | Compatibility |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard. | Basic size | Depends on the settings. | All models. |
| Big icons. | Significantly increased | No change. | MIUI 12-14 |
| For the elderly | Maximum size | Enlarged. | All models. |
| Minimalism | Reduced. | Thin type | All models. |
It is important to understand that third-party themes can affect the display of widgets and system notifications in different ways. Some interface elements may remain unchanged if the theme does not provide for their modification.
Where to download themes if there are few in the regional store?
Special regime “Simple” for the elderly
The Android operating system, starting with the newer versions, and the HyperOS shell, has a special mode, often called Simple Mode, or mode for the elderly, whose main goal is to make it as easy as possible to interact with a smartphone. The interface is completely rebuilt: icons become huge, the font increases to a maximum, and unnecessary functions are hidden.
This mode is ideal not only for older people, but also for people with severe visual or hand motor impairments, and when activated, the desktop becomes a grid of large buttons, removing unnecessary widgets, complex menus and background images that can distract or interfere with perception.
To include this function:
- 👴 Go to Settings.
- 🔍 Find the Simple Mode section (may be in the Special Opportunities or Screen section»).
- ✅ Press the button Enable.
Once turned on, the phone will ask you to confirm the action. The interface will change dramatically, you will see only the most necessary applications: calls, messages, contacts, camera and browser, all of which will be displayed as large tiles with signatures, this eliminates random clicks and makes it easier to find the desired function.
💡
Simple mode is not just an increase in the font, it is a complete reorganization of the logic of the interface for maximum accessibility.
You can exit this mode through settings or a special button if it is displayed on the lock screen, which gives flexibility: during the day the smartphone can be used in normal mode, and in the evening or if necessary, be transferred to relatives in a simplified form.
Increase through setting up special features
If standard magnification methods are not enough, Android offers powerful tools in the Accessibility section, where you can find features that work on top of the main interface, providing additional scaling, and this is especially true for users with very low vision.
One of the key features is Magnification, which allows you to use your smartphone screen as a magnifying glass, so you can triple-press your finger on the screen to enlarge any area, move a larger snippet, and look at small icons or text that is otherwise indistinguishable.
⚠️ Attention: The zoom function is real-time and can interfere with fast scrolling or playing, and it is recommended to use it point-by-point rather than keep it on all the time.
Also in this section is the Vision Enhancement setting, which allows you to invert colors, make an image black and white, or increase contrast, and while this does not increase the physical size of the icon, the high contrast makes the icon's boundaries clearer and more visible to the human eye.
To activate the magnifying agent:
- Open the settings → Additional → Special. opportunities.
- Select the item Increase.
- Activate the switch and set up the call method (e.g. triple tapping the screen).
Using these tools requires some habit. Control gestures can conflict with normal actions if you don’t adjust the sensitivity, but for people with disabilities, this is often the only way to fully use modern Xiaomi smartphones.
Frequent problems and their solution
The process of adjusting the size of items does not always go smoothly. Users may encounter situations where the icons are left, text fits on each other or some applications are displayed incorrectly. Understanding the causes of these failures will help quickly return comfort.
One common problem is that old apps don't match the new Android scaling standards, so when you zoom in on the system font, the application may not have time to recalculate the layout, leaving the buttons off the screen, and then resetting the settings of a particular application or updating it helps.
☑️ Check-up for problems with display
Also worth mentioning is the impact of custom launchers: If you have a third-party shell installed (like a Nova Launcher or Microsoft Launcher), Xiaomi’s system settings may be ignored, and in such cases, the icon size needs to be changed inside the launcher’s settings, usually through a long tap on the desktop.
If after all the manipulations, the interface looks “gotten” (icons come over each other, the grid is broken), try changing the number of columns on the desktop. Go to the desktop settings and select a grid, for example, 4x5 or 5x6. Fewer columns will automatically make the remaining icons larger.