Xiaomi smartphone owners often face a situation where important messages from messengers or notifications from banking applications come late or do not appear at all. This is a classic feature of the MIUI shell, which aggressively manages background processes to save battery power.
The Android system on which MIUI is based has its own optimization mechanisms, but Xiaomi developers have strengthened them by adding their own algorithms "process killer". As a result, if you do not configure the smartphone correctly immediately after purchase, you risk missing a call through Viber or a transfer notification.
In this article, we will look at all the possible causes of failures, we will look at energy saving settings, notification options and background processes, you will learn how to make your Xiaomi work exactly the way you want it to work, not the way the optimization system decided.
Aggressive energy saving and battery operation
The most common reason notifications don't arrive on time is because of the power saving system: A smartphone tries to extend battery life by forcibly shutting down apps that the system believes are consuming too much resources in the background, especially for social networks that should always be online.
To fix this, you need to manually change priority for important applications. The system needs to "understand" that a particular messenger or email client cannot be unloaded from memory. To do this, go to Settings → Battery and Performance (or simply Battery in new versions), Here you need to find a list of applications and change the mode of operation for each important service.
Select the option you want from a list like WhatsApp or Telegram, and set the "No Limits" mode, which will prevent the system from "strangling" the background processes of this application, and it is also worth checking whether the "Ultra-energy saving" mode is turned on, which blocks almost all background activities.
- 🔋 “No Limits” mode allows the application to work in the background without restrictions on energy consumption.
- ⚙️ Smart energy saving automatically regulates background activity, but can be too aggressive.
- 🚫 Background activity restriction completely prevents the application from working when the screen is off.
⚠️ Note: Unlimited mode can lead to faster battery discharge if the application is not optimized by the developer.
Remember that after updating the firmware, the battery settings may reset to factory values. So if the problem comes back after the update, check these points again. In some versions of MIUI, the battery settings are put into a separate Security app, which can confuse the inexperienced user.
Notification settings in the system and applications
The second layer of control is directly in the notification settings menu, where you can fine-tune which alerts are supposed to arrive, how they should be displayed and whether the signal sounds. Often, notifications are turned on globally, but for a particular application, you can not display them on the lock screen.
Go to Settings → Notifications and Status bar → Application Notifications. Find the problem app on the list. Make sure the Allow Notifications switch is active. Next, it is important to check the notification categories within the application. For example, the email client may have separate notifications for Inbox and Spam filter.
Note the "Importance of Notifications" settings. If the priority is low, the phone may not vibrate or make a sound, but only blink with an LED gently.
- 🔔 An audible alert must be selected if you want to hear a signal about a new message.
- 🔳 Display on the lock screen allows you to see the text of the message without unlocking the smartphone.
- 💥 Pop-up notifications show a message on top of other open apps.
It's also worth checking if Do Not Disturb or Sleep Mode is on, and in this state, the system blocks all audio signals and can hide visual notifications, and you can check this by hanging down the notification curtain and looking at the active mode icons.
Auto-Start and Application Management
The autostart mechanism in MIUI works differently than in pure Android. By default, many applications are not allowed to run on their own when the system starts, this is done to speed up the boot, but leads to the fact that the application does not start until you open it yourself, and, accordingly, can not get new data.
To set up, go to Security → Permissions → Autorun. Here you will see a list of all installed programs. Find messengers and important services, turn on the switch opposite them. This will give permission to start with the operating system.
There is also an Application Management menu. Under Settings → Applications → All apps, select the app you want and find Other Permissions. Make sure you allow display over other windows and work in the background. Without those permissions, the system can block pop-up calls.
☑️ Checklist of auto-start settings
It's important to understand the difference between auto-run and background work. Auto-run allows an application to start when you turn on your phone. Background allows it to function when you turn off a window. Both parameters must be active for stable operation.
Memory cleanup and Accelerator work
The built-in Accelerator (or Cleanup) utility is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it frees up RAM, on the other, it ruthlessly kills the processes you just set up. If you're used to constantly cleaning your memory with the Clear button, you shouldn't be surprised that there aren't notifications.
The system perceives applications running in the background as "junk" that needs to be removed, so to prevent this, you need to add important applications to the exception list. Press and hold the "Menu" button (a square or three bars that call up the list of running applications).
In the list of running tasks, find the desired application, click on it and select the lock icon. Now, when you press the memory clean button, this application will remain on the list of running and will not be terminated by the system forcibly.
⚠️ Warning: Even with a lock, the system can unload an application from memory if it critically lacks free resources (RAM). Close heavy games and browsers with a dozen tabs if you notice lags in the work of messengers.
Modern versions of MIUI have a "Memory Extension" feature that uses part of the storage as RAM, and enabling this feature can help if your smartphone has little RAM (less than 4GB).
Network settings and traffic restriction
Sometimes the problem isn’t with the processes, but with access to the network. Xiaomi’s security settings have a traffic restriction feature that can block data transfers for applications in the background or when using mobile internet.
Go to Security → Data → Traffic Restriction. You can see which apps have access to Wi-Fi and mobile network. Make sure that the troubled programs are ticked in both the Wi-Fi column and the Mobile Data column.
It's also worth checking your traffic savings settings. If Traffic Savings is enabled, the system may not sync and receive messages until you open the app. → SIM-maps and mobile networks → Saving traffic.
| Parameter | Where to find out. | Recommended value |
|---|---|---|
| Auto-start | Security → Permits | Included. |
| Background work | Settings → Battery | No restrictions. |
| Notifications | Settings → Notifications | Allow everything |
| Traffic restriction | Security → Data transfer | Wi-Fi and Mob data. |
The Impact of VPNs on Notifications
Connection stability is also important, because if you're in a bad reception zone, packets can get lost, and switching between 3G/4G/5G can also cause short-term connection breaks, leading to delays.
Specifics of Google Services and Push
Android’s notification system is based on Google Play Services. FCM — Firebase Cloud Messaging: Most apps receive new messages, and if Google services are not working properly, no notifications will come from any app.
Check if Google Play services are updated. Go to Settings → Accounts and Sync → Google. Make sure sync is enabled and error-free. If you see an exclamation mark icon, you have an account problem.
In rare cases, resetting Google Play Services helps. Go to Settings → Apps → All apps → Google Play Services → Memory → Clear. Fear not, it won’t delete your data, just temporary files and sync settings.
💡
Useful tip: If notifications are missing after installing the application from an unknown source (APK-file, the problem may be that the developer has no signature, and these applications often cannot register with push notifications.
Also worth mentioning is the "sleep mode" of your account, which means that if you haven't logged in to a Google account on your device in a long time, the system could limit the background activity of the services. Just open the Google Play Store app and let it update.
Radical measures: resetting and reflashing
If none of the above methods worked, there may have been some critical errors or configuration file conflicts in the system, in which case a deeper intervention may be required.
The first step can be to reset your network and application settings, which will not delete your photos or contacts, but will return all system settings to factory settings. Way: Settings → Advanced Settings → Restore and Reset → Reset your Wi-Fi, mobile Internet and Bluetooth settings.
If that doesn't work, it's a hard reset that's guaranteed to eliminate any software bugs, but it'll delete all the data from the phone. After the reset, don't restore the backup all at once, but set the phone up as new to check the notifications on the clean system.
⚠️ Warning: Full reset deletes all data, including photos, contacts and apps. Make sure you have an up-to-date copy in the Mi Cloud or Google Photos cloud before starting the procedure.
In the most difficult cases, especially on custom firmware or after a failed update, you may need to flash the device through your computer using the Mi Flash Tool utility.
💡
90% of notification problems on Xiaomi are solved by setting up auto-start and battery mode for a specific application.